From packer to manager

SUPERMARKET: ONE OF THE FACES AND PERSONALITIES THAT MAKE RETAIL ECOSYSTEM WORK

- Hein Kaiser

You stand in line. You put your shopping on the counter. It gets rung up and packed. You pay. You leave.

When grocery shopping most of us are on autopilot and we hardly take notice of anyone and anything else while doing so. That is, beyond a few pleasantries and platitudes.

But all anyone really wants to do is get out of the supermarket to somewhere we can lick our spending wounds.

A supermarket is like a beehive. Cleaners, merchandisers, personal shoppers, butchers, bakers and cashiers to name a few.

Ditoro Sefoka has been in retail for well over a decade and presently front-of-house manager, meaning the supervisor behind the cashiers, at El Ridge Checkers on the East Rand.

She's one of the many faces and personalities that make the whole retail ecosystem work.

Born and raised in Limpopo, she moved to Boksburg for schooling and completed an office administration course after matriculating. Work in retail was never part of her grand plan, but once she started, she stayed.

"I began as a packer," she said.