Interviews will be held today at Ralphs and Food 4 Less stores for veterans and their family members, as part of an effort to fill an estimated 20,000 permanent jobs within parent company Kroger’s supermarket divisions nationwide.
Ralphs Grocery Co., which operates 209 supermarkets from its headquarters in Los Angeles, is hiring to fill an estimated 1,000 positions, according to spokeswoman Kendra Doyel.
At Los Angeles-based Food 4 Less, interviews will be held at 95 stores in Southern California and 14 in the greater Chicago area.
The company on Aug. 31 announced that veterans and their family members could fill out an application online. Those who did so by the Sept. 13 deadline were told to return to a store today between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. No appointment is necessary.
Brian Zobel of Ralphs’ human resources division said those who missed the Sunday online application deadline can still show up at any Ralphs or Food 4 Less store.
“We encourage them to walk right in. If they haven’t applied yet, they’ll get instructions and we’ll capture their name and address and make sure they get some follow-up contact,” he said.
Ralphs and Food 4 Less, along with the entire Kroger family of stores, collectively hired more than 6,000 veterans in 2014, and has hired more than 29,000 veterans since 2009 as part of its “Honoring Our Heroes” program, according to company officials.
“Ralphs is deeply committed to the nation’s veterans and their families, and we continue to seek out opportunities to honor heroes through career opportunities,” said Donna Giordano, president of Ralphs.
“Ralphs is a place where you can come for a job and stay for a career,” she said, noting that the majority of Ralphs store managers started as part-time clerks.
Bryan Kaltenbach, president of Food 4 Less, said: “We know that veterans offer unique skills and experiences that can contribute significantly to our goal of being the finest supermarket in each community in which we operate.”
“Our commitment to hire veterans affirms the value we place on our military men and women because no one who has fought for our country overseas should have to fight for a job at home,” he said.
