Labor Scheduling

With the economy in the doldrums, retailers need every possible way to keep costs down, while not sacrificing customer service.

Phar-Mor, a discount drug store chain based in Youngstown, Ohio, has found that its new labor scheduling system, from Kronos, Chelmsford, Mass., achieves these goals.

The system, which is currently rolled out to 77 locations, is expected to be installed in all of the retailer's 139 stores by Thanksgiving. Phar-Mor invested $750,000 in the labor scheduling suite and officials expect a return on its investment within 18 months.

Store managers can access the system via a store-level thin-client PC that connects to a central database housed at headquarters.

Besides analyzing sales forecasts and store hours, the system also applies other measures like tendering time, and the labor needed to process cash, credit card or check transactions. The system also accounts for each employee's availability and skills.

Raley's Supermarkets, Sacramento, Calif., is also transitioning to a new labor scheduling system throughout its 130 stores.

At press time, the chain's first three stores were scheduled to use the system the first week of October, and the chain's 150 stores would be live by January 2003, according to explains Brett Danz, workforce support supervisor for Raley's.

The supermarket is migrating from an eight-year-old decentralized system to a centralized client/server solution provided by SimplexGrinnell, Westminster, Mass.

Raley's system will automatically upload POS data and additional granular information including tender types, customer traffic patterns, labor hours and sales forecasts, and then match associate availability and skill level "to create the best labor schedule that will give better service to our customers," Danz explains.

Like many retailers employing labor scheduling systems, Danz says the priority isn't cutting staff, but allocating the workforce more efficiently.

The following links expand on the coverage of labor scheduling systems found in the October 2001 issue of RetailTech.

Latest Coverage

• In Tough Times, Labor Scheduling Saves Big Bucks From RETAILTECH magazine, October 2001

From Our Archives:

Click the links below to access related stories from our archives.

• Retailers Adopt Upgraded Labor Scheduling Systems, From RETAILTECH magazine, August 2001



• Following Merger, Gart Sports Gains Control of Labor Management , From RETAILTECH magazine, January 2000



• TimeCorp Debuts Labor Scheduler/ Time Clock Controller UniFocus Labor System Does Flex Scheduling , From RETAILTECH magazine, January 2000