Phil's Food Queen

Uh...California.

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mgrmk
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Posts: 29
Joined: 04 Jul 2006 15:42
Location: Las Vegas, NV

Phil's Food Queen

Post by mgrmk »

Phil's Food Queen I believe was a family owned chain with three possibly 4 stores. Two stores were located on Foothill Blvd, one in Sylmar and one in Lake View Terrace a third location was on Lyons Ave in Newhall and I think there may have been a fourth in the Sundland/Tijunga area. There was a long labor strike in the mid/late 80's and this I know really hurt there business and am sure it was the beginning of the end for this small chain.
boxboy19
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Posts: 6
Joined: 19 Dec 2009 15:59

Re: Phil's Food Queen

Post by boxboy19 »

Phil's Food Queen was a family owned market with, as you stated, five stores in California's San Fernando Valley, La Crescenta, and Santa Clarita. The stores were located on Foothill Blvd in Sylmar (main store) and Lake View Terrace; La Crescenta; and Santa Clarita (on Lyons Ave. and Friendly Valley Parkway), respectively.

I worked for the chain as a clerks helper and clerk for four years. The chain was a family run business, with Phil being the figurehead in charge. Phil had a brother who worked closely with him running the operations (the name escapes me, perhaps it was Joseph), a son Mike, and another operations manager (David Aguilar??).

From my own personal employee perspective, Mr. Sirianni (Phil) ran the company with a strict vision and high standards that he personally oversaw; not much seemed to get by Phil and he made sure his store managers extended that hand of control to their subordinates. Phil, at the dread of the employees, would visit the Lyon's Ave. store often, usually every other week, with Joe and Mr. Aguilar in tow going down the isles... inspecting the produce section... checking out the meat counter. The only other time I had work related stress that equaled the Sirianni family's visit was when I spent my 8 weeks in basic training. That being said, Phil was fair and if your work was up to par then he was a happy man. In addition, the experience instilled in me a personal sense of pride in the work I was doing and was a major cornerstone in the development of my personal work ethic.

To me, the sign that indicated to me that times were changing for the smaller "mom & pop" stores, namely this store chain, came at the time when the Friendly Valley store closed (this was probably mid 1982). Other store chains in "the valley" had begun or had already shut down and I had been transferred from Friendly Valley to the Lyon's store to work there for the next two years. In late 1983 (?) the Lyon's store also followed suit when the Sirianni's felt it too should be closed. Despite the closures, employees at the Santa Clarita stores were close, like family, and it was a fun place to work, but like anything, some good things just disolve.

With both Santa Clarita stores closed, I was then transferred to the main store, in Sylmar, for a short time, and the problem within the chain shortly became apparent as news of Phil having cancer spread throughout the store and that the store was also "going non-union." Listening to the advise of the union, we made a strike vote and walked the picket line, and walked, and walked, and walked. I remember being essentially jobless for six weeks, with union promises dissolving like the store closures preceding. A main problem for the strike not going well, and the eventual demise of the union within the chain, was in my opinion a lack of coordination on Local 770's part with other unions. Trucks would cross the line, meat cutters would cross, and that was wrong, but they did it anyhow citing that their respective unions had no agreement not to cross 770's line. At the end of it, or at least my end, because the strike supposedly went on for months afterword, I had lost my position as a clerk making a pretty good living, to accepting a job up the street at the Safeway as a general merchandiser, for nearly a 4 dollar an hour cut in pay. Weird, lame and wrong were my thoughts; the upside was that this prompted me to leave the grocery world forever. I think by the late eighties full-time, 40hr. per week clerk and cashier jobs were beginning to leave the industry, negotiated down to a handful of positions, or less, that actually once were career worthy employment options.

As stated above, the experience left me with a great work ethic and having met a handful of very nice people, all of whom I think back to every now and again. Memorable employees and coworkers were:

Managers: Rudy C.; Randy P.
Liquor: Dave
Meat Dept.: Freddy
Cashiers: Judy B., Dee M., Tom, Lisa, (Peggy?) and Vernetta

If the above mentioned people happen to fall upon this thread and remember, drop a note and let me know how things are.

That strike, and eventual demise of the chain (a handful of years later with the final store staying open in LaCrescenta/Montrose...) ruined lives and was devastating to all "family" involved, but the memories of good times, throwing the load after hours and finishing up a pizza in the parking lot lives on in my fond memories. Good times....
LFK
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Joined: 13 Jun 2022 14:18

Re: Phil's Food Queen

Post by LFK »

Worked for them from 1969 until the strike.I recall Phil and his company as higher unethical.
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