Getting paid for being friendly:

the story of a Wal-Mart greeter

By Sarah Boyd
boydsl@uwec.edu

A young man walks past a pair of automatic sliding doors, along the rows of shopping carts that extends back like a long, metal boa constrictor. A woman with short, graying black hair waits at the entrance with a smile from ear to ear.

“Well, hello there kiddo. How ya been?” she says as she gently grabs his forearm.

“Doin’ just fine, thanks,” replies the man.

A younger woman with a toddler passes the two, gives a smile and heads out the door, her cart full of bags. Her son excitedly plays with the new toy just purchased as his mother pushes him in the shopping cart.

“Hey you! Have a great day,” the older woman says with a smile. “Good to see you again.”

What may sound like a friendly exchange between a few old friends is the everyday job of 61-year-old Judy Volbrecht. The Augusta native works about five days a week as a door greeter at Wal-Mart in Eau Claire. She describes her job as much more than a simple, “Hello” and “Goodbye.”

“It gets interesting,” she said. “Some people will come in and just need to talk to you, get some weight off their chest, and they know they can come to you because that’s what you’re there for. They know that’s where it’s going to stay; there’s a trust there.”

Her piercing blue eyes look out from a set of thin-framed glasses and a smile stretches across her face as she speaks of the “regulars” she sees on an almost daily basis. From mothers coming to grocery shop in the middle of the night when their rambunctious children are finally tuckered out to college students rushing to find the materials for the project they’ve decided to start last minute, Judy Volbrecht loves to see the variety of people Wal-Mart attracts. And Wal-Mart definitely attracts a mixture.

“You have to enjoy people,” she said. “Here, you see all people, everybody and every kind.”

As she paces the front entrance, the heavier-set woman who stands around five feet tall, organizes the baskets that are stacked in the corner of the store. She looks up only to greet the new faces coming in.

“You have a return there, sweetie?” she asks a customer entering with an old Wal-Mart bag. “Let me point you in the right direction.”

As she moves around the store, the back of her bright blue vest which reads, “How Can I Help You?” in crisp, white letters, reflects in the harsh florescent light.

Her sweet face and never-ending smile seem to welcome each customer and make them feel comfortable. Her eyes twinkle as she looks at everyone walking in and asks them how they’re doing.

 But don’t let that friendly exterior fool you.

When it comes to cracking down on shoplifters, Judy Volbrecht is known as “one of the best.” In her three years of working as a Wal-Mart door greeter, she has stopped a countless number of people who think they’ve pulled a fast one.

“People think they can get away with things, but you lift up a purse or a bag and there it is,” she said wagging her finger. “I’ll give them a chance and say, ‘You wanna pay for this?’ They can’t fool me. It’s just part of the job.”

Unlike her fellow employees, she said no one can intimidate her when it comes to shoplifting. Some of the younger workers might look the other way if someone a little “sketchy” walks by with a possible unpaid item Judy Volbrecht said, but it’s her job to stop these people and so she does. Plain and simple.

And she’s been recognized by Wal-Mart for mastering that job.

Three pins grace the front of her blue vest, each with special meaning. The first pin, her most valued, is a regional recognition badge that says, “People Greeter” above an image of a gold figure with outstretched arms.

“I got that one for stopping so many (shoplifters),” she said. “It means a lot to me to be recognized for a job well done.”

Two angel pins mirror each other on the top of her vest. One, with a green gem for the angel’s body, was given to her by her granddaughter on her 60th birthday. The other angel has a dress made of blue and purple ribbons and was originally on a Christmas tree ornament. It looked better on her vest, she said.

“I just think an angel is good luck,” she said. “I think we all have one and we all need one.”

Wal-Mart, find out more about where Judy Volbrecht works.