POV: You’re a Carlino’s employee during the Holidays

Dear Fellow Foodies,

It’s been quite some time since my last post, but I have not forgotten about you. This time of year is hectic for the businesses, and I haven’t had much time to breathe, let alone write. 

As I was sitting down to write this, I was unsure which direction I wanted to take and decided upon an unconventional one. Many understand the absolute chaos of the holidays, but it is an entirely different experience while running a business. I’ve decided to share some of the behind-the-scenes of a Carlino’s employee during the holidays and how we bring the holidays to life. 

We start working on our Hanukkah and Christmas menus roughly five to six months before they are out, but we take the pictures and assemble the menus for about a month. Once my sister, Angela, comes up with the menu’s contents, it goes through various editing, photography, design, and marketing rounds. Overall, it takes a team of about eight to complete one menu, and both Hannukah and Christmas menus are worked around the same time with almost entirely different menus. That is just the first part of the process. 

The process of coming up with the menus is determined based on prior years and what people have been asking for. Most importantly, it is determined based on what ingredients we can get in. I recently posted on Facebook about the trials and tribulations that nearly every company is experiencing just to run their business, and it seems the problems are only getting worse.

The cost of supplies, ingredients, and everything in between has increased dramatically, and supplies are so limited that everyone is trying to put whatever they can on the shelves. It is easier to explain to people now because more people understand, but in the beginning, it was an uphill battle. All that to say, none of the menus or stores would be able to run without my sister Angela. She is genuinely superwoman, and everyone can attest to that. 

The true chaos begins once the menus are created and out for publication. I’m going to take you through a day in the life of a manager during the December holidays. POV: It is a Friday morning, roughly 8 am, and you are preparing for the day of chaos to begin. The cases are being filled with copious amounts of food, sandwiches are being prepared in rapid succession, pizzas are being cooked to sizzling perfection, orders are being fired off, and everyone is drinking copious amounts of caffeine. 

Once the store opens at 9 am, the day “begins.” We typically receive roughly 20-30 orders every day through our website, and then we continuously take orders throughout the days in-store. We’ve capped the orders for Dec. 23 and Christmas Eve at roughly 40-50 per hour. From 9 am-6 pm on Dec. 23 and 9 am-4 pm on Christmas Eve, we will be creating and compiling about 50 orders an hour. That does not include the number of people that come into the stores that entire week. We’re talking big crowds of people buying copious amounts of things. It sounds like insanity, yet this is what we prepare for all year. This is our Superbowl.

Christmas Eve is always the craziest time, and I usually spend it upstairs getting the orders ready to be sent off. I’ll take you through my day, or part of it. I will arrive at around 6 am, if not earlier, and prepare the bread for the pre-orders. I will ensure everyone is in one piece and say hello to everyone in the store. Then, the show begins. When people come to pick up their orders, they put them through the system, and the receipt is sent upstairs to where I am and a few of my fellow soldiers. 

Once we receive the order slip/receipt, we start gathering all of the dishes for the orders, bag them, and carry them downstairs. Then they are brought to other members of our squad who will double-check that everything is correct, and then off they go. That sounds very simple, but some orders are huge, and it takes multiple people to complete and carry. For example, my cousin and I checked how many steps and staircases we took on Thanksgiving Eve, and we hit about 18k steps and 100 stairs each. That is a little less than 10 miles, depending on your stride. I guess I can say I’ve done a 10k then. 

Even though I tried my best to fully immerse you into a Carlino’s holiday extravaganza, there is really no way to fully understand it until you’ve lived it. Every new employee always gets the, “if you think this is busy, just wait for the holidays,” speech. If you do wish to experience this lovely time with our stores or would like to lose some weight around the holidays, we are always looking for people to help run orders!

Regardless, nothing compares to the feeling of 3:30 pm on Christmas Eve. I think that’s when it truly feels like Christmas. It feels like that moment in every coming-of-age film where the main character finally realizes their purpose in life, and the music starts blaring as they walk off towards the sunset. It’s the feeling of accomplishment and overall bliss. The thing that we prepare for all year is coming to a close. So many people are being fed excellent food, families are together, rest is near, and Santa hasn’t even arrived yet! It is truly a feeling that I can’t fully describe. 

Everyone that works at our stores are truly wonderful and we could not do any of it without them. Every single person is so important to the store’s function and helps in making the holidays that much better. Though some may think of it as a red flag, we truly mean it when we say that our fellow colleagues are our family. We are everything we’ve become because of everyone who has helped us along the way.

I appreciate it if you’ve read up to this point, and hope you felt immersed into our beautiful chaos. We go through all of the stress and fatigue brought on by the holidays because the reward of feeding people and seeing them happy is enough to fuel us. 

This year has been so incredibly insane, but it is a feeling that I wouldn’t trade for the world. Growing up, I used to think that it ruined Christmas because we never got to enjoy it as everyone else did. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate it for what it is. My family is truly blessed to do what we do, and we are so incredibly grateful for another year of providing goodness to so many people and families. 

From my family to yours, Happy Holidays!

Your Friend,

Nadia Carlino

PS. As of right now, we have stopped taking orders through the 24th, due to high volume and production. Come shop in-store, if you do dare. Just kidding. Or am I?