‘Customer service’ expert to retire from Carrs deli

WASILLA — Plenty of folks are finicky about their sandwiches.

Some regular deli customers at Carrs/Safeway in Wasilla are so particular about getting just the right bread or the perfect ratio of meat to bread that they even request a specific sandwich artisan.

Assistant Deli Manager Amy Baker said quite a few people actually request Jean Wolfe prepare their sandwiches. Wolfe is set to retire May 5.

“It’s going to be different not having her around,” Baker said.

It also was one of Wolfe’s regular deli customers who called the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman and suggested a profile of her before she retires.

Wolfe has worked at Carrs and Safeway stores in Washington and Alaska for the past 13 years. Before that she was a health care professional for many years.

Wolfe said one of her health care clients in Washington was a few blocks from a Safeway store, so she could walk from one job to the next.

And for the past three or four years she said she’s walked the 1.5 miles from her house on Lake Lucille to Carrs and back, year-round. In the worst winter weather, she said she sometimes does take a cab, though.

“Walking, that’s my time,” Wolfe said.

This is actually the second time she’s been in the Frontiersman since she moved her with her daughter and her family six years ago. Wolfe said the first time was after a truck hit her while she was crossing the intersection at the Parks Highway and Knik-Goose Bay Road a couple of winters back.

Wolfe said she felt herself slowing down and knew she needed to change jobs.

During her 13 years working for the grocery giant, Wolfe said she’s worked in the deli, bakery, produce and in seafood departments.

“I’ve done everything but front end checkout,” she said.

Her background in health care also means she can help people select a sandwich that fits their low sodium or other special diet needs. Wolfe said she doesn’t offer the information, but will share her expertise if asked.

Wolfe said the people she meets are her favorite part of the job.

“It’s the people who keep me alive,” she said. “If it wasn’t for the people, I wouldn’t be here.”

Wolfe doesn’t “make” sandwiches either. She said she “creates” them, layer by layer, carefully stacking her customers’ favorite ingredients.

“It’s more of a challenge,” she said. “It’s your own workmanship.”

Her favorites to create are the hot sandwiches, like the Philly cheesesteak.

And each sandwich she creates gets its own silent blessing. She said it’s her own way of seeing that her customers are fed body and soul.

Wolfe’s specialty isn’t on the menu, but it’s the only thing any business really sells — customer service.

For many of her younger co-workers, Wolfe serves as an example of the sort of customer service that should be their goal, Baker said.

“We want our customers to come back,” she said. “We want them to feel more like family than a customer.”

Customer service is a big part of why customers choose the Carrs deli, Baker said.

“She sets the example,” she said of Wolfe. “She leads by example.”

Wolfe said good customer service is something people can learn.

She said Baker assigns the heavy lifting to younger, stronger backs, while Wolfe interacts with deli customers taking and making orders.

“I wanted to pull my weight,” she said.

For now, she’s preparing to retire and getting ready for a visit from her sisters in June.

“It’s the first time we’ve all been together in 30 years,” Wolfe said.

Contact managing editor Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.