‘Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you respond’

When Mark Ferrari was asked to bag groceries during a picture shoot on Monday, he obliged with a smile. Watching him, it’s clear he hadn’t lost a step in 30 years – he started his career in grocery stores as a bagger.

“October 20, 1995,” he said, taking a break from stuffing bags and sitting at one of several refurbished customer tables inside the Edmonds QFC Starbucks. More on the tables later.

Advancement can be rapid in supermarkets, and Ferrari – the affable 47-year-old manager at QFC in Edmonds’ Westgate neighborhood – has certainly reached the top. He was just named Manager of the Year by FMI, the Food Industry Association. That’s number one in the country, not just in Washington.

Ferrari competed in the largest category, which includes companies with 250 or more stores. QFC is part of Kroger, one of the nation’s largest grocery companies. He also received the contest’s People’s Pick recognition, determined through public voting.

(“I voted for you!” said one longtime customer when she overheard Ferrari talking about the award.)

"Mark exemplifies everything we value in a leader," QFC President Brent Stewart said. "He leads with integrity, humility, and an unwavering commitment to his team, customers, and community. Mark has created a culture where associates feel empowered to do their best work, and that commitment shows in every aspect of his store's performance. We couldn't be more proud to see him recognized nationally with this well-deserved honor."

Although the award was based largely on Ferrari’s performance during two years as manager of the Canyon Park QFC in Bothell, he is now just starting a new journey in Edmonds. The Lake Stevens resident accepted the job at the Westgate QFC about three months ago after manager Biju Chacko left for the Mukilteo location.

Ferrari said he already senses something distinctive about his new community. “It’s special,” he said. “You can just feel the camaraderie in the neighborhood.”

From bagger to manager

Ferrari’s QFC career began at 16 while attending Monroe High School. Looking for an after-school job, he applied at the Canyon Park store, where he and his mother had previously shopped when it operated as Olson’s Food Stores.

It was Ferrari’s first job interview. He was hired as a bagger. “It was the first interview I've ever had, and I got the job. The rest is history.”

Ferrari worked his way through different positions and stores before becoming a manager about 12 years ago. His career eventually brought him back to Canyon Park, where he became manager of the same store in which he had bagged groceries as a teenager.

His recent transfer to Edmonds created another full-circle moment. Assistant manager Chad Bartnikowski, one of the many well-known faces at the Edmonds store since 2008, was Ferrari’s fifth manager at Canyon Park nearly three decades ago.

Ferrari said Bartnikowski’s knowledge of the store, its employees and its loyal customers helped him get off to a quick start. “Everybody knows Chad. He knows the store inside and out; he knows all the customers. He's introduced me to a lot of the loyals and the regulars – I’m trying to learn all their names.”

The manager said his typical workday begins with a lap around the store. He greets employees, checks each department, and determines whether sick calls or other issues require attention. “The goal is to resolve those issues before they affect customers or place extra strain on employees,” he said

From there, he reviews inventory, cleanliness and store conditions, prepares for upcoming promotions and keeps an eye on customer service and checkout lines. Ferrari is not one to pass the time in the employee lounge. He said he spends about 95% of his time on the sales floor. He still bags groceries – as we know – and checks customers when needed. He has sliced meat in the deli, built promotional displays, and picked customer orders.

After three decades in grocery stores, he said he can often sense a problem before he sees it. “I lead by intuition and what I see. I try to get in behind each department. Wherever the day takes me, it’s quite therapeutic.”

His management philosophy also emphasizes listening. Ferrari said helping an employee through a difficult time or making someone feel seen, valued, and supported can be as meaningful to him as any business achievement.

90%

You never know when adversity comes calling. When a success story gets upended.

In October 2024, doctors removed and biopsied a swollen lymph node and determined Ferrari had follicular lymphoma. He said subsequent tests have been clear, although he continues to see an oncologist and naturopath and expects another scan in October. “So far, so good,” he said

The diagnosis brought fear and questions. Would he be alive the following year? Could he continue handling the pressures of managing a busy grocery store? Would he have to leave the work he had grown to love?

Ferrari eventually found his answer in a saying that has become his personal motto: Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you respond. “I decided that whatever was going to happen, I was going to get busy living,” he said. “I wasn’t going to waste any energy on stuff I couldn’t control.”

Ferrari credits his wife, whom he married in 2003, and their 19-year-old daughter, Bella, with helping him through the experience.

The beat goes on

Meanwhile, the work continues. Among the accomplishments cited by the Food Industry Association was Ferrari’s work in reducing “shrink,” an industry term for products purchased by a store but not ultimately sold due to spoilage, damage, theft, or other losses.

Reducing shrink involves carrying the right amount of inventory, carefully monitoring sales and moving products before they go to waste. Ferrari said the benefits extend beyond a store’s financial results.

“At the end of the day, for our customers, it’s all about fresher product,” he said. “If I can get it in and sell it within a day or two, then it’s going to last in your fridge longer.”

Ferrari’s hands-on style is evident even before customers enter the grocery aisles. Before officially starting in Edmonds, he noticed the furniture in the store’s Starbucks area was worn. They needed new life.

Replacing it was not in the budget, so Ferrari loaded the tables into his pickup and took them to his home. For three days, he sanded them down to the natural wood, stained them, and applied three coats of urethane.

The project cost about $150 in materials, plus what he described as “blood, sweat and tears.”

“I’m very happy with the way they turned out,” he said. “It makes for a nicer shopping experience.”

For Ferrari, service to customers, employees and the community is part of the 90% he can control. His illness remains part of his life, but he refuses to let it define what comes next.

“If I eat healthy and try to have low stress and take care of people and feel good about the job I do, it’s like my medicine. I still have this 90% piece of the pie that I can control.”