[energetic music]
(announcer) Headquartered in New York City,
Shoppers World is one of the nation's
fastest growing retailers
of discount apparel and merchandise.
Leading this $250-million-a-year company
and its 1,800 employees is one man.
I'm Sam Dushey, and I'm the president
and CEO of Shoppers World.
♪ ♪
(Sam) Shoppers World is a family-owned
and operated discount retailer.
We carry anything ranging from apparel,
all the way through hard goods,
from home to linens
to furniture, appliances, house ware, to electronics.
We will have every fashionable item that's trending
at the cheapest prices.
My grandfather came here in 1904 from Syria
in search of the American dream.
He opened up the first store in the '30s.
You're gonna be surprised how beautiful the store is.
(Sam) In the '50s, my grandfather
opened a store in Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn.
- [cheers and applause] - [speaking indistinctly]
(Sam) From there, my father and my uncle
opened their own stores.
This was all for my father, Sam Dushey.
(Sam) I was born in Brooklyn, New York.
I grew up in a retail store.
I grew up chasing my father around.
It was just in my blood.
I started out working in my father's stores,
working in my cousin's stores with my grandfather,
learning every piece of the business.
We stayed at about eight stores for 30 years.
My father wasn't a risk taker.
He was conservative. He was modest.
So I took over the CEO role when I was about 27.
I was very bored with just having eight stores.
So I took the torch and ran with it.
In 2008, when the financial crisis happened,
landlords couldn't even pay their real estate taxes.
I was able to find tremendous real estate deals
and take over some leases to open stores
that I probably would've never been able
to have the opportunity to do.
And this is what segued us into expanding
a tremendous amount of stores in such a short time.
I am responsible for growing this company
from eight to 40 stores,
and I want to continue until we get to 500 stores.
Good morning.
(Sam) Without a doubt, we're looking to be
the best price in town,
so I'm pushing the buyers as hard as possible.
These are our sheet sets.
It's a $10 price point.
I want to be out at $5 on this.
Constantly fighting tooth and nail
to make sure that we get the right price,
the right quality.
The customers were lined up for this iron.
I was very dissatisfied that we couldn't supply
enough of them to the customers
and we were short on merchandise.
I can get 10,000 units of this.
Not good enough.
I built this company that we have today,
and I'm accomplishing things that...
that nobody thought I would accomplish.
Uh, and I continue to do so.
Hiya, Dad. How are you?
Hey, Sam. How you doing?
How was your weekend?
Eh, it was good.
Let's talk about the expansion.
We got the whole thing covered.
I have everything under control.
(Sam) I'm the last family member left in the business.
I... I am the company,
but I'm very, very close with my father.
I'm always, uh, up for getting his opinions and suggestions.
You got to be careful we don't open
too many stores at one time.
The customers are loving us.
We're on fire, and we're on a hot streak.
That's all great.
When you're hot, you're hot.
We're a family that all had
one store each, and that was our philosophy.
There's a big difference between when we were
seven, eight stores, to today.
We have an infrastructure that we built,
that I built.
You know, it's very, very different today.
That's what I worry about.
I got it covered.
(Sam) Getting into this business,
my situation is quite similar
to my father's situation on a different level.
His was more out of need to survive,
and mine's more out of need to be successful.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
(Sam) I don't want to brag too much about myself,
but we currently live in Manhattan,
I'm married to the most beautiful woman.
Her name is Honey.
Sam, don't you think
you're over packing a little bit?
You're taking your entire wardrobe.
Just pack what you need.
I'm just not sure what's gonna happen.
We have two beautiful boys, Abraham and David.
(Honey) Everyone say good-bye to Daddy.
Come on, you gonna give me a kiss and a hug?
Give him a big hug good-bye.
[smooches]
Bye, Sam. Love you. Mwah.
♪ ♪
[light percussive music]
(Sam) I'm going undercover because I put
many, many years of hard work into building this business.
Have you ever had your hair colored before?
Nope.
(Sam) I've risked and leveraged
an entire family business, entire family history and name,
in order to go out and grow this company.
And I need to get into the stores and figure out
what problems we have before we continue expanding.
It smells like the stuff they clean the bathrooms with, no?
I'm competing up against all the big, national chains
from Walmart, to Target, to Kohl's,
and any regional chains like a Forman Mills.
I'm ready to parachute in like Mary Poppins.
(Sam) I saw the Forman Mills episode.
[cart bangs]
Let it go.
[indistinct radio chatter]
(Sam) And I guarantee you
that my episode
will knock Rick Forman's episode
out of the water.
Whoa, my God.
I'm going undercover as Alex,
the surfer dude from the Jersey Shore.
I'm bleaching my hair, getting a spray tan...
[bright instrumental music]
That's a huge difference.
- I love it. - Yeah?
(Sam) And I'm changing my clothes
to give me more of a workman type of look.
My employees will think I'm a reality show contestant
looking to win money to open up my own home improvement store.
They'll have no idea this is actually "Undercover Boss."
[dramatic music]
[relaxed music]
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
(Sam) I'm feeling electric.
I'm here at my Jamaica Avenue, Queens store.
This store started three generations ago.
I actually spent a lot of my time
here at this store when I was a kid.
This store ranks as one of our top performing stores.
(Sam) What up, man? I'm looking for Nalini.
Oh, she's on the fourth floor.
(Sam) I need to make sure that my store
is living up to my expectations,
and living up to the Shoppers World
customers' expectations.
Hi, I'm Alex.
- I'm Nalini. - Whoo.
Hi, how are you?
- Out of breath. - [laughs]
I'm in charge of the shoe department.
I'm gonna show you what to do today,
how to keep the shoes in order...
- Okay. - How to look at the size.
- How to look at the detail. - Okay.
Basically, you're mine for today.
- I'm your guy. I'm your guy. - Okay? So...
You're gonna put this on first.
I think I'm gonna make this Alex guy cry today.
(Nalini) I'm gonna have him do every little thing,
so he can understand what it's all about.
He's gonna know the hardship of working in the shoe department.
- Following you. - Let's go.
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
(Nalini) We're gonna walk through the aisles,
and you have to make sure it's organized.
Oh, pretty nice.
This is a shoe that's inside here.
So... and you have to look at the size.
- This is size 6. - Okay.
You have to make sure there's a 6, though.
- Size 6. - You got to open the box.
You got to take the box and open it.
- Oh, me? - Yes, you got to do it.
Sorry, a little slow.
Yeah. It's all right.
You'll catch on.
And make sure it's a size 6.
If this is not a size 6, you have to find a size 6.
- It's a size 6? - Size 6.
Make sure it's a left and a right.
I have to do all these boxes?
(Nalini) Yes.
Okay, so this is a size 6; this is size 6.
Yep.
- Right and left? - Yep.
So you put them in the box, and you wrap it up.
I think I get the hang of it.
I'ma leave you here. You just have to...
you have to organize everything here.
I'll come back and check up on you.
Okay.
[whistles]
[hip-hop music]
♪ ♪
[child screaming and crying]
♪ ♪
Size 7, size 7.
♪ ♪
Sorry for all the boxes.
Let me just move these out of your way.
(woman) Thank you.
So how are you doing?
It's really dusty. Do you happen to have tissues?
Dying here from all the dust. Whoo.
One thing you got to learn about the shoe department...
you have a certain amount of hours that you have
to do a certain amount of things.
So you have to hurry up.
All right, so you want me to finish this up?
- Yes. - Oh, man.
[funky music]
♪ ♪
- Oh, my God. - Here you go.
- Thank you so much. - Yeah, you're welcome.
♪ ♪
I'm already wiped out.
♪ ♪
301, there's 301.
605.
Wow, this is a mess.
(Sam) Organizing the shoe department, I started to realize
that the buyer is buying way too many styles
for the amount of space we have in our stores.
Now, there are maybe, eight to ten styles here.
They won't all fit up here.
You have to make the space.
It's very hard, trust me.
It's not Nalini's fault.
It's our fault. It's my fault.
I'm constantly pushing the buyers as hard as possible
to buy unlimited amounts of product.
And they're overestimating
how much merchandise they're filling the stores with.
Imagine you have to go through this whole area.
(Nalini) And then you have to do the purses,
and you have to do the jewelry,
and you have to do the belts.
That's your department too.
So I'ma take you upstairs, and you're gonna do some stocking.
And you got to move a little faster.
Yeah, yeah. I'm all yours.
- Okay? All right. - Let's go.
(Nalini) Chop, chop, chop. Let's go.
An escalator means you walk up; you do not stand up.
(Nalini) Keep the pace up.
So you're gonna do everything on the table here.
So when you put the ticket on,
you have to put the ticket where the name is.
Then you're gonna take an alarm,
and you're gonna put it on here.
(Sam) Watch your finger.
(Nalini) You just have to be careful, okay?
Ooh, watch your finger.
You've been doing this for eight years?
Yeah, I met my fiancé right here in this store.
What?
And he worked in the shoe department.
- Wow, that's exciting. - Yeah.
Yeah, I guess.
You're gonna have... do you plan to have kids
and children and...
Definitely. Definitely.
And then I have a little nephew that I take care of,
'cause my brother's not able to take care of him.
- How old is he? - He's three.
It's not easy.
I take care of my mom, my dad.
My dad is sick. He has a kidney problem.
- Oh, wow. - So he goes to dialysis
three times a week.
And then my mom, she has a, um, spine...
her spine is shifted.
So none of them work, so...
Wait, you alone
are taking care of your mom and your dad?
Yes, yes.
Wow, that's rough.
Yeah, but it's just something, like,
I have to do it.
Your parents bring you in this world.
You should be grateful for them.
So that's why I kind of... I mean,
you should understand why I stay here,
because it's a paycheck.
It's a daily paycheck. It helps out with my bills.
But sometimes you look at your paycheck,
and you're like, "This is what I made."
I've worked here for eight years,
and I haven't got a promotion.
Same pay.
When I started working here,
I used to make, like, 60 hours,
and then it cut down to, like, 28.
So it was like you're bringing home,
like, let's say like $1,000,
and then you go down to $300.
How does that make you feel?
That would make me feel pretty bad.
- Yeah. - Do you feel like you're
gonna be stuck in the position forever?
Actually, I was thinking about,
like, you know, looking for another job,
but then I also have my family to think about.
I can't just leave this job.
(Sam) What would my father and my grandfather think
about the fact that Nalini's working for us for eight years
and hasn't been offered a promotion?
I don't think we have any more of these alarms.
- No? - Everything is done here.
(Sam) It has made me feel as if I'm not doing my job.
[dramatic music]
(announcer) Coming up...
They don't give you, like, a class
or a training manual or something?
No, not at all.
- We just dive right in. - Right.
(announcer) The boss finds that his company
is starting to unravel.
Where are all my standards?
Where are all the policies we put in place?
(Howard) Yes, sir.
(announcer) And later...
- [alarm beeping] - Alex finds himself
in the middle of a security nightmare.
(Carol) Somebody stole something.
Well, where's security?
[chuckles]
We're the security.
♪ ♪
[bright piano music]
(Sam) I'm here today in Morrow, Georgia,
at the South Lake Pavilion Shoppers World.
♪ ♪
Atlanta, as a retailer, is considered
one of the hottest markets in the U.S.
I want to find out if we're turning over
enough merchandise in this location
to make sure that we're living up to our motto,
"Always new, always for less."
Hi. Excuse me. How you doing?
Looking for, uh, Dominic.
- Yeah, Daimon? - Daimon, how are you?
- My name's Alex. - Alex, nice to meet you.
(Daimon) I'm gonna hand you off to Shar.
Shar, I'm gonna introduce you.
- Hi. - This is Alex.
My name is Alex. How are you?
I'm Shar. Nice to meet you.
(Sam) Very nice to meet you.
If Alex wants to try to work in a retail store,
I would definitely have to give him a makeover,
starting with his hair.
That blonde, orange,
Jersey Shore type of color,
it has to go.
[inhales sharply and laughs]
[upbeat music]
All right, so we're gonna be organizing these pants.
We like to have all the pants
facing this way,
and then the smaller size,
just put it, like, to the front.
Okay.
You know, I happened to notice...
- Those are uniforms? - Yeah, they are.
- You mind if I check them out? - End of year.
(Shar) Yeah, go ahead.
When is back to school?
Well, it was, like, in August,
like, this past August.
So...
So we just keep 'em here just in case, you know.
- Whoa. - Yeah.
The fact that we have that amount of uniforms
and back to school is over, that's a serious problem.
You gonna sell all those?
I mean, we plan on it.
(Sam) The summer is over.
I should see outerwear. I should see heaters.
I shouldn't see fans.
I mean, I see all Spring merchandise.
That's my cash sitting on the sales floor.
All right, you have to make sure everything is neat
so that it looks presentable
when you're looking down.
Got you. Okay.
- All right. - Uh...
[funky music]
♪ ♪
- [giggles] - Man.
You're kind of struggling there.
Yeah.
Oh, boy, I think I ripped 'em.
Yeah, we don't want to rip the merchandise.
You guys get a... we get a discount on the merchandise?
Yes, we do.
But you just lost your chance
of getting your discount because you ripped the pants.
- What? - [both laughing]
No, I'm kidding. [laughing]
Okay, just continue fixing everything up.
Okay.
♪ ♪
So are you married or...
- Married, married. - You are?
- Happily married, yeah. Yeah. - Really?
- That's cool, though. - You married?
I wish. No.
Actually, I was planning
on getting married to my baby's father,
but that didn't work out.
He was cheating on me, sadly.
- Cheating on you? - Yes.
I was kind of hurt at first,
but, you know, it's life.
You got to move on.
How many months pregnant are you?
I'm six months pregnant.
- Wow. - Yeah.
You seem very calm about it.
Aren't you at all nervous?
Yeah, I'm nervous in the inside.
I'm freaking out, like, "OMG," how I'm gonna do this.
Like, I'm only 20 years old.
That's a difficult place to be in.
Yeah.
But so far, it's going pretty good.
I'm working.
You have a smile on your face.
Yeah, well, we got to get back to work.
(Sam) All right.
We're gonna be dressing a mannequin.
Well, I wouldn't want you climbing up there.
So you just guide me and tell me what to do.
(Shar) Okay, cool.
[sighs] Okay.
- Okay, perfect. - Okay.
We're gonna put some different merchandise on there.
So you're gonna be picking out an outfit.
You want me to pick out an outfit?
Yes, I want you to pick out a outfit.
Okay, what... just give me
some guidance as to what exactly
I... I'm picking out.
That's where your
fashion sense comes in at.
So you have to figure that out.
They don't give you, like,
a class or a training manual or something?
No, not at all.
We just dive right in.
Right.
I have specific store standards that are written in a manual
of exactly how to display merchandise.
I spent a ton of money to put it together,
so we had a clear direction.
Shar didn't even know about the manual.
That's just ludicrous.
[funky music]
♪ ♪
So, Alex, what do we have here?
There you go. That's what it's all about.
- Good? Looks good? - Okay, cool.
So we like to, like, put a piece of the outfit
on the side of the mannequin.
You sure the customer's gonna be able to reach it
all the way up there?
Well, that's what the sales associates
are here for.
That's our job.
If they need something, we have to get it down for them.
(Sam) We're in the self-service business.
Stack 'em high; let 'em fly.
Let the customers choose what they want.
So what you want to do is...
(Sam) We're not in the boutique business.
I'm not displaying merchandise
the way she was displaying merchandise.
A total, colossal waste of time.
So, Shar, how did you learn all this?
I mean, didn't go too well, or...
Well, I mean, they basically just threw me on the register.
So no training, no manual, no studying for this job?
No, not at all.
[laughing]
(Sam) I'm shocked and disappointed,
disappointed mostly in myself,
for allowing this to happen.
Is there a restroom back there that I could use?
Yes, we do have a restroom.
(Sam) This totally stems from the top down.
Where is my district manager
who's been with the company for years?
What kind of direction is he giving?
Has he even given them the manual?
(Howard) Hello?
- Howard. - Yes, sir.
Are you aware of where I am right now?
(Howard) No.
I'm undercover in the Murrow, Georgia store.
I mean, we got some serious, serious issues.
- Okay. - Problem number one...
No merchandise manual. Where is my merchandise manual?
(Howard) Well, based on what you have seen, I have to tell you that...
(Sam) It looks like there was no store visits...
- Yes, sir. - There was no DM checklist.
- Right. - Where are all my standards?
Where are all the policies we put in place?
- Right. - I built the whole intranet.
I built the whole portal, and they don't even have a clue.
- They have no idea. - Right, okay.
- Problem number two... - Yes, sir.
How come nobody made us aware that we have tons of uniforms
left over from spring?
This is terrible, terrible.
We can't run a business like this.
(Howard) Yes, sir.
I mean, I'm gonna lose my shirt in this store.
- I need you... - Okay.
And Matt, the DM,
to fly down here and fix it immediately.
(Howard) Yes, sir.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
(Sam) I'm here in Cleveland, Ohio.
I'm gonna be working with
one of our sales lead associates
in our children's wear department.
♪ ♪
After working with Sharteria and Nalini,
I've realized that I have a lot of issues to deal with.
But this store is turning through merchandise like crazy.
I'm looking for Carol.
(Sam) And I hope I'm gonna find a lot of great attributes
that I could expand throughout the rest of the chain.
Are you Carol?
I'm Carol.
Ah, pleasure to meet you. I'm Alex.
Hi, Alex.
I'm super excited to work.
Awesome.
Everybody here calls me Miss Carol.
- Okay. - Let me give you your smock.
My job is to take care of the children's department.
Now, that runs from that wall to that wall.
- Wow. - That's my job.
You are going to be scanning for markdowns.
So how many things do we have to scan?
The whole department.
You want me to scan from that wall
all the way to that wall?
- It's a big, big job. - Okay.
So we're gonna scan.
[scanner beeps]
$8.99, $8.99.
Oh, so I have to make sure they match?
Correct.
And what if I find one that doesn't match?
If it does not match,
it's clearanced.
In that case, you would draw through the price,
and put the red sticker on.
I'll let you scan.
Okay.
Start with that.
[scanner buzzes]
No, down here.
- On the bar code. - [scanner buzzes]
Nope, bar code.
[scanner buzzing]
Right here, Alex.
[scanner buzzes]
Come up a little. No.
(Carol) Oh, my goodness.
We never hit the bar code.
He was trying to scan everything but that bar code.
No.
(Carol) Come on, Alex.
You're not stupid.
Get with the program.
I think you have the magic touch.
No, I don't.
Oh, see, it booted me out.
Okay.
So now we have to reboot this little guy.
Sometimes it's very frustrating.
Wow, is that the only one you have?
The only scanner.
[dramatic music]
This whole, huge store, you only have one of those?
Well, we had two, but it... the other one went down.
We have a bad Wi-Fi system.
We need more modems so that...
What is that?
We can have more Wi-Fi.
That's the problem.
(Sam) I didn't even get past
the first rack,
and already the scanning gun was choking up, timing out.
I mean, I don't know what's going on with my IT department.
- It's coming up. - Oh.
It's... nope.
(Sam) I really need to find out
what on earth is going on in these stores.
- Oh, there you go. - Hmm.
Okay, and then start scanning.
[scanner beeps]
- $1. - Okay.
You're gonna cross off the original price,
and you're gonna change this to read $1.
And then you're gonna put it right there.
[alarm beeping]
[dramatic music]
[beeping continues]
♪ ♪
(Sam) What's going on?
(Carol) Somebody stole something.
Unfortunately, they were
too late to get to the door.
- It's too late? - It's too late.
- Well, where's security? - I...
[chuckles]
We're the security.
♪ ♪
I... I... I'm in total shock.
It's like every time I walk into a store,
I never know what I'm gonna find.
All right, I have to go up by Aimee.
- This way? - Come on this way.
(Sam) After what I just saw
and what I just heard,
I'm really boiling right now.
There's definitely gonna be some major action
taken on this circumstance.
[alarm beeping]
[dramatic music]
(Sam) Hi, I'm Alex.
(Aimee) Hi, I'm Aimee.
So what just happened is, we just had two suspect ladies
that were actually stealing.
I'm pretty sure that they've had stuff in their purses...
But don't you have cameras? I see all cameras.
We have cameras, but we don't have security.
(Aimee) We've had instances
where I got pepper sprayed.
Um, you know, this woman, she's in the back,
piling her cart... $800 worth of stuff...
and she has no intentions of buying anything.
She's going out that back door.
Eventually, she pepper sprays. It turns into this big thing.
- What? - It does happen.
This is a serious problem
that we do face here without security.
How often does this happen?
Um, this happens once or twice every day.
♪ ♪
It's scary because you're putting...
I have kids. She has a family.
Everybody has a family, you know?
These people... imagine if somebody has a gun.
You don't know, so you don't know
what you're putting yourself into.
- No, not worth it. - But it's either
your job at the end, or you be security, so...
Someone's got to tell the company, though.
We've tried, so...
(Sam) I've let everybody down.
For me to put her in harm's way
just breaks my heart.
Something needs to change immediately.
- Hello? - Mark.
(Mark) Yes, sir, how are you?
I'm not happy.
(Mark) What's wrong?
Do you realize they... they just got robbed?
(Mark) What?
They just... I was just in the store.
(Mark) I had no idea.
I watched it.
I wasn't even in the store for an hour,
and there was already a thief.
(Mark) Whoa.
It's just a disaster.
This store is getting robbed every day.
It's out of control, out of control.
(Mark) Yes, sir.
We need a security guard in the building
without a doubt, ASAP.
(Mark) Yes, sir. Will do.
How fast can you get the building secure,
is the question.
Professional security.
(Mark) I'm gonna talk to Bob,
and we're gonna get one ASAP.
- Okay, thank you. - Yes, sir.
♪ ♪
[energetic music]
(Sam) I'm here today at Pitkin Avenue
in one of my original Brooklyn Stores
to work behind the register with one of my cashiers.
$5.
(Sam) When my grandfather first opened this store in 1952,
it was just a small shop on a street corner.
We've expanded so much over the years
that this store now consists of a full city block.
♪ ♪
Some of the things I may have lost
along the road of expansion
were some of the things I saw yesterday
with the theft that occurred
and no security in the building.
Today, I want to see how one of the original stores
where we had security down pat
is handling those issues.
Hi, Tanisha?
- Hi, yes. - I'm Alex.
Hi, Alex. My name is Tanisha.
I'm a cashier. I'm gonna be training you today, okay?
Okay, wonderful.
That's what all the Shoppers World employees wear.
I'm a bit nervous about today.
Hey, don't worry about it.
I'm gonna take care of you.
Okay, piece of cake.
[rock music]
Okay, put my register in the drawer.
And call a customer, you're gonna say, "Next guest."
- Next guest. - There you go.
♪ ♪
You take the item,
and you're gonna scan it.
See, I'm scanning it.
And you're gonna take the alarm off.
You're gonna hit it right there.
Oh, wow, that's easy.
And you fold it up, and you put it there
for me, please.
Sometimes it don't scan.
When it don't scan, you got to do it manual.
You're gonna punch in all these numbers right here, okay?
- Okay. - Your total is $111.36.
Thank you very much.
You're gonna put the tape on the bag right there.
So you give her $8.64 with her receipt.
Five, six, seven, eight.
And you're gonna give her her package.
(Tanisha) Tell her, "Have a blessed day."
- Have a blessed day. - Thank you.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you.
You're gonna call next guest.
Next guest. Want me to do the next one?
Yeah, sure, you could do that.
- I think I'm ready. - Here she come.
The reason why we tape the bags up
is for security reasons.
We don't want the customers to put something in their bag
on their way going out if the bag is open.
- Okay. - Okay.
(Sam) The fact that the store took the initiative
on their own to try and deter theft
by sealing the shopping bags amazes me.
Please come again.
(Sam) But I still need to update
the security systems in all our stores.
You're gonna scan the bar code. Okay.
Man, why don't those work?
- You're gonna do it manual. - Okay.
Okay, so you're gonna punch in your numbers.
There you go.
Nope, you're gonna have to do it manual, Alex.
Wow.
I was quite surprised when
some of the items wouldn't scan.
- Whoo. - Manual.
It's unbelievable.
(Sam) It just totally slows down the process
of checking the customer out.
[chuckling]
That's annoying.
[Tanisha chuckles]
Man, you should tell a manager about that.
(Sam) I think the line is building up.
This store is buzzing.
Customers are driving to the registers
with tons of merchandise.
If there is a slight hiccup,
that's a major problem.
There we go. Here's another one.
[huffs]
- Sorry about that. - It's okay.
I have fun with it. It's all about fun.
Fun, fun, fun.
- Okay. - Here you go, ma'am.
- Have a blessed one. - Have a blessed day.
- Here you go. Scan it. - Oh, okay.
Sometime it scan.
[scanner beeps]
See? There you go.
Thank you for shopping with us today.
Thank you.
Tanisha, she's a perfectionist.
You want to engage a little more with the customers.
The customer service is always first.
(Sam) She just wants to make sure
everything is exactly as it should be.
Working up a sweat.
That's okay, you're having fun.
It's not a job.
Thank you for shopping at Shoppers World.
- Have a blessed day. - There you go.
Very good. I like that.
- Very good. - We're a good team.
- Yeah, great teamwork, yeah. - We're a good team.
(Tanisha) You learned fast
on the register.
- Did I? - Yes.
We get busy.
This is like where everybody come to shop at.
The prices is very reasonable.
And my mother used to come here
all the time, and shop for us.
- So you grew up here? - When we were shopping...
Yes, yeah.
You grew up in this store?
Yes. Yes, I did.
So tell me about your family.
Oh, I have a son.
My son is 23 years old.
My father's in a nursing home.
He had a multiple stroke. Three of them.
And he's paralyzed on one side of his body.
- Wow. - Yeah.
And he can't swallow or hold anything down
because his lungs collapsed,
just shut down on him.
And when I go visit my father, which is all the time,
and then, you know,
I'm getting ready to leave, he start crying,
and it really hurts my feelings.
It's rough.
- Whoa. - But it's okay, though.
I love my pops, and he know I'm there for him.
Wouldn't you rather him be living with you?
Yes, yes, but I can't have him at my home,
and I would have to get a nurse,
someone who could
be there for him.
I... I couldn't afford it.
You're not making enough here at Shoppers World?
I get paid minimum wage.
It pays the bills.
I'm here three days a week.
That's for right now, but normally, I get maybe, like,
four days out of the week.
- Oh, wow. - Yeah, yeah.
Yes.
But I would never leave Shoppers World.
You would never leave here?
Right now, I'm comfortable.
I'm just happy to have a job.
- And you enjoy it? - Yes, yes.
I enjoy my job.
Well, I got to give you a lot of credit.
Honestly, you have such courage.
- Well, thank you, Alex. - My God.
I don't know that if I was in that position,
I'd be able to...
to... to cope.
- That's... that's... - You would.
It would come naturally.
It's coming from your heart within.
Right.
Okay, our break is over.
We gonna go back inside now, okay?
All right, let's get to work.
Yes.
Will you help me up, please?
Such a gentleman, thank you.
(Sam) Meeting Tanisha today was
the perfect end to this amazing journey.
[door clicking and creaking]
[light piano music]
Going undercover was an experience like no other.
Expanding my business was my pride and joy
and a major accomplishment for me.
But now, I came out of this
with even a bigger weight on my shoulders.
Taking this journey through my stores
has made me feel I've lost sight of what's important.
My grandfather and father didn't believe
in opening multiple stores.
They believed that they should live within their means,
they should each run their own store,
whatever they can handle.
It was something that they were very modest about.
I changed that.
I went out, and I expanded the company,
and I've broken some of the values and ethics
that my father and grandfather have believed in.
When my grandfather was around,
the team in the store was like a family.
I need my employees to feel like
they're a part of my family.
I need my employees to be acknowledged, to be rewarded.
It just sunk so deep inside me
how I'm not doing my job as a CEO.
(announcer) Coming up,
the employees think they're going to decide
whether or not Alex deserves a big cash prize
to start his own business.
How will they react when the boss reveals his true identity?
I was Alex.
No! Ooh!
Now I'm really nervous.
[bright instrumental music]
(Sam) Having broken some of the values and ethics
that my father and grandfather instilled in me
and instilled in the business,
I need to make sure my employees feel
like they're a part of my family,
be acknowledged, to be rewarded.
Those are some of the problems that I need to fix
before I could continue expanding this company.
[whimsical music]
Good morning.
How are you?
I'm fine, thank you. How are you?
So how was your experience with Alex?
Alex needs a little bit of improvement.
You look familiar to me.
So familiar.
- Do I? - Are you Alex?
I was Alex.
No, you wasn't.
My name is Sam Dushey,
and I'm the president and CEO of Shoppers World,
and you're on a show called "Undercover Boss."
- Get out of here. - Now I'm really nervous.
♪ ♪
No! Ooh, you got to be kidding me.
Shar, I loved
every moment of working with you as Alex...
Yeah. [laughs]
But I realized
that there was a lack of training.
They don't give you, like, a class
or a training manual or something?
No, we just dive right in.
I'm not blaming you.
This was a big error on my part.
I'm gonna have everybody retrained at that store
so they know exactly what jobs they're supposed to be doing
and how they're supposed to be doing them.
Because I want you to be successful.
[laughs] Thank you.
Um, you know, I'm a family man.
- Yeah. - I have two kids of my own.
So I know what it feels like to be a new parent.
It's really scary.
Yeah. [laughs]
I've been trying not to, like, stress out about it,
and I've been trying to stay positive,
but it's, like, getting closer to my due date.
I'm like, "Can I really do this by myself?"
- You're not alone. - [sniffles]
Thank you.
I want to give you
$10,000.
[sobbing]
I want you to put the money towards your new child.
That's incredible. [sobbing]
This has changed my life, like, dramatically.
I've been praying, like, something
like this could happen.
I really feel like everything is gonna be okay.
Nalini, you are the reason
I realized that my employees weren't treated fairly.
Yeah.
I've worked here for eight years,
and I haven't got a promotion.
Same pay.
When I started working here,
I used to make, like, 60 hours,
and then it cut down to, like, 28.
So I was thinking about,
like, you know, looking for another job.
You worked your butt off
and never were acknowledged and never were rewarded.
- No. - And I want to make it right.
- From this moment on... - Yeah.
You're getting full-time,
40 hours back.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I want you to work with me, not take a second job.
You're part of the Shoppers World family,
and you're here to stay.
I don't want you going anywhere else.
Wow.
I would like to take you
with all that knowledge that you have,
and I would like to make you
the head of visual and merchandising
for the footwear department.
- Wow. - And I'd like to offer you...
A $15,000 signing bonus right now.
- Really? - Yes.
Oh, my God. Thank you so much.
So you told me that you met your fiancé...
- In the shoe section. - Yes.
Are you planning on getting married soon, or are you...
I'm planning on getting married in July.
Are we gonna have a big, beautiful wedding?
Actually, I'm gonna do city hall.
I want to give you another $20,000 check
so you can go make yourself
the big, beautiful wedding you deserve.
Are you serious?
I'm...
I'm shocked, like... what?
You want to give me $20,000 to do my wedding?
Mm-hmm.
Oh, my God. I feel like I want to cry.
Thank you, like...
Thank you so much, like...
Is this really happening?
Oh, my God!
I'm finally gonna be able to help my parents more.
You think I could get a big hug from you?
Sure.
(Nalini) I can finally have my dream wedding.
Like, when I walk down the aisle,
I'll always think in my head, "It's because of Sammy."
Aimee, so could we talk a little bit more about
what you're dealing with on a daily basis?
- Security-wise? - Yeah.
I'm pretty sure that they've had stuff in their purses.
But don't you have cameras? I see all cameras.
We have cameras, but we don't have security.
It's a lot, and it's... it is really scary.
I was absolutely mortified
when you told me that you are
risking your life every day for your job.
That is not the way I want you to feel
or any other employee to feel.
I don't want that.
I made a decision to invest $1.2 million
in security across the entire company.
That's crazy.
That's awesome.
I'm so happy
that the store is skyrocketing.
You should be proud of yourself.
I'm proud of everybody, like...
Should... you all should be proud of each other.
It's... that's great.
So what I'm prepared to do is the following.
To all the full-time employees
in your store,
I want to give a check for $5,000.
Get out of here.
[laughing] Get out of here.
[gentle music]
You're really gonna do that?
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
[sighs]
[chuckles]
And I'd also like to give you an additional $15,000.
Get out of here. [sobbing]
'Cause I know
how hard you work.
♪ ♪
You deserve every bit of it.
Thank you so much.
This is unbelievable.
I've been paycheck to paycheck for...
forever.
This is going to change my life
in so many ways.
I cannot believe that this is happening to me.
[exhales]
- Miss Carol. - Yes.
Spending time with you reminded me
of when I used to work in my father's store
as a young child growing up.
We're a family. We really are.
When I was with you at the store
and you were training me
on how to do markdowns,
we seemed to have an issue with the scanner.
Okay, so now we have to reboot this little guy.
We have a bad Wi-Fi system.
Miss Carol, because of you,
I've decided to invest
$1/2 million into upgrading
all of the routers, and all of the Wi-Fi
throughout our buildings.
That's great.
That's so great.
You have... [chuckles]
You just have no idea.
[chuckles] And I love my job.
I wouldn't have stayed there all this time if I didn't.
Because, you know,
I really could retire,
if it wasn't for financial reasons,
but my husband is ill.
What is your husband's name?
My husband's name is Bob.
- Bob? - Mm-hmm.
Carol, I'd like to give you...
a check today for $20,000...
♪ ♪
To put towards Bob's care
or to put towards your retirement.
Are you serious?
♪ ♪
Wow.
♪ ♪
Wow.
♪ ♪
Wow.
♪ ♪
You're gonna make me cry.
You're making me cry.
Everybody works hard,
and we do it for you.
♪ ♪
And I hope you appreciate that.
You have no idea.
[chuckles]
It's going to change my life for the better.
The first thing I want to do is,
while my husband can still see and walk,
is to take him somewhere where he wants to be.
Thank you so much.
You're a beautiful man.
Thank you.
I'm just overwhelmed
at the generosity of Mr. Sam Dushey.
Tanisha, I was blown away by you.
Thank you.
The way you trained me
was picture-perfect.
- Sorry about that. - That's okay.
It's all about fun. Fun, fun, fun.
It's because of employees like you at Shoppers World
that this company is in business.
I would like to make you full-time.
Oh, wow. [sniffles]
You're way too valuable for me to lose
to go somewhere else.
♪ ♪
My... [sniffles]
Thank you very much.
♪ ♪
With everything that's going on in your life
and everything that's going on with your father,
you still come to work and are courageous;
your charisma just lights up
the whole store.
It's just... it amazes me.
Thank you.
I would like to give you...
$100,000...
♪ ♪
So you can bring your father home
and care for your father
and care for yourself.
♪ ♪
[sniffling]
That's not... this can't be real.
It's real.
This can't be... [sniffles]
♪ ♪
God truly sent you to me.
You're my angel.
It's like a dream come true.
Things like that don't happen to people like me.
They always say you always be nice to people,
'cause you never know.
I'm gonna get my pops.
I'm so happy.
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
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