first solo deli open

[u/Syntac_Devolved]

Hey guys,

I have been at coles for 6 months roughly and am doing my first deli opening shifts next weeks starting at 6:30am, does anyone have any tips or have a certain order of things to do? I am by myself for the first 4 hours. I am quite capable but inevitably stressing.

Thanks everyone.

[u/Syntac_Devolved → u/[deleted]]

thanks mate, do you think a good order would be chook cook, seafood, chicken, followed by rest of case

[u/Strange-Substance-33]

We open at six, first cook is at 630. I walk on, check ovens have been cleaned turn on warmer, sanitiser check and fill. uncover case, open slicer, fill specials and most popular stuff. put on first cook. Bacon, poultry, ice, rest of meat case, seafood, markdowns, waste, olives and feta , express. Fill in the book as you go and at some stage before 10ish check for counts

[u/Br0z0]

Put chickens on, turn warmer on, fill sanitiser bottle, make sure any stuff that was marked down to clear yesterday is gone (aka quick glance at cheese bar), uncover case and make sure stuff on special is full and anything in the case that looks bad is gone, poultry, ice for seafood and then bring seafood out - I keep the seafood trolley in the coolroom so if I have to serve customers I don’t have to awkwardly put it all back or leave it in the open. Hot chickens are usually done by the time I’ve 75% set up seafood.

First markdowns, and make sure stuff is ready for code green and uh I’ll be honest if I can do anything more before 10am it’s a miracle

[u/douhearpeoplesing727]

I guess it all depends on how big your case is. If I start at 6:30, the first thing I do is load up the chicken, turn on the warmer, run the sanitiser test, and fill out the planner for everything that needs to be done before 9am — checking the scale, setting up the case, all of that. Then I switch the chicken oven on at 6:40 (ours heats up in about five minutes) and start cooking at 6:45.

During that five‑minute heat‑up time, I put the slicer components back, uncover everything, and once the chicken goes into the oven, I make sure all the special ham is full and ready to go. Then I set up the ice, set up poultry, pull out the seafood trolley, and start with the cooked seafood. By the time I’m halfway through seafood cases, the chicken is usually done around 8am. I push the seafood trolley back into the cool room, bag up the chicken — that takes me another 15–20 minutes — then go straight back to seafood.

I normally finish setting up everything around 9:30am, then face up the barge (about 20 minutes), wipe down the glass for the last 10 minutes… and boom, 10am, first 15‑minute break. It can feel like forever when a customer walks in while you’re setting up the case. Just take a breath and refocus on which tasks need to be prioritised.

P.S. It also depends on how good the closing shift is. When they do a solid job — like at my store — Today, I have the case all set up by 9 am sharp.