BY IVAN SANDERS

STAR STAFF

ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com

When it comes to the retail grocery industry, local Ingles store manager Brandon Kent has spent over half of his life making a living in an industry that has been a launching pad for many young people into a lifetime of various endeavors.

Starting in high school as a grocery bagger for the Food City chain, Kent stepped away after a couple of years but couldn’t get away from the retail grocery world.

He joined Ingles a year later where he began a quick ascent up the ladder that would carry him from dairy clerk to assistant store manager within a year’s time.

Kent worked as an assistant manager for seven years before being promoted to his current role of manager where he has spent the last 13 years making it a total of 20 years working under the Ingles banner.

With the position of a retail grocery manager, the ability to work throughout the district is one of the first challenges of the job.

“When you are moving up through the ranks, it’s one of those deals that if you want to move up, you have to be able to go where you are needed,” Kent said. “Thankful our district manager has always been good about keeping us within driving distance of home.

“I started out as an assistant store manager in Elizabethton and there was an opening in the Colonial Heights area of Kingsport and I was there about three years and then the first store that came open that I was hired as a manager for was in Greeneville.

“I made the drive to Greeneville for about a year and a half,” Kent continued. “I then went to Jonesborough for three years and then back into Elizabethton for the remaining time.”

Just like any position, the role of remaining a retail grocery manager for Ingles comes with meeting the goals and requirements that come with the job description.

“It is a performance-driven position absolutely as a manager has to achieve sales, payroll, and all the objectives of the company,” Kent stated. “It’s no different than selling carpet or working at Lowe’s or anywhere else.

“There has to be a balance between the profit end of it and the sales end of it.”

Kent said that the industry has changed since he first started as the market revolves more around people who have limited time and are more focused on their health.

“You have to stay with or ahead of the shopping habits,” Kent stated. “When I grew up, I was eating frozen dinners or tomato sandwiches.

“Today, the industry and society have trended more to health-conscience, so fresh products are the engine that drives it. The center store — groceries like ranch dressing, a loaf of bread, and Tide are still essential, but consumer habits are more toward prepared meals.

“Who would have thought 10 to 15 years ago people would have called a grocery store to have their Thanksgiving meals prepared for them?”

Kent didn’t hesitate when asked what was vital in being a grocery manager, especially when a significant portion of the employees fall in the under-20 category.

“We have 160 employees and the engine that drives it all is engagement,” said Kent.

“Your employees expect them to be told when they are doing a good job. When I was growing up, it was more of if you don’t do your job someone else will. Today, it’s more of how you can work together to get the job done.

“It’s all about culture. I have to be engaged with my employees because if I am engaged with my employees, they will be engaged with the customers,” continued Kent. “If the employees are not happy with their work, then they won’t translate that to the customers very well. It’s not so much about being task-oriented as it is about feeling appreciated.”

Kent and his wife, Holly, serve as the youth pastors for Roan Street Church of God. His faith also has been instrumental in helping with his job.

“It has helped with patience,” Kent added. “Thirty percent of my workforce if not more, is under 20 years of age. Society is different so it’s harder to keep them engaged.

“You have to coach them constantly. I always pray that God will send me the right employees and the right personalities.”

Kent and his wife have two sons, Caleb and Conner.