Stater Bros. Markets — Local services in Corona

A Mixed Bag

Upon my recent visit to Stater Bros, I found myself conflicted. While the store's cleanliness, organization, and well-stocked shelves impressed me, it was disheartening to observe some concerning issues. This review sheds light on the relatively poor working conditions, lack of technical innovations, employee dissatisfaction, subpar compensation, peculiar cart blockages, overpricing, and understaffing that mar what would have otherwise been a pleasant and effective shopping experience. Other competitors seem to have innovated more effectively leading to better working conditions and customer experiences compared to this store.

Starting with the most pressing concern, the working conditions at this Stater Bros apparently leaves room for improvements. It seems like there are many employees staffing this store, and yet there remain incredulous inefficiencies like only one register open at nights. Some of the employees seemed stressed and overwhelmed, which was reflected in their interactions with customers. Their lack of enthusiasm and exhaustion were evident, making the shopping experience less enjoyable and leaving me feeling sympathetic towards the staff's plight. Furthermore, it seems like (online, in other reviews) reported scheduling issues might cause employees burnout. I'm genuinely wondering why there are not, for example, self-checkout machines at the store, especially since it is a popular hotspot for many third-party professional shoppers and deliverers. Technological innovations such as this seem to improve overall flow and efficacy of grocery store navigation, although it would of course be helpful to have solidified objective metrics demonstrating whether or not self-checkout is truly helpful. There may be unintended or inadvertent risks such as increased risk of theft which could be mitigated with close and careful observation and support offered by personnel at the self-checkout section. Unfortunately, it does not seem like much space exists to add a self- checkout section at this store. I feel genuine concern of any potential mistreatment, discrimination, or scheduling issues preventing workers from having enough free-time or daylight time to heal, recover, and be their best selves at every single shift. Worker happiness and positive conditions are essential for optimal success and well-being.

It is important mentioning some of the innovations Stater Bros, Inc., Corporate teams implemented into grocery stores around the country improving customer experience and staff capabilities to help and maintain utmost wellness. People matter. Although Stater Bros incorporates effective technological solutions such as NCR Emerald Solution POS system to improve customer experience, so much more needs to be urgently done especially with regards to improving employee experience, productivity, and workplace satisfaction which will also enhance the customer experience. Stater Bros still relies on traditional checkout lanes leading to unnecessarily longer lines and wait times for customers while simultaneously placing additional undue stress on store employees to most quickly and efficiently scan and bag customer items, an area that may be significantly improved. As one of the nation's largest, most successful privately-owned grocery store franchises, Stater Bros is uniquely positioned to lead the advancement of grocery store conditions and experiences for all. I urge Stater Bros to do everything within its capacities to improve life experiences for people-- employee and worker-- at any cost possible because it matters more than we might know.

Edit: there were significant sales on multiple items on a recent subsequent visit, seemingly because many of them had not sold in time or were getting closer to expiration dates. The items at this store always seem super clean and brand new, making me wonder what happens with grocery items left unsold upon reaching expiration dates. Could not find this information...

Don’t buy a 2 tiered cake from Stater Bros bakery!

I ordered it about a month in advance. I liked a certain cake topper they had but not the design so I met with the cake decorator and she SPECIFICALLY put it in the description what I wanted. I called about a week in advance to check up on the topper and to verify that my order was still there.

Day of pickup and the cake is beautifully decorated with the wrong colors (the cake topper matching color WITHOUT the cake topper). I’m pretty disappointed and the decorator said they weren’t sure (Ummm.. maybe a phone call to me?). But the decorator offered to redo it, so fine. It was an additional wait but whatever. The cake looked nice but you could tell that the icing was thin in certain areas. Whatever, I didn’t have a choice and it was decent.

I drive home very carefully. Slow speeds, slow turns, etc. When I opened the box I saw that the cake had completely separated (the top layer of the bottom tier had slid off). My heart dropped. I was so disappointed! The birthday boy was extremely upset. This is not a cake to be presented and commemorated in pictures. We now have to go buy another cake.

I called to talk to the manager and he was unwilling to help. Pretty much said it was my fault since the cake was ok when it was boxed up. (A cake that was properly supported shouldn’t just split that way.)

So this was an $80 lesson I learned today (actually over $100 since I had to go buy another cake). I would not recommend this bakery for a 2 tiered cake.

Update: There were no supports for the cake! I was assured by the manager that there was.

UPDATE 2: I received a call from a different manager today apologizing for the mess up. It seems the bakery department didn’t put the supports that the cake needed. Ron was very nice and he gave me a full refund plus a SB gift card. I appreciated being validated that it wasn’t my fault (since the prior manager blamed me). Unfortunately this did nothing to fix the cake for my nephew’s birthday party last night. The “beautiful” cake I wanted for the presentation and pictures was hidden away and we had to go with a different cake. My nephew was very disappointed especially since we spent so much time deciding on a cake and ordered it so early to ensure that it was perfect.

Thank you Ron for refunding my money! I’m leaving this review up to warn others of the 2 tier cake disaster. (The cake was delicious and every regular cake I’ve bought from this location has been yummy. The bakery does have good regular cakes just stay away from...

They lied and said they had a frozen theme cake kit so we agreed to pick it up and they didn’t say anything about not having it in stock, but it was a plain blue/white cake ($33) and they said they ran out of the cake kit. Why couldn’t they tell us this before we placed an order?! I spoke to the manager who didn’t offer even a 10% percent discount, we spend $500 plus a month there and they couldn’t give a couple dollars off for ruining our child’s birthday? She was so disappointed in the cake and they just lost all our business. The manager was a woman with brown long hair, idk if that was even a manager but that was rude of them and foolish because now they won’t be getting our $500 plus a month. Also, this place is very expensive so idk why we ever shopped there other than it’s close to our home. Do not order a cake at their bakery and save money by shopping at Walmart - staters is at least $1-$3 more per product than it is at Walmart. Update: I returned the cake because my child said it wasn’t decorated and she didn’t like it plus I was aggravated at how the ‘manager’ wouldn’t even consider a five dollar discount—that would’ve made a difference to me and I won’t shop there anymore. I bought a cake at baskin Robbins. She should know birthday cakes are important and if they’re going to lie about having the cake kit then they should be held responsible for lying. She could’ve said I’m sorry for the miscommunication and here’s five dollars off and I’d be thrilled but they need every dollar because they can’t get enough $ even though the store was packed. $5-$10 off a cake would notttt hurt they at all but now they’re losing $500-$600 a month. If my employee lied and said they had something in stock that wasn’t there, I would go to great lengths to fix it since birthdays and cakes are special moments and we were told we were getting a Disney frozen...