TEC: Technical Education Consultants, Inc.
Client Case Study


Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's offers upscale grocery fare such as health foods, organic produce, and nutritional supplements, operating more than 250 stores in about 20 states. To keep costs down, its stores have no service departments and average about 10,000 sq. ft. The company's specialty is its line of more than 2,000 private-label products (70% of sales), including beverages (its signature Charles Shaw brand wine sells for less than $3 a bottle), soup, snacks, and frozen items.


Training Needs

Trader Joe's was implementing Aldata's G.O.L.D. system. Training was needed at both buying offices on the East and West coasts. Topics for training included: Merchandise Hierarchy, Item and Vendor Setup, Cost and Price Management, Replenishment and Inventory Management and financial functions. Training was required for all 14,440 crew members in the stores.


Challenges

Trader Joe's had an extremely tight budget and timelines. Modifications to the G.O.L.D. application were required and the implementation was constrained by business support requirements. Training for all stores was to be completed within a three week window before the system rolled out.


TEC Services and Products Delivered

TEC created a change management plan, training plan and customized materials for all Trader Joes stores including:

  • CBT (computer-based training) to use as a study tool and then to facilitate instructor-led training

  • CBT Practice Exercises

  • Participant Guide

  • Practice Exercises

  • Learning Surveys

TEC also conducted training for 1,440 store members in 80 training sessions.


Results

TEC trained 254 stores in 37 cities in 3 weeks with a team of 5 trainers. The CBT pre-work helped to familiarize store members with Aldata G.O.L.D. and served as the base for pre-work for the classroom training. After the Aldata G.O.L.D. implementation was completed, the stores continue to use the CBT as an in-store training resource for new hires.

"…My thanks for a job very well done. I have received nothing but positive feedback from stores on all the training that was done. I appreciate your willingness to work with me to keep this project within budget. Bottom line, you and your team had a "whatever it takes" attitude and should be congratulated for an outstanding job, particularly considering the short time you had to learn the TJ's culture and systems. I would recommend TEC to anyone who needed first class training."

- Tom English, CIO




 
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