Popular grocery clerk has retirement in the bag
After 45 years of faithfully working at what is now the Save Mart on Lodi Avenue, Lee Boyer is checking out.
Boyer has decided to retire on June 29 and step back from the job that has gifted him with the loyal coworkers and customers that he has come into contact with over his full career.
Boyer was first employed by the store in 1973 as a “bagger” when he was a junior at Lodi High, back when the store was owned by Lucky's, a loaf of bread cost 29 cents, and soda only cost a dime. As he put it, Boyer started in a different era.
After a handful of years at his first position, Boyer soon moved on to work for the night crew, produce, dairy, frozen food, bread, and eventually worked his way up to the corporate office and doing projects that took him “out from behind the cube” as a clerk at the checkout line.
“The only things I haven’t done is cut meat or bake a cake,” Boyer said.
In his time at nearly all corners of the store, Boyer has found friends that have become family, both in his fellow employees and the regular customers. Also, due to the longevity of his career, he has been able to meet and serve three to four generations of some local families that have carried their loyalty to the specific supermarket through the years.
“It’s been a fun job in that I’ve had a great rapport with my coworkers and I’ve made friends that are basically my family since I’ve been there so long,” Boyer said. “It’s amazing how we interconnect with different people of different backgrounds and ethnicities.”
Boyer said he has enjoyed the figurative slice of time — roughly 2 minutes — that he is given in each customer's life as they come through his line. One could make the comparison to the milk man of the past, who would show up for just a few brief moments and get to engage with the family. He pointed out how the modern business seems to put profit over people, but that he still values the style of customer service that he was brought up in.
“If you’re personable, (the customers) will come back, and I've always said that you have to treat them like how you’d want to be treated,” Boyer said. “Getting other’s perspectives, seeing what other people are going through, sometimes I help them and sometimes they help me, and it’s been a fantastic experience.”
With 45 years behind him, Boyer has made the decision to retire from the job that he has held for the majority of his life. While he is leaving his job at the store, Boyer still plans to visit when he can and continue the relationships that he has built.
“I’ll still make some guest appearances in the store every once in awhile,” Boyer said. “There are some really great relationships that I’ve forged, and I’ll still have them.”
In his retirement, Boyer plans to travel with his wife to visit Yellowstone National Park, a prime location to enjoy his hobbies of hiking and photography.
The years of having to memorize produce codes in the checkout line will soon be behind him, and Boyer says that he’ll always look back and think of the unique opportunity his job afforded him to interact with generations of families and people of all backgrounds. Boyer said that he welcomes anyone who would like to say goodbye to come visit the store on his last day of work, June 29.
“To me it’s been a great blessing to work,” Boyer said. “Just the sense of coming back the next day and being invited into their life, giving the kids a sticker, and talking to them, I’ll definitely miss that.”