AUSTIN, Texas and LAKEWOOD, Colo., June 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE:NGVC) and HotSchedules®, provider of the first cloud-based intelligent operating platform for restaurants, are teaming up to equip the specialty retailer’s employees with world-class forecasting and labor management tools. The deployment across the company’s 147 stores will empower Natural Grocers to make better staffing and management decisions, influenced by critical sales trends and forecasting data, while also giving its more than 3,000 employees a robust mobile scheduling solution.
“Ever since our first store opened in 1955, one of our five founding principles at Natural Grocers has been our commitment to our employees,” said Heather Isely, executive vice president at Natural Grocers. “Part of that commitment is giving our in-store managers and regional leadership world-class tools to help them succeed. HotSchedules is the most proven provider of scheduling, reporting and employee engagement solutions for the foodservice industry, and that’s why we are thrilled to work with them as we invest in additional resources for our team.”
Natural Grocers’ store managers will utilize HotSchedules’ forecasting and labor optimization solution to help meet performance and financial goals, while also saving them time on administrative tasks such as creating schedules and managing shift swaps. Prior to HotSchedules, Natural Grocers’ hourly employees would drive or call into a store to get their schedules. With the HotSchedules Mobile App, which is already used by 2.8 million hospitality employees globally, Natural Grocers’ employees can get their schedules anywhere, anytime and easily message other team members.
“The Natural Grocers team understands how important it is to give managers tools to effectively forecast demand, optimize labor and help maintain compliance, while also making it easier for hourly employees to schedule shifts around personal obligations,” said David Cantu, co-founder and chief customer officer at HotSchedules. “Natural Grocers is a perfect example of a brand balancing those two critical initiatives with intelligent and innovative mobile tools, and we’re excited to have been chosen as their technology partner.”
About Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE:NGVC) (NaturalGrocers.com) is an expanding specialty retailer of organic and natural groceries, body care and dietary supplements. The company offers a flexible, neighborhood-store format, affordable prices and free, science-based nutrition education programs to help customers make informed health and nutrition choices. Founded in Colorado in 1955, Natural Grocers has more than 3,000 employees and operates 147 stores in 19 states.
About HotSchedules
HotSchedules works with over 33,000 customers – from large international chains, to some of the hottest new concepts. With a continual focus on innovation, HotSchedules provides innovative technology, services and user experiences for the restaurant, retail and hospitality industries, including Clarifi, the first cloud-based intelligent operating platform. Designed for independents, multi-unit franchise operators and international enterprise brands, HotSchedules serves over 2.8 million users across 160,000 locations in 56 countries - helping them control costs, maintain compliance, improve visibility, increase profitability and drive operational consistency. For more information visit: https://www.hotschedules.com.
Media Contact:
Amber Dutra
Natural Grocers
303.986.4000 x80150
adutra@naturalgrocers.com
Tim Streeb
ICR for HotSchedules
646.677.1800
tim.streeb@icrinc.com