At this time many dollar stores found themselves attracting new cadres of fans. Soon, once thriving storefronts were emptied as well. In fact many analysts believe much of Family Dollar’s recent successes came about because the company dealt so wonderfully with strong recessionary forces.Īs the recession began to take a toll on local, then regional and national retailers, many retailers essentially quickly abandoned expansion plans. Family Dollar has been one of the few national retailers that has consistently grown despite the recession. The boss viewed in this episode was Michael Bloom, President and COO of Family Dollar Stores. Oddly, not counting restaurant chains, few retailers have been represented in the series. Winning a championship or even appearing in a World Series seemed to have been placed on the back burner, as the day-to-day problems of the organization’s relatively financially poor, often unnoticed workers were made the focus. One episode followed the heartfelt adventures of a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs. The Chancellor of University of California, Riverside was featured in another. The mayor of Cincinnati appeared in one episode. Industry icons included MGM Grand, United Van Lines, DirecTV, NASCAR and Norwegian Caribbean Line. Past bosses have included CEOs and top executives from prominent restaurant chains such as Hooters, White Castle, Boston Market, Subway, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Checkers. Next month the US version will celebrate its fourth anniversary. The result is a feel-good experience shared by all the boss, his featured employees and likely much of the viewing public. Company or divisional meetings are then often held where employee promotions and policy changes are announced as a direct result of the boss’s earlier interactions with said employees. Appropriately, these gifts solve most of the aforementioned problems challenging the now happily stunned coworkers. These issues tend to center on family health, education and economic issues and are often personally frightening.Įach episode ends with the boss calling each of these employees to a private meeting, where the true identity is revealed and as if a superhero, a series of handsome, generous rewards are bestowed. Here viewers view life challenging issues these employees face, which most of us experience personally or through the trials of family members, friends or coworkers. Not coincidentally, it seems each boss tends to get to interact with several employees on a more personal level, as the show shares some of the worker’s outside the workplace challenges. As the bosses are trained for generally lower level positions, they are often more frustrated than their trainers with their own ineptitude and show a heartfelt appreciation for the efforts of much of their workforce. The point of the show is to introduce an owner or top executive to the everyday issues and frustrations faced by company workers on the ground. The boss then is ‘trained’ for several generally entry level positions. Each show places said boss in a situation to meet with fairly low level employees as the boss is introduced as a new company hire. ![]() The ‘boss’ is often the CEO, Chairman or owner of a prominent, large company who is engaged on the show to appear in a professionally concocted disguise under an alias, complete with a well thought out cover story. Viewing several episodes likely provides context and lets the viewer know that this big-business based reality show is ultimately a feel-good campaign. Anyone who has viewed the show Undercover Boss just once, undoubtedly felt at least one tug on their heartstrings, and depending on the viewer’s emotional demeanor might well have had an inclination to shed a tear or two.
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