For Nick Rosica, assistant store manager at Weavers Way Chestnut Hill, working at the Co-op started out as a way to earn money during college. Later it was steadier income while he was trying to play music full-time. But as his role evolved and his responsibilities increased, he’s grown into the job and made it his own.

Nick, who turns 27 this month, grew up in Hamilton, NJ, the youngest of three brothers. He started at Philadelphia University in 2008, originally as an industrial engineering major but switched to environmental sustainability after his freshman year. 

In the summer of 2009, Nick landed a weekend cashier job at Weavers Way Mt. Airy. He soon added shifts doing cash reconciliations (if that sounds responsible, it is), and before long, he was also helping out in the point-of-sale department, updating price tags on the shelves. 

In between classes and working at the Co-op, Nick played bass with hardcore punk band The Great Explainer. He started playing guitar at age 12, and had been in bands since age 15, but this one began to develop a real following. The Great Explainer played clubs in Philly, Asbury Park and New York, released an EP on Chunksaah Records and toured the South. Even so, they made almost no money.

In the summer of 2013, The Great Explainer released a self-titled, full-length album, this time on Panic State Records. But they didn’t see a big uptick in their popularity — or their bank balances. Having graduated from PhU in 2012, and moving up to a full-time cashier job in the Chestnut Hill store, Nick touring and work weren’t matching up all that well. Coincidentally, the band started to run out of steam. The Great Explainer disbanded in 2015.

Meanwhile, Nick was promoted to cashier manager. But his duties continued to expand, and last year, that job, with Nick in it, morphed into assistant store manager. 

He appreciates the autonomy he’s been given, and the wide range of tasks he’s asked to perform. 

“I don’t know where the end of my job description is,” he said. “There’s so many things I do that are like, weird little things, that I wouldn’t have thought would be part of my job, like talking to the trash people, plunging toilets….”

The Brewerytown resident still makes time for music. He currently plays bass for Brackish, which put out an EP in October 2015, and he recently lent his efforts, along with Chestnut Hill grocery staffer and drummer Chris Wood, to Madalean Gauze, which also features former Hill cashier Maddie Gaus.

Nick’s other passions include ice hockey — he plays center on his adult league team in the Hamilton/Lawrenceville, NJ, area — and sustainability. 

On the list of positives about his job, Nick ranks his colleagues near the top. “I like everyone I work with,” he said. “I feel like we have a really great team, especially on the front end that I’m directly overseeing. I feel like everyone on my team respects me, and we all work together pretty well.”