‘Oh, there he is,” I heard some say. I saw them smiling and the confusion on Mike’s face when he returned to the deli made the final moment funny.

Brandon Scholz, Wisconsin Grocers Association (WGA) President, made the announcement, letting Mike Ptacek know that he was one in only four to be accepted for the honorable nomination of 2011 Excellence in Operations award.

Ptacek's grocery employees applaud as owner Mike Ptacek receives an award from Brandon Scholz, head of the Wisconsin Grocers Association.

In October, this award will be given only to one grocer in the state of Wisconsin from the WGA. A coveted award among the industry, this is given to grocers who possess a strong work ethic, commitment to their communities and creating opportunities for store employees. It is an award that is fitting for Mike Ptacek and a moment that his son, Pat, had to keep secret until it happened.

“There are six family members that work here and 18 all together,” Pat stated. “If I told one person, Dad would have found out. I only told my wife,” Pat admitted.

Employees clapped and smiled and Mike was humbled, and relieved as he then understood the collaboration of his employees in the deli department. “I’m a third generation grocer,” Ptacek stated. “I’ve been in the grocery business all my life, back when we had 16 ounce pop bottles, but it’s my employees that are the core to this store. Some have been with me over 20 years. It’s a group effort; without them, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Nominated by John Spanel, an Affiliated Foods Midwest representative, Mike Ptacek was chosen for his extraordinary dedication to his community. Dedicating his time and talents to the Knights of Columbus, Boys Scouts, Girl Scouts, VFW, American Legion, Susan G. Komen, churches, local families and of course, his employees.

In 2012, Ptacek’s IGA will turn 100 years old, a milestone to celebrate the history of Prescott’s local grocery store. John Ptacek started the legacy in 1912 when he opened a meat market in downtown Prescott. The history goes from there to Ptacek’s IGA being at their current location, on ‘the hill,” in Prescott for the past 20 plus years.

In the nomination papers, it is stated that “Mike believes in positive reinforcement and keeping employees motivated and focused on the end goal of providing a fabulous shopping experience for their customers. His department heads have tenure of 20+ years at Ptacek’s IGA, which demonstrates their commitment and satisfaction in working for Mike.

That it does, and I believe his customers, his community, friends and neighbors will all agree. “

Click here to see the video

While our store has many unique offerings for our customers, two that have been underutilized in the past are our prepared meals at our deli and our video rentals. So when about a year ago I began to look for a way to bump-up sales in both departments it made sense to try a joint promotion. We were already running a deli promotion called “Mama Mia Monday,” which is a Monday night special on hot prepared dinners. It wasn’t too much of a leap from there to think, ‘What goes together better than dinner
and a movie?’

When I sat down and looked at the figures, I realized that by offering a free movie with the purchase of a dinner, I would only be losing about $15, but I might be able to sell 20 more dinners. Since Monday was typically a slow night for both departments, I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, and the draw would be strong for our customers—we would be offering a dinner and a movie date for a fraction of the cost it would be to go out and do either. We started publicizing the event on our signage at the front of the store as well as through our Facebook page, and it’s really taken off— in fact, just this past week, we had about 15 or 20 people who came in for the special. Our customers love it, and it just goes to show that promotions don’t have to be over-the-top or extravagant—sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that work the best!

IGA Hometown Healthy Challenge is underway, and IGA Retailers around the country are increasing the impact of the event by adding activities tailored for their communities. Today, Pat Ptacek, store manager of Ptacek’s IGA, shares how he amped up his event with a local community member’s help.

When we started planning this year’s Hometown Healthy Challenge program we wanted make sure we had a local angle to tie in to get our customers excited. After a little research we struck gold. Turns out, we have our own local celebrity: A member of our community invented the Frii Board, a Nintendo Wii-compatible device that makes the Wii Fit balance board a better
exercise opportunity. Basically, it’s a component which connects to the Wii Fit balance board and makes it wobbly, which helps promote core stability and build core muscles. And the best part is that it has also proven to be a great tool in improving balance and coordination in kids with disabilities such as Down Syndrome.

Right away we recognized that we want to build the Frii Board into our event, so we set out to let the community know we would be having in-store demos during one weekend of our Hometown Healthy Challenge event. We used our e-newsletter and our Facebook page to promote it, as well as in-store bag stuffers and signage. The demos were a big success, and everyone left excited about our upcoming raffle of an entire Wii Fit package.

This event was a unique way to get our shoppers interested in fitness and exercise. When you think of working out, you usually think of something strenuous and boring, like running on a treadmill. We were trying to show our customers that working out can not only be fun, it can be a game!

Thanks,

Pat Ptacek

Affiliated Foods Midwest is a member-owned cooperative providing independent grocers with a full range of foods, supermarket supplies and services throughout several states in the Midwest. AFM is a member of the Topco Cooperative, the 2nd largest producer of grocery goods in the United States.

Below Pat and his wife Joy – his trustworthy proofreader – visit London’s
Hampton Court with their Ptacek’s IGA Red Bag.