Merchandisers | Supervisor | Employee of the Year
Ron Samsel
Merchandiser--Prattville, AL
Ron Samsel is one of those rare exceptions to the rule that both surprise us and please us. Our general order of business is to hire Merchandisers who have worked outside for their entire careers--they tend to be able to acclimate to our work environment better. Ron, however, worked in manufacturing with The Dana Corporation, and was a member of their management team for 30 years. When we hired him, we expected that Ron would stick around for a couple of months and then move on to something......easier. 6 years and one Employee of the Year Nomination later, Ron is an integral part of Josh Weaver's team, not only attending in excellent fashion to the needs to the Prattville store, but also training the new hires for the Prattville, Montgomery, and Wetumpka stores.
Once we got to know Ron a little better, it was easy to understand why he fit with our organization so well. His talents and interests are broad and varied. We thank Ron for his service to our country in the US Army during the height of the Viet Nam War, and envy his location and the ability that it affords him to spend summers on the Alabama beaches and autumns hiking in the mountains of Tennessee. (We all know where he spends his springs!) The rest of his time must be consumed by his four children and ten grandchildren--a fortunate position to be in. His lone fault seems to be that he is a Michigan Wolverines fan in the heart of Alabama!
Regarding his qualities as an employee though, we think that this quote from his Supervisor, Josh Weaver, says it all:
"I can rarely find a mistake in Ron's store--that’s a tribute to how much pride he takes in his work day in and day out. He has earned the respect of not only fellow GV employees and Lowes staff, but the plant vendors love him as well because they know that he will always have their product looking top notch at all times!"It is our great pleasure to introduce to you Ron Samsel. We think you'll agree--he's the reason rules were meant to be broken
Cindi Yando
Merchandiser--Lakeland, FL
When we talk about our Merchandisers taking ownership in the Garden Center, no one seems to embody that spirit more than Cindi Yando. She is known not only for her keen eye for operational detail, but also for her general insistance that everything in the department adds to the presentation of the product, and to the experience of each shopper who enters the garden center. Even the combinations and orders of colors that the plants are laid out in on the table are important to Cindi.
She brings a great combination of experience with her to the Lakeland store. She began her eight year career with Gardenvision as a Team Leader, way back in 2003, then transitioned to the Costa Color sales team, and finally settled in her old stomping grounds as one of our best Merchandisers. The store values Cindi not just for her hard work and eye for accuracy and detail, but also as an integral part of the team who lends input to a great variety of decisions. She has also been relied upon to conduct "Snow Bird Events" at most of the stores in the Lakeland district where she introduced visiting residents to gardening in their new Florida home.
It is our great pleasure to introduce to you Cindi Yando. Have a look at the pictures below--they represent the kind of work that Cindi does day in and day out. It's always a pleasure to shop in her store. Please drop by Lakeland and have a chat about plants with her--she would love nothing more. Just look for her trademark hat as she buzzes around the department.
