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CHAPTER 6
SHIP’S STORE
As a senior Ship’s Serviceman, you will have
ever-increasing responsibilities for the supervision
of the retail store, vending machine, and foun-
tain or snack bar operations. In each of the
following sections, the principal factors with
which you, as a supervisor, should be concerned
are discussed.
SALESROOM SUPERVISION
As a supervisor of the retail store operation,
you will be concerned with selecting an effective
store operator and improving the relationship
between the operator and the customers. You will
have the responsibility for improving the
appearance of your ship’s store through effective
visual merchandising (displays and signs). Finally,
you will bean assistant to the ship’s store officer
in maintaining strict financial control of the store
operation.
THE STORE OPERATOR
As a senior Ship’s Serviceman in the sales divi-
sion, you will be responsible for assisting the
ship’s store officer in selecting a ship’s store
operator. Also, you will have a continuing respon-
sibility for training the store operator. You must
train the store operator to operate the retail
activity according to proper procedures. You must
also convince the store operator of the importance
of good customer service.
Selection
The most important problem you will face
initially is the selection of suitable and capable
retail store operators. Based upon fleet experience,
the best policy you can follow is to make certain
the operator of a retail activity is rotated at least
every two accounting periods, In fact, some type
commanders make this a requirement. After 8
months’ experience in the store, a retail store
OPERATIONS
operator will usually have a good knowledge of
the retail operation and the associated controls
and records. Some individuals will be affected by
this knowledge to the extent that they may try to
beat the system. They may use various methods
that they hope will result in the undiscovered theft
of money and/or materials. Leaving one operator
in the store indefinitely also invites collusion
between the operator and the recordskeeper as
these two people become used to working with
one another.
Selection of the proper person as store
operator greatly reduces the chance of financial
loss in the store. To this end, there are some points
that you should keep in mind when you are
making your recommendation to the ship’s store
officer. The person you select should be honest,
dependable, and free of excessive financial
worries. While a retail store operator does not
have to be a genius, this person should at least
be able to perform simple addition and make
change with accuracy.
Selection of the proper person can also have
a great effect on sales and customer satisfaction.
The operator’s personality should be basically
pleasant, or at least inoffensive and consistent.
It is not necessary that the operator be a friend
to everyone aboard ship or even be known to
them. In many cases, it is better to have an
operator who is somewhat unknown as this will
eliminate a great deal of conversation time in the
sales line and reduce special favor requests. In
terms of personal habits, the store operator should
be clean and neat. The person selected should also
be willing and able to learn and apply some
of the principles of salesmanship and visual
merchandising.
To find such an individual aboard ship is
sometimes difficult. You should try, however, to
recommend a person who shows as many of these
qualities as possible. Many qualities, such as
honesty, are not readily apparent. This is where
your ability as a leader and judge of your people
will come into play.
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