THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610250231
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER C. O'DONNELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 49 lines
Since spring, several large and small retail and food service companies have opened in the Greenbrier business district. With all the activity, it's no wonder the region has more than its share of ``help wanted'' signs.
In the Greenbrier MarketCenter alone, at least two large retailers are advertising for help, including Harris Teeter supermarket, which is scheduled to open Oct. 30, and Kinetix Footware and Apparel.
Angela Tillery, manager of the Chesapeake office of the Virginia Employment Commission, said the climate for retail work in Greenbrier is prime for potential workers.
``Service-related jobs are still the largest growing occupations,'' said Tillery. The VEC has already held several recruitment fairs for some of the new businesses in Greenbrier.
Workers residing in or near the Greenbrier district are probably more likely to benefit from the new merchants, said Tillery.
``Most businesses prefer to do recruitment within a contained area around their business,'' she said.
Dennis A. Brewer, manager of Harris Teeter, said most of the store's 110 positions have been filled by Chesapeake residents.
In some cases, the new businesses started recruiting potential workers months or weeks before opening.
``We started taking applications way back in June,'' said Ruth E. Street, manager of Barnes & Noble Bookseller. The store opened in September with a large portion of their 65 employees residing in Chesapeake.
But even with the abundance of retail jobs, managers said competition for vacant positions has been fierce.
``We've been blessed with applicants. Very blessed,'' said Brewer. ``We've had far more applicants than we did jobs and the applicants were very impressive.''
Other merchants agreed.
``We had no shortage of applicants,'' said Street.
Although most of the available jobs with the new merchants have been claimed, workers looking for positions still have options, according to store managers.
Several stores at Greenbrier Mall and Chesapeake Square Mall have already started looking for holiday help.
Even some of the newer businesses are keeping applications on file for future use.
``We're not hiring right now,'' said Street. ``But it's our policy to continually accept applications. We'll probably hire a few extra workers, temporarily, for the holiday season,'' she said. by CNB