Do You Feed Your Staff? 80% of Jewelers Say Yes — Here’s What They’re Serving

WE ASKED JEWELERS if they provide food or snacks for their staff. Eighty percent said yes — and the answers ranged from stolen Halloween candy and whisky to axe-throwing dinners, whole poached salmon, and a sales-goal system that triggers free lunch the next day.

NOTE: 8% of respondents answered “not applicable”, mostly because they were smaller or single-employee stores.

Do you provide employee meals or snacks?

YES 80%

• “The week before Christmas everyone has a day to bring in lunch for the staff. It has to be something that can be kept warm (or cold) so that everyone doesn’t try to run to the break room to eat first. Outside of that, employees are on their own to make bad choices.” — Bill E., Terre Haute, IN
• “We always have a snack table with anything we stole from kids at Halloween as well as coffee, drinks, and occasionally something special that staff decide on such as pizza, sushi or similar.” — David B., Calgary, AB, Canada

“Cookies, candy, veggies and whisky.” — David K., Grand Rapids, MI

• “Since I am the only employee (solopreneur here), I provide yummy tea from Harney & Sons, which I offer to clients as well. I also take myself out to lunch when I close a big sale! I do those things because I have to learn to celebrate my wins.” — Angela C., Atascadero, CA
• “I started leaving a fun-size candy bar for our UPS driver by the back door and it has been going on for two years now, I think. We also give all of our delivery folks (UPS, USPS, FedEx and the window cleaning guy) some Lowell Bucks for Christmas. They are good at 60 local businesses and the ladies and gents who receive them are very, very pleased. Small investment and GREAT return.” — Cliff Y., Lowell, MI
• “On Fridays, I buy the whole store lunch. I appreciate early morning arrivals, hard selling throughout the day and the honest feedback that creates an incredible experience in our store! Giving my team a break pays for itself fourfold. During Christmas, especially this year we made our last year’s numbers (a banner year better than 2022) in November! My team, they are my store’s personality. I thrive when they vibe! Yes, I feed them, I clothe them for shows and Christmas PJs and I have watched my bottom line skyrocket.” — Denise O., La Grange, IL

• “I have a guy that takes vacation time from his full-time job to work with me in the store in December. Yes, I buy him lunch and snacks, whatever he wants. He drives 45 minutes to work and I so appreciate that he does this. He has a strong jewelry background (although right now his full-time job isn’t in jewelry) and he loves selling, so yes, whatever I can do for him!” — Susan K., Lewisburg, PA
• “We provide lunches every Friday and Saturday and will often order in lunch other times if we are short-staffed due to illness, vacations, etc. Our goal is to provide a high-quality meal and allow our staff to enjoy it without rushing out to grab fast food.” — Jeff M., Knoxville, TN
• “We had a great gearing-up-for-Christmas meeting and we took everyone out to dinner and axe throwing. It’s nice to get to socialize with your coworkers out of the work environment — plus with two stores it’s a good way for people to interact who don’t normally get to do it.” — Becky B., Peabody, MA
• “A weekly bag of tangerines or apples, occasional dinners I cook at home, like a whole poached salmon, rice and salad. Also occasional pizza for staff, and we do celebrate all birthdays with a big spread.” — Eve J. A., Evanston, IL

“I buy coffee every morning from a local coffee shop and always pay for the car behind me too. I also buy lunch every day. We have a system where each day one staff member gets to choose where we order from. I also keep cheese and beef sticks in the fridge as well as granola bars and other snacks.” — Sue P., Escanaba, MI

• “Generally, on Saturdays we splurge on breakfast or have pizza or a ‘Bag o’ Burgers’ for lunch. Not every Saturday, because we want to keep it special, but often enough that the staff looks forward to it.” — Jon W., Virginia Beach, VA
• “I like doing little surprises — if I’m out running an errand, I might bring back ice cream (in the summer) or hot toddies (in the winter). I like to bring in coffees when we have early meetings. Lunches used to happen more frequently, but if we have reps or special events in the store, we always treat everyone!” — Erika G., Kearney, NE
• “We have a level of sales that if we hit it we provide lunch the next day. Usually three times a week or every day in December. Usually meals from local restaurants.” — Dorothy V., Tallahassee, FL
• “I know a lot of us provide stuff during the holidays. We get them lunch every Saturday. We take them out to breakfast the Monday after Thanksgiving to kick off the season. We share the ‘True Cost of the 12 Days of Christmas’ and present our ‘Christmas Bingo’ game.” — Doug M., Marietta, GA
• “We always keep a box of Emergen-Cs available, we keep a candy bowl and Kisses around. Especially during busy times — snacks, sweets, pizza, sandwiches, etc. We have a small kitchen here and we will make pulled pork, soups, etc. on premises for all to enjoy.” — Mark & Monika C., Rockford, IL
• “I buy lunch often. I make lunch in the store in December at least once a week if not more. Fridge is always stocked in December too. Rest of the year there’s always something to get us through around here.” — Tom N., Spencer, IA
• “On an employee’s birthday, we let that person pick a restaurant and then all employees order their choice for lunch. The week before Christmas, we have lunch brought in for all employees.” — Gene, John & Krista P., Tuscaloosa, AL
• “Saturdays are a short workday as we close at 4 p.m. We always have breakfast together once the store is put in, and it comes from our favorite neighborhood coffee shop.” — Brenda N., El Segundo, CA
• “We provide a kitchen full of snacks and drinks on a daily basis to keep everyone fueled throughout the day. And at Christmas time we supply full lunches twice a week.” — Dianna Rae H., Lafayette, LA

• “Since currently everyone here is our family, Mom brings in food all the time for ‘the boys.’ But we also provide water, granola bars, healthy snacks and chocolate.” — Beth C., Dublin, OH
• “Thursday free lunch for all, Tuesday free breakfast for all, different snacks as well as donuts and cookies.” — John P., Winter Park, FL
• “Free lunch on Tuesday (the first day of our work week) so we can eat together and share experiences.” — Elizabeth P., St. Louis, MO
• “We do occasional lunches, dinners out and snacks frequently. It’s a cheap way to uplift employee morale and just say thanks.” — Casey G., Orleans, MA
• “I do not provide meals although occasionally I will give them a gift card for a local restaurant. One Thanksgiving I bought my staff their turkey from a restaurant catering Thanksgiving dinners.” — Eric S., West Springfield, MA