Q&A with Ernestine Rodgers
Contributed By:The 411 News
Celebrated 21 years at Save More in May
When did you come to Save More?
Ernestine: I started working at the store May 23, 2000; going on 21 years. My job is at the customer service desk. I help customers and manage the cashiers.
What I love about Save More is the store keeps jobs in the community. It’s the only store in downtown that has been here for years. It’s so important that we keep it up and running in Gary.
What I also love about Save More is we expanded across the street.
Talk about your co-workers
We are a family. Maria, Doug, Bell, and Kenny have been here longer than me.
Russell and LaShayna have 15-plus years. Makenya has been here 9 years. We belong to the union, Local 881.
It feels so good to come in and have your co-workers ask ‘How is your day?’ It makes you want to come to work.
Can you talk about your customers
I love my customers, especially the older ones. They talk about the times when Gary boomed.
They want more than a grocery store, a liquor store, and a church.
It’s getting better; the abandoned buildings are being removed.
If I had the money to contribute to Gary I would open up some of these abandoned schools, and turn them into recreation and art centers for the children.
About Save More Foods
 Gary’s Save More Foods is a family run business, owned and operated by generations of cousins.
Sam Musleh and his nephew Isaac Musleh opened Happy Foods/dba Save More Foods in 1989.
Sam’s son Ata soon joined to help his father open and operate the store. They worked very long hours to make a go of this business, and give customers good value for their money and good service with a welcoming smile.
Yousef, Isaac’s brother, joined the business in 1991.
And now their sons work fulltime at Save More. In 2018, Ata’s son Mohammad and Yousef’s son Ahmad came aboard. Both have Bachelor’s degrees in computer programming.
Sam Musleh recently passed.
Story Posted:07/20/2021
|
