Sounds somewhat like Wal-Mart in miniature. When I was a Wal-Mart Associate, I worked with people who had met and worked alongside Sam Walton "back in the day". "Mr. Sam" walked in during Christmas Rush one year, found the lady in Sporting Goods dealing with a blitz all alone because the other person had called in sick. Mr. Sam jumped behind the counter with her and started serving customers. Because she shouldn't have to face that alone.

You'd be hard-pressed to find an Assistant Manager who would dirty their hands like that nowadays.

Preserving Corporate Culture of that sort is, sadly, very difficult. When people who have never stocked a shelf or served a customer decide prices and policies, a once-beautiful thing will start to rot.