Brookshire’s Bows Spanish Language Course for Employees

With the U.S. Hispanic population growing rapidly, Brookshire Grocery Co. has launched Supermarket Spanish, a Spanish language course designed to help employees of the Tyler, Texas-based grocer better communicate with Hispanic customers.

The course, which consists of six weekly classes, allows employees to learn basic phrases to communicate with Spanish-speaking customers in a supermarket setting. Employees will also learn about Hispanic culture, including the geographic areas of Central and South America and corresponding food preferences; key words for produce and other food items, common phrases and salutations; words for money exchange, calendar days and months; and the alphabet.

“Although our employees won’t become fluent from participating in this course, it helps them learn the basic phrases they need to communicate with our Spanish-speaking customers who speak little or no English,” said Rick Rayford, BGC president and CEO. “We are dedicated to providing the tools our employees need to excel, and this course is one way we can improve their ability to assist Spanish-speaking shoppers, while learning more about the Hispanic culture.”

About five to 10 employees are included in each course, which is offered primarily to the management staff and other store leaders.

To date, Brookshire's has completed five Supermarket Spanish courses, with plans to expand the class to more highly-populated, Spanish-speaking operating areas throughout 2013.

Brookshire Grocery Co. operates 154 stores in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.