BWS employee Phil Gram reached 50 years continuous service on September 13, 2023.
Mr Gram started with Woolworths in September 1973 at the Raymond Street store as a shelf filler after school.
He progressed to a full-time management trainee role in 1974 at 16-years-of-age.
In 1979, Mr Gram married his wife Sue (they met at Woolworths!) and are still happily married. Sue and Mr Gram have three daughters, Sandra, Rebecca and Lisa and three granddaughters.
Mr Gram worked for many years as night crew manager and moved to the Morwell store – previously on Commercial Road, then onto the Traralgon store as assistant store manager.
He returned to Sale Woolworths in 1980 as assistant manager. In 1984, when Gippsland Centre first opened, Mr Gram worked at the new Safeway store. He has worked as grocery manager, assistant manager and night shift for two years.
In 2005, Mr Gram transitioned to the liquor department at Woolworths which became BWS as it is today.
Mr Gram describes his career at Woolworths as overall very positive – he has enjoyed seeing the growth of many staff over the years. It takes a lot of dedication to make it to 50 years continuous service, but he enjoys his job and the friendships and relationships developed with customers and colleagues over the years.
Mr Gram has seen many changes in his time and knows the history of Woolworths and Safeway in Gippsland very well. He is the longest serving employee in Woolworths/BWS and that is an amazing achievement.
The head of BWS Australia and state manager Victoria phoned Mr Gram to congratulate him. Gippsland Centre Manager Emma Waghorne met with Mr Gram and presented him with a gift to congratulate him on his service.
Ms Waghorne said: “It is an amazing achievement to reach 50 years service. Phil is to be congratulated on his dedication, reliability and setting an amazing example for workers everywhere”.
Mr Gram now works part time and you can find him at BWS Sale, serving customers with a smile. He has no plans to retire.
