Mark Wahlberg visits Stop & Shop where he bagged groceries for $3.65 an hour years before amassing $400M fortune
QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS: Mark Wahlberg dropped by his first-ever workplace -- a Stop & Shop store -- as he returned home to Massachusetts earlier this week. The Hollywood megastar made just $3.65 an hour when he worked there as a teen, years before accruing his reported $400 million fortune.
The 'Pain & Gain' star shared a video of the visit on Instagram Tuesday, April 11. "Where it all started - my first job!" the 51-year-old actor wrote in the caption of his post before tagging Stop and Shop, his Flecha Azul Tequila brand, his Performance Inspired Nutrition brand, his Municipal sports performance brand, and Wahlburgers at Home, his brand of premium meats.
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'I was bagging groceries, $3.65 an hour'
"All right. Right here, is where the whole hustle started," Wahlberg said while standing in front of the Stop and Shop on Newport Avenue in Quincy. "[In] 1988, I was working at this Stop and Shop on Newport Ave. in Quincy, but it was over there, they moved the store," the actor explained while wearing a pink and black camo hoodie coupled with black jeans and white sneakers. "I was bagging groceries, $3.65 an hour while I was right up the street, getting my driver's ed," he continued. "Same day I turned 17, I got my driver's license, I bought a Pontiac LeMans s**t box for $200 from Lappen's Auto Parts." He then said, "We're gonna see if I can get my job back. Hey Paxton, ask Jeff, your dad, if I can get my job back," before insisting they needed Flecha Azul and PI in the store. "All the best products for all the cool Stop and Shop customers. Remember, it started right here at Stop and Shop," Wahlberg added before entering the store.
At one point, Wahlberg started bagging customers' groceries inside the store and joked that he was "getting my job back." The 'Lone Survivor' star was seen talking to several customers and hugging employees, one of whom gushed, "Putting some serious good in the world, this young man." He took selfies with several employees and customers who were understandably thrilled to see the actor. Wahlberg shared another clip in which he told employees they needed to get his Flecha Azul Tequila and Performance Inspired Nutrition products at the store.
The actor was pleased to find the store did carry the Wahlburgers at Home brand of burger patties. He held up one of the packages and directly addressed his brother Paul Wahlberg, who co-owns the Wahlburgers brand with Mark and their brother Donnie Wahlberg. "Paul Wahl, I told you, we need the Wahlburgers at home. You didn't listen at first but now you understand why. People should have their Wahlburgers when and where they want, it's pretty amazing," he added.
Walking down memory lane
Wahlberg also stopped by another local supermarket called Shaw's, which also carried Wahlburgers meats.
He recalled how his mother called the store 'Star Market' and shared that the employees there "took care of my mom every single day" when he was growing up. "She felt like she was the most important person in the world when she walked into Star Market because they gave her that love back," he said. The actor now has four kids of his own — namely Ella, 19, Grace, 13, Michael, 17, and Brendan, 14 — with his wife Rhea Durham, 44, the Daily Mail reported.