Jacksonville History: Setzer's & Pic N' Save Drugs

[Jax native]

I'm very late on this story, having just read it this morning.  I worked for National Merchandise 1983- 88, as Risk Manager.  The company had completed a phase of becoming self insured as many corporations.  I was hired to develop, implement & evaluate all programs in self insurance in 46 stores.  Worked as liaison w/ Selber & Selber (another name not heard).  Traveled to all stores each month and knew all managers, and many employees.  The Setzer family ( and a Jawitz, who married a Setzer) were in all the corporate positions. The families were very involved in everything. The owners children were all bag boys or girls growing up.  Everyone in the family worked at Pic N Save but started at beginning jobs.   Very frugal management, where the corporate offices were at the Springfield location beside the warehouse.  Our offices were old, not many windows and the saying was always 'we do not make money inside our offices"...meaning they weren't going to put money into anything that wasn't returning a profit.   Opening the North side warehouse was big.  The racism was not at all what you all have heard.  The black man in pool story is a myth(lie) from long ago, that if Snopes was around then, it would be a story proved false each year.  In fact, the Setzers were all so quiet and unassuming, I don't think I ever saw the owner laugh, at any thing. 

Large number of employees were there for years, and remain committed to Pic n Save, as the Setzers treated loyal employees well.  The pay was comparable to others in retail, but not generous.  So many fondly memories from working there, but the best from my perspective, was the big decision to remove "Health Aids" from the large area where they placed signs to locate directions to products. The family (mostly all male) had so many serious meetings about how to change it and to what.  AIDS were becoming a serious health problem, while President Reagan ignored the problem, the Setzer family was very concerned about leaving the signs up.   Changes were made within about 6 months....Way before the  president would talk about it. 

I was very attuned to racism at the time, because this was when Americans finally became aware of Apartheid in South Africa, and my favorite song was "Ain't Going To Play Sun City".   I did not see overt racism, and many black employees were in some positions but white males were usually Managers, Assistant Managers, as was American in the 80's. 

Not being Jewish or in the family, I knew I would not go any higher in my position, so eventually left for another position.  One perk of my job, and many others was free gas.  They had a gas station and repair shop across the street, where I could take my car if any thing was wrong.  I'd go by each friday afternoon and fill up.  Lots of fun memories from working there, especially to working conditions & ways in 2014. 

As said above, So many people would tell directions from how far a place was from the nearest Pic N Save.  The stores all had numbers, so I only remember each store by the number.  Town & Country was #24, Old Kings Rd. was #36 and San Marco was #15.  It took so long for me to refer to Pic N Save other than " you need to go to #36 and a few blocks from there is Burger King. 


 

[tom1964]

I worked for the Pic N Slave in Gainesville at 6111 NW 8th ave.  I remember many days when my schedule would call for "9am to 3pm" ,  and would be told at 2:45,  that 'the owner is coming tomorrow,  you have to stay.  "

There was one week where I had 104.5 hours,  and I remember one day in that week I worked 30 hours straight.  Actually after about 16 hours I was so tired,  I was just a body wandering around.  I was going to do things and

forgetting in the middle of them what I was doing.  There was another employee that was working in the hardware department that worked 38 straight hours and told me he was seeing double and triple.  Glad I didn't operate

any powered equipment in the latter half of that day.  There was no real efficiency attempted in much of their operations,  which would have made a considerable difference in the operations and customer experience. 

[The_Choose_1]

I worked for the Pic N Slave in Gainesville at 6111 NW 8th ave.  I remember many days when my schedule would call for "9am to 3pm" ,  and would be told at 2:45,  that 'the owner is coming tomorrow,  you have to stay.  "

There was one week where I had 104.5 hours,  and I remember one day in that week I worked 30 hours straight.  Actually after about 16 hours I was so tired,  I was just a body wandering around.  I was going to do things and

forgetting in the middle of them what I was doing.  There was another employee that was working in the hardware department that worked 38 straight hours and told me he was seeing double and triple.  Glad I didn't operate

any powered equipment in the latter half of that day.  There was no real efficiency attempted in much of their operations,  which would have made a considerable difference in the operations and customer experience.

Question were you paid for your Overtime hours?

[Scarlettjax]

Wow, so many of us with Pic N Save connections.  I was "the" display person (mannequin dresser) in the early 1980's.  My supervisor was the sign painter, Frank Clarke.  Besides doing the best I could with the limited fashion consciousness of Pic N Save buyers, I also worked in the Liberty Street warehouses, where Frank would tell me to get the hell out of there whenever any of the Setzers came through.  I still don't know why.

My work was relatively autonomous; I'd fill up the tank of my personal vehicle off Liberty and head out to Madison, Live Oak, the GA locations and all around NE FL and just tell Frank where I was heading that day.  I quit when I got a better job with the schools at the time, and saw Frank one last time at the old Duval County Jail when I was working there and he was bonding out an employee.  That was in the late 1980's and he told me he was suprised to see me in jail, in uniform at least!  Still, I thought he was quite the boss to bail out one of his workers. 

[Gunnar]

My American Dad was working for Pic 'N Save when I was over here as an Exchange student. If I remember correctly, he was responsible for the clothing and sporting goods departments in the North Florida / South Georgia Region. That was in 1990 / 91 (he had already had this position before I came, not sure when exactly he started).

[ErikSetzer]

My mom used to work for Pic'N'Save...  First at the store on 7th St., then at the Town & Country location when we moved across the river.  Strangely, no matter how close we got to it, she never worked at the one on Atlantic near SJB, but I remember going there often as it was within walking distance of our house.  Got just about everything at that store.  Yeah, kids might pick, but eh, when your family doesn't have much money, what can you do?

It was kind of odd having the same last name as the owners, but no relation.

I remember the locations all over the place... strange to remember it so well when I think of all the things I don't remember so well.  I think there was one on Lone Star?  There was a shopping center there close to where I played games with my dad and brother (a small game store called Bugler's Cry, didn't last long, though).  I don't remember *that* well, mind you, so I can't remember how good the quality or anything was, but I remember some of the store layouts, the sales (Midnight Madness, IIRC, and they'd have the Green Room open late), the way they used these divider walls or something like that to make the front "office" at Town & Country.

I feel kind of old now.

[JBTripper]

I've only been in Jacksonville for five years, so I don't know Pic n Save from nothing, but reading about the reputation of the company sure explains my work environment for four+ years at Fanatics... Dreary, boring, and CHEAP! Founder and (former) CEO Alan Trager was the CFO for Pic n Save before he and his brother opened up Football Fanatics in the Avenues Mall in 1995. I always wondered how the culture at a sports company could be that way, but it was baked into the founder at Pic n Save.

[sigspd]

I remember going to the Pic n Save on Baymeadows and Old Kings when I was a kid in the 80s. It has been a while. The family didn't do a great job of moving into the future, and not fighting between themselves. It would have been interesting if they moved forward and I got to see a competition between Walmart, Kmart, and Pic N' Save.

My father used to sell news papers outside of the San Marco grocery store, then bagged groceries. It was a great grocery store when he talks about it.

As far as the Racist thoughts, back in the 60s and 70s a lot of people were overtly racist. I believe Jacksonville still had separate water fountains downtown until the late 70s. I am sure there are some in that generation that still are even though thoughts and feelings for a majority of the population has progressed. It is interesting to see the race history here in Jacksonville.

[Treadwell]

(forgive the necro reply)

I didn't know that the Town & Country Pic N' Save was the first one.  Another great history article.

To add to this, it was in the middle of the long north-to-south strip of the shopping center, just one small storefront out of many. Prior to one Halloween in the 70s, when I would be costuming as a devil, I pitched a fit over my parents' refusal to buy a plastic pitchfork at that store, and to shut me up they finally relented and spent the $1.75 or so. I usually didn't win such battles! (From an adult point of view, for all I know money was really tight that week and I wasn't helping.)

I don't remember the year the larger store was built at the north end of the lot, but it was in place by the early 80s. Interesting that, even though it was a replacement for the first store, that it was numbered as a new one, #24, as reported upthread.

As for jingles/mottos, I seem to remember "Shop and save at Pic-N-Save". Does that ring a bell for anyone?

[tom1964]

I worked for the Pic N Slave in Gainesville at 6111 NW 8th ave.  I remember many days when my schedule would call for "9am to 3pm" ,  and would be told at 2:45,  that 'the owner is coming tomorrow,  you have to stay.  "

There was one week where I had 104.5 hours,  and I remember one day in that week I worked 30 hours straight.  Actually after about 16 hours I was so tired,  I was just a body wandering around.  I was going to do things and

forgetting in the middle of them what I was doing.  There was another employee that was working in the hardware department that worked 38 straight hours and told me he was seeing double and triple.  Glad I didn't operate

any powered equipment in the latter half of that day.  There was no real efficiency attempted in much of their operations,  which would have made a considerable difference in the operations and customer experience.

Question were you paid for your Overtime hours?

Yes,  I was paid for my overtime hours,  I remember the amount of hours off my check,  don't remember the gross/net amount,  since it was 32 years ago.  It was the biggest check I ever got from there,  too bad they didn't pay decently,  I might have stayed. 
I did not get a raise in the last year and a half I worked there.  I was only making $4.85 when I left in '87,  which was one of the reasons i left.  They rarely let us work at nighttime,  which would have been so much better. 
I worked overnight one night before I left to go on vacation and put out 350 cases of stock,  which I would have been lucky to do in a week. 
We used to joke that they took the semi trailers and dropped the trailer on the ground and shoved stuff in to load it.  It would normally take 3 or 4 guys 6 hours to unload it because we had to unstack stuff off the top of full pallets,  and separate it for the different departments. 

I asked one time why the didn't invest in scanners,  and the answer was 'we have 100,000 items in this store and a scanner system would cost us $100,000.'

Big deal,  the efficiency,  and customer service improvements would have paid for themselves easily. 
I guess it was better to depend on the cashiers to remember every sale item ?

Our ordering was done in paper order books,  and hand typed into a teletype machine to be recorded onto a tape casette and played to the mainframe computer in the warehouse.  We frequently would order stuff and get 'zeroed'  because they had nothing to send us. 
There was no communication as to what was on hand,  and we ordered blind,  until one day when I called the buyer at the warehouse and had a nice talk with him to find out what he had,  and why we were getting shorted,  and what alternative items he had on hand.

Thank you Jack Dorman.  I don't remember his secretary's name,  but she was a big help too. 

So in retrospect,  I did get paid for my hours,  but considering the length of time I worked there,  and the hours and bs I put up with,  I should have gotten a lot more.   I subsequently worked for Publix,   and started out making more than I did when I left Pic N' Save,  I was treated better,  and the longest day I worked was 10 hours,  not 27. 

[Bativac]

Wow, so many of us with Pic N Save connections.  I was "the" display person (mannequin dresser) in the early 1980's.  My supervisor was the sign painter, Frank Clarke.  Besides doing the best I could with the limited fashion consciousness of Pic N Save buyers, I also worked in the Liberty Street warehouses, where Frank would tell me to get the hell out of there whenever any of the Setzers came through.  I still don't know why.

My work was relatively autonomous; I'd fill up the tank of my personal vehicle off Liberty and head out to Madison, Live Oak, the GA locations and all around NE FL and just tell Frank where I was heading that day.  I quit when I got a better job with the schools at the time, and saw Frank one last time at the old Duval County Jail when I was working there and he was bonding out an employee.  That was in the late 1980's and he told me he was suprised to see me in jail, in uniform at least!  Still, I thought he was quite the boss to bail out one of his workers.

My dad worked for him in the late 70s! Dad was a sign painter way back when at National Merchandise. He still tells horror stories about working for Frank Clarke!

[Scarlettjax]

Frank was a real trip.  Just like was said about National Merchandising and their reluctance to invest in scanners, they employed hand-painted signs for all their stores up to the end I believe.  Talk about a lost art! 

[Scarlettjax]

His obituary - you may want to share this with your dad, Baltivac.

CLARKE - Frank Cecil Clarke, 79, died Monday, January 11, 1999. Mr. Clarke was born in Birmingham, Alabama and had lived in Jacksonville for many years. He retired from the National Merchandise Company as a supervisor in the sign shop after 26 years of service. He was predeceased by his wife, Betty Dukes Clarke and a son Dane R. Clarke and is survived by a daughter; Denise Clarke (Timmy) Mills: son; David M. Clarke; daughter-in-law; Mary Katherine Owens Clarke: sister-in-law; Mrs. Daniel Clarke: a brother; James Clarke: and 3 grandchildren; David Clarke, Jr., Timothy W. Mills, III and Dana K. Clarke. Graveside funeral services will be held 2:00 pm Friday in Evergreen Cemetery, gate #6, with Rev. F. Ray Turner officiating. COREY-KERLIN FUNERAL HOME, 1426 Rowe Ave. in charge of arrangements.

[Bativac]

Thanks for that, Scarlettjax. My dad has told me (several times) about how one day he finally told Mister Clarke where to stick his ornery ways and Clarke came back, almost apologetic... and they got along quite well after that. Tough but fair I guess!

Sign painting is indeed a lost art. Dad can still letter a wall and you'll swear it was printed!

[Megabox]

Most people in the United States when they think of Pic N Save, think of the closeout store chain in the United States which has no connection to the Pic N Save chain in Jacksonville. There was a large closeout store chain called Pic N Save in the United States, it got bought out by Big Lots. There is also or was also a supermarket chain in Wisconsin called "Pick N Save".