Johnnie Wiley

Boys, this post is not very typical of the other posts in our blog upto this point, but I wanted to share with you about a man that had a huge impact on my life.  The man is Johnnie Wiley, and he passed away today.  Mr. Wiley was the owner of J&J Foods in Gainesville, GA.  It was a "little" independent grocery store that went head to head with the Wal-Marts, Krogers, Publix, etc and actually stayed in business.  J&J did not sell any alcoholic beverages, and they were not open at all on Sundays.  Johnnie Wiley was very adamant about his religious beliefs, and he let those beliefs be the driving force behind his business.  He was also very adamant about knowing his customers and appreciating the fact that they chose to spend their money at his store.  He knew that everyone had a choice of where they wanted to buy their groceries, and some people drove down from the mountains of North GA...or drove right past Wal-Mart or Publix...in order to buy their groceries at J&J.  Mr Wiley understood this, and he made sure that his employees understood this as well.  Mr Wiley loved to garden, and it was not uncommon at all for him to give customers muscadines or vegetables that he had grown himself.
I started working at J&J in 1988 when I was 16 years old.  I worked as a bagboy...bagging groceries and following the customers out to their car and loading the groceries for them.  The best part about the job was the tips...most everyone gave us a tip for helping them with their groceries...even if it was just the change that they had in their pockets.  There were days when I would come home with upwards of $40 worth of change in my pockets....my pockets would just be bulging out, and I jingled whenever I walked.  There was a running prank among us bagboys when it was raining outside.  A lot of customers would run and get in their car when it was raining, and they would leave us out in the rain to load their groceries in the truck of their car....and NOT even give us a tip for getting soaking wet for them and their groceries.  Well, we would load up their groceries...we would be sure to put their bread on the bottom so it would get squished....then the kicker is that we would leave their truck lid open, so they would have to get out and get wet to close it.  Next time they would think twice before leaving us in the rain like that!
I worked for J&J for 3 summers as a bagboy.  That gave me basically enough money to run around on all year long and to buy gas for my car.  As I continued to work there, my relationship with Mr Wiley continued to grow.  He saw potential in me that I probably did not even know that I had.  Mr Wiley asked me what my plans were after high school, and I told him that I was going to go to college at Gainesville College and then North GA College in Dahlonega.  He gave me a business card with a lady's name on it, and told me to go see her at Gainesville College.  I went to see her in the financial aid office, and she told me that my tuition was taken care of.  Two years later, we went through the same exercise at North GA College.  Mr Wiley took a HUGE financial burden off of me at a time when I didn't really know how I was even going to be able to afford to go to college.
I graduated college in 1994, and I continued working at J&J until 1998.  Mr Wiley continued to promote me up through the chain until I was one of the store mgrs.  I felt like I repaid my debt for my tuition, but I could never repay Mr Wiley for the business ethic that he instilled in me and for the life lessons that he taught me.  I know without a doubt that my time working for Mr Wiley at J&J made me the kind of worker that I am today.  I appreciate my job, my co workers, and my customers. Mr Wiley saw the good in everyone.  He may have had much more money than anyone that he came into contact with, but you would never have know it...he was just Johnnie.  My time with Mr Wiley also taught me a lot about the type of man that I wanted to become....and that is the part that I will never be able to repay....and for that, I am so grateful.
I went to see Mrs Wiley (Arrie Mae) at the funeral home.  She is one of the sweetest people that I have ever met.  I cried with her and just hugged her.  I told her how much I appreciated what she and Johnnie had done for a young man that they really didn't even know very well at the time.  I hope and pray that I made them proud.

Click here to read Gainesville Times article about Mr Wiley