Co-op Corner

VICKI PARADISE

CO-OP WISHES VICKI A HAPPY RETIREMENT

BY JESSIE SHOOK

Vicki Paradise, an avid gardener, has always been a Co-op customer. On a busy spring day in 1996, Paradise stopped by the Scottsboro Co-op to pick up okra seed for her garden. Knowing how well Paradise knew the Co-op, the manager at that time told Paradise to go ahead and dip her own seed. Seeing the need for help, Paradise began dipping seed for other customers as well. By the time she left, the manager offered Paradise a part-time job. “I ended up working over 50 hours my first week,” Paradise said. “I loved it so much … It never was a part-time job.”

Over the course of 26 years Paradise has held many different roles at the Co-op, including salesclerk, bookkeeper, assistant manager and manager. Of those roles, her favorite has always been salesclerk because of the interaction with customers. “I love selling and I love people,” Paradise added.

Ramsey Prince, Manager of Madison County Cooperative - Scottsboro, agrees that Paradise is perfect on the front counter. “There’s no one that has ever done it better and there probably won’t ever be anyone else as good as her,” he said.

Paradise’s personality has been a key reason for her success at the Co-op. “She is the perfect example of a people person,” Prince added. “She is customer-oriented; she knows everybody, half of them she is kin to or she’ll find a way to be kin to you before it’s all over with.”

Vicki and Truman Benson

Karen Linker, AFC’s training and development manager, met Vicki Paradise at a booking show and has always praised Paradise for being a sweet and genuine person. “Every manager would love to have a Vicki at their store,” Linker said.

Paradise has decided it is time to slow down a bit and retire at the end of December 2022. “I made a career out of a part-time job,” Paradise said. “I loved it and decided to stay as long as I could.”

It is easy to hear the love the Co-op has for Vicki Paradise and if it was up to Prince, he’d keep her longer. “We tried to get her not to retire and I hope she comes back this spring,” Prince added. “She will be greatly missed.”

The Co-op family wishes Vicki Paradise good luck as she enters this new chapter of her life!

After 26 years, Vicki Paradise is retiring and plans on catching up on things she hasn’t had time for with the hopes to relax and travel.

Paradise has held many positions over the years from the office to the sales floor.