No Outside Food

Before we signed a contract for the cafe and bar, we toured the kitchens in all the rinks. All the snack bars were closing, so we had our choice of locations. Pierre said McKinney was the best choice, as it was the newest, nicest rink and had the most business. Also, the McKinney rink had a true restaurant and bar area with it’s own seating. The other rinks had very small bars hidden upstairs with no separate seating. Our plan was to be a destination restaurant and bar, so we liked the layout in McKinney. Sadly, the general public never saw a bar in an ice rink as any type of destination or hangout.

Like I said earlier it didn’t take long for us to realize signing a contract without exclusive rights to food was a big mistake. No matter how many times I brought it up, Todd was adamant he wouldn’t support ‘no outside food or drink’. Months after we opened, new businesses opened cafes in the Farmers Branch and Euless rinks. Farmers Branch was opened by a guy with a food truck. I thought that was a brilliant idea. He could use the big grill in the rink to prepare some of the food ahead of time and then travel around doing business in the food truck when business was slow in the rink.

Next thing we knew, the other rinks had put up signs saying ‘no outside food or drink’. Again, I went to Todd, but to no avail. Clearly, the General Managers at the other rinks were far more supportive of their restaurant’s success. Even though Todd would say our success was important to the rink, he had no intention of helping us be successful and in fact did whatever he could to sabotage us.

It was devastating to me to see the other rinks be supportive and watch my business and my money sucked down the drain. I don’t know if Todd and Pierre were in cahoots to use my money to get started and then squeeze me out or Todd wasn’t supportive because it would mean he would actually have to come to work everyday and work. Maybe it doesn’t really matter. Eventually the food truck guy closed his restaurant in Farmers Branch and walked away. I’m sure he wouldn’t have done that if it was making good money. I hope his food truck is doing well.

That’ll Be 25¢

In the beginning, we truly believed we would win customers by providing good food at reasonable prices and by being kind. Our food tasted good. We had healthy choices. And we gave people anything they wanted.

It was heartbreaking to see people come in with food from other restaurants. Then to have them want free stuff from us, was like a stab directly into the heart. People didn’t seem shy or embarrassed at all to come over and ask for free ketchup, free plasticware, free cups of water, free plates, free napkins, or free sugar and cream because they forgot to get these at the restaurant where they bought their food. And we gave it to them because we thought it would encourage them to buy from us next time.

When we first opened, we put all the condiments on a table in the lobby so people could help themselves. We quickly learned that was a horrible idea. Kids were left in the arena for hours. Some kids would open all the packages and mix them together on the table just to have something to do while their siblings skated. (Have I said some parents don’t watch their kids very well?) Some kids would flat out eat the sugar and cream or use the lemon packets to make lemonade. Either way, they would leave huge messes everywhere. This is a big expense when you’re a small business, but everyone assumed it was ok because the condiments were free. If I brought the mess to the parents attention, some of them would clean up the mess, but not one of them ever offered to reimburse us for the condiments wasted.

So we moved everything behind the counter and forced people to ask for such things. It didn’t deter them from asking when they brought outside food, but it did save us a ton of money in waste. We continued to hand out condiments to non-customers for several months, but it was obvious it was still affecting our bottom line and needed to stop. We just couldn’t afford to be that kind, so condiments and plasticware became customer-only provisions. I can’t tell you how many people chewed me out in anger. Especially people who brought in 10 pizzas and then wanted free setups for their birthday party. We charged $5 for about 20 plates, cups, and plasticware when the food was not purchased from us and people were mad.

The biggest anger issue though, was the cups. The styrofoam cups cost us about 16¢ each. We had to pay the State of Texas 2¢ tax on a 25¢ sale, so we made a whopping 7¢ when we sold a cup for 25¢. So many people went absolutely ballistic when they asked for a cup of water and we said, “That’ll be 25¢, please.” Some even told me to go ‘f’ myself. Really??? But I have to tell you, it saved us a ton of money. Like I said kids were in the arena for hours and they would come get a cup of water. 30 minutes later the same kids would ask for another. When asked where their cup was, they would answer they threw it away. And it wasn’t just the kids, parents would grab 10 or so cups right off the counter without even asking, because they forgot to bring toys for the little ones to play with while their siblings skated. That’s why cups went from free to 25¢. There were 2 water fountains, free cold water, right next to the restrooms. Stop costing us money. The side effects from this, some parents would want to charge 25¢ to their credit card. That would be a ‘NO’, use the water fountain. I don’t remember what the credit card fees are on 25¢, but I’m not going there.

What was my mistake here? Can you be too nice to people? I think you can. If you don’t respect your bottom line, they certainly won’t. Like I said before, we had some hockey dad’s who really respected that we were a struggling new small business and did everything they could to help us, but many, many people did not.

Secrets Are Not Good for Business

I don’t know when Pierre decided it was ok to start telling everyone he was a partner in the cafe. In the beginning he was concerned about conflict of interest, because he worked for corporate and was partnering with Robbie and me to open a business inside one of the corporate owned rinks. At some point, small children started telling me their coach owned our snack bar. So it became public knowledge. When people know you are part of a business, you have to conduct yourself appropriately.

Normally, I would think raising your children would not affect business. However in this kind of environment, people recognize or know you and your children. If people see something they don’t like, they may decide never to do business with you. So what you do at the rink reflects directly on your cash flow.

As an animal person, I know the importance of observation. We watch our animals all the time, to see how they feel and think. So I was surprised that Pierre didn’t seem to do that with his 3 adopted children. It’s important to assess where they are and guide them. Sadly, these kids came from a bad home and had to be seized and put up for adoption. They were truly lucky to be adopted by someone who could keep them together.

Pierre would show up at the rink with the kids (and sometimes with someone to watch them) and head off to coach his students – you know, the ones he said he was going to stop coaching so he could dedicate time to grow the cafe. If he brought someone to watch the kids, they would encourage the kids to do their homework and stuff like that, especially since they needed a lot of tutoring to catch up to their grade level. When Pierre didn’t bring a babysitter, the kids would run wild in the lobby. That wasn’t necessarily unusual, as many parents ignored their children at the rink and havoc would ensue. The problem was, Pierre’s kids had no idea how to act in public. They certainly hadn’t learned anything from their biological parents. Pierre’s kids would go to tables where the people had food, touch their food, and ask if it was for them. I’m sure that’s how they survived before they were taken from their biological parents, but it was certainly inappropriate at the rink. One day, Pierre’s daughter picked up someone’s baby and dropped it. These are all things Pierre should have been present for; he should have brought the kids to the rink when he wasn’t working so he could observe how they acted and teach them appropriate behavior, rather than be mad when he heard what happened and scold them.

My mistake here was not walking away the day Pierre told me he was adopting children. I should have realized his lack of discloser in the beginning was a sign there were more secrets, and secrets aren’t good for business.

Ice, Ice, Baby

I want to talk about the ice machine in more detail. It was the only ice machine in the building. I don’t know if the refrigerator in the break room behind the front desk had an ice maker or not. We didn’t have access to that room. The rink employees used that refrigerator to keep ziplock bags of ice to use as ice packs when people were injured. I didn’t think anything about it until I saw Todd’s employees helping themselves to ice. Once, I came in and saw one guy reaching into the ice chest with his bare dirty hands to fill some baggies. We used that ice for drinks. So I had to dig out all the ice and throw it into the sink and wait for the ice machine to make more ice. Some days later, I came in and saw one of the women dipping a big plastic bowl into the ice bin. You and I both know that bowl had not been sanitized. So once again, I had to toss out all the ice and wait for the machine to make more. These actions are totally unacceptable in a restaurant environment.

Todd told me he came from a food service background. In fact, he told me he was in charge of the food service setup when the big FC Dallas stadium was built. What kind of food service individual doesn’t train his people on food safety? The McKinney rink had been open for 5 years and some of Todd’s employees had been there the entire 5 years. Have they been contaminating the ice that goes in peoples’ drink cups for years? Are they still doing it? That’s the scary question – Is the cafe in the McKinney rink a health hazard today?

I went to Todd every time I saw these things. And who knows how many times it happened when I wasn’t there. The women who worked for Todd became pretty good about bringing their bowl over for ice when I was there. I used our sanitized scoop to transfer ice into the bowl and handed it back to them. They used their bowl of ice to fill baggies and store them in their freezer. That’s the perfect solution and yet I couldn’t get Todd to enforce it. While the women embraced it, the young guys continued to get ice when we were closed so they could use ice as an excuse to steal from the cafe, from me. No matter how many times I brought it up, Todd refused to require his employees to get their ice from us. He did’t care that his people were contaminating the ice and he didn’t care that his people stole from me.

Todd always used the excuse that they needed ice for an emergency. Injuries are a known by-product of an ice rink and the front desk should always have plenty of ice packs on-hand. So when I caught one of the young guys on camera, in an area off the beaten path of the door to the ice machine, Todd said he was getting ice. There wasn’t any ice where this guy was. So I asked to see the injury report that required an emergency ice pack when the cafe was closed. I never got an answer. Being a tenant to the local hockey team was a living nightmare and an uncontrollable health hazard.

My Employees are Your Employees

Back in the Olden Days, when I was in high school, my Dad came home one night and was talking about some decision that was made at work and how he disagreed with the plan. I asked him why he didn’t just do what he thought was a better plan. He explained to me that the company was paying him to do a job, whatever the company decided that job should be. It was the best work advice I’ve ever gotten. I’m not saying I keep my ideas to myself, I’m saying when the decision is made I do the best job I can do to support the company’s needs. Does anybody think this way anymore? I can’t tell you how many employees I had that absolutely refused to follow our kitchen procedures because they knew a better way to do everything. Even people I thought were my friends, who came to me when they were destitute, were defiant.

We hired a lot of high schoolers, for most this was their first job. Many times, their parents would come apply for them, but I told the parents their kids would have to apply for themselves. It took a lot to train the kids, many had never cooked before, or even washed their hands. So we always hoped people would stay a while after training. Some did. Some didn’t. Some quit and went to work for the rink. So my employees became their employees.

People are free to work where ever they wish. Even if they hadn’t gone to work for the rink, they probably would have quit anyway. So I don’t have a problem with that, except for one thing. Todd knew he was interviewing my employees and he was my landlord. In the spirit of keeping a good relationship, I truly expected him to make sure the kids knew they should give 2 weeks notice and work for us those 2 weeks and then start their new job with him. Instead the kids would quit and start their new job the next day or give 2 weeks notice and call in sick for every shift. I would come in to work their hours and there they were sitting at the front desk working for Todd. They didn’t look very sick. I would have been happy to give Todd a copy of their schedule so he could work around it for 2 weeks, but he wasn’t interested in working with me on this issue at all.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I was glad to get rid of some of these employees. It saved me from having to fire them. Still, it left me in the lurch for employees to quit so abruptly. I don’t blame any of them for changing jobs, the rink job was so much easier than cooking food and cleaning up a kitchen. Like I told you before, the rink employees didn’t have to do much. They checked in a few people and then sat around the entire evening. There were no mature adults working the front desk to encourage the employees to keep the lobby clean or police the bleacher areas. Working at the rink was like getting free money for doing nothing. Changing jobs was kind of a no-brainer. I just think it could have been handled with a little more respect from Todd.

Why Does Everything Have to Be So Hard?

The new TVs were nice, but there’s no free lunch. We didn’t have access to the rink offices, so I can just report what I was told. The new DirecTV boxes were in a locked room behind the front desk and only 2 people had keys to that room – Todd and Mad Max. There was a phone app to change the channels, but Todd refused to give me access. He did give Kyle the Bartender access to the app. Even if Todd didn’t like me and wanted to make my life miserable, not giving me access was stupid. I was in the rink more than anybody, more than Todd, more than Kyle, more than Max, and I couldn’t change the channels on the TVs.

I guess when you have a monopoly, customer service is not necessary. The local hockey team owned just about all the rinks in the metroplex and I understand they had noncompete agreements with all the coaches so the coaches couldn’t meet their students at a cheaper rink to help them save money on practice ice. So eventually most of the outside rinks closed or were bought out by the local hockey team. I’m telling you this because a good manager with customer service in mind would have trained their people on the new process of changing channels on the new TVs. Even if it’s not their job to change the channels, they need to know what the process is. Customers go to the front desk and the bar to get their favorite game or program all the time and Todd knew that. Yet he didn’t train his people.

Now that I couldn’t change the channels, I had to send all the customers to the front desk for channel changes. Many customers expressed disdain, as they hated to have to deal with the young smart-ass men working there. I felt their pain but couldn’t help them. (As a side note, in the 2.5 years I was there, I was shocked at how many customers came to me with questions about the rink, stating those people at the front desk didn’t know sh*t.) Since the front desk people had not been trained on the new process, they would send the customers back to me telling them the boxes were behind the bar and we had to change the channel. That was the old process, so I had to send the customer back to the front desk. People got so angry, and I don’t blame them. It’s ridiculous to be sent back and forth. So when I finished with my customers I would go to the front desk with them and try to tell the workers to get Max or Todd to change the channels. They didn’t believe me and wouldn’t do it. This went on for weeks because Todd wouldn’t own up to the process to his own people. Finally, the coach who was head of the figure skating program came to me, pissed as hell. Why was I sending these customers to the front desk for channel changes? I got her to sit down at one of the tables in the lobby and I explained the new process to her. I took her behind the bar and showed her that the old DirecTV boxes were gone. Finally, someone saw the light. All Todd had to have done was tell his people that channel changes were now to go to Todd or Max. How hard is that? Why wasn’t it handled after the first misunderstanding instead of weeks later? And all this poor customer service and anger never would have happened.

If I didn’t have a customer, I would go to the front desk with people to ask for a channel change, just to save time and anxiety. If Todd and Max weren’t there, nothing would happen. Todd’s employees refused to contact him if he wasn’t in the building, which was quite often. So I started emailing Todd when people wanted channel changes. He had email on his phone and could change the channels where ever he was. Especially when people wanted to watch the local hockey team’s game and it wasn’t on any of the TVs in the local hockey team’s rink. How stupid is that??? Todd wasn’t happy that he had to get out his phone and change the channels (sometimes late at night), but this was his process. He could have given me the app on my phone but he chose not to. Kyle could change the channel when he was working, but he was an hourly employee and I was not going to ask him on his days off. Kyle’s time off is his time.

I don’t even know what to say about this. It’s so ridiculous I still can’t believe it really happened. I don’t know if the local hockey team hires the most incompetent people they can find or they just don’t care.

Fancy New TVs for Everyone

A couple months after we opened the bar, we found out the local hockey team would be replacing all the TVs in all the rinks. We had 5 flat screens in the bar, but many of the rinks still had box TVs. Since McKinney was the newest, nicest rink, we were second on the list for replacement, after HQ of course.

The original set up was our 5 TVs in the bar, plus screens throughout the rink. There were 3 DirecTV boxes behind the bar. This was extremely inconvenient when we were busy because someone always wanted a channel changed but didn’t know what channel they wanted. And it took a while to get to know which TVs were connected to which of the 3 boxes. The one great thing was the local hockey team subscribed to the sports package so we could show their games at the rink. That meant we had all sorts of sports channels and could show almost any game in the bar.

The new setup would put 10 TVs and 1 large projection screen in the bar and 5 (or 6, can’t remember) DirecTV boxes in the arena management offices behind the front desk. We were thrilled. Now we could really market to office meetings, clubs, and parties who wanted to hook a laptop to the projection TV. And the arena employees would be responsible for changing the channels, not us.

In order to install the TVs, Todd demanded that we pay to paint one of the walls in the bar. I told him there was no need as we hadn’t damaged the wall. We never even put up pictures on the wall, so it was in the same condition as when we signed our contract. So, Todd went to Pierre to tell him we had to paint the wall. Which is funny since Pierre was only 1/3 owner and his name wasn’t even on the contract. I told Pierre we really needed that money for payroll and there was no reason for us to pay for painting when we hadn’t damaged the wall. Eventually, Pierre hired some guys to come in and paint the wall. I was so pissed. Pierre never put in his seed money (and we really needed it for payroll) and yet paid to paint a wall that didn’t need to be painted. Pierre was supposed to be my partner, not Todd’s partner. I have to say, the new TVs were wonderful. Did Pierre seize this opportunity to really market the bar and bring in some meetings? He hosted one Super Bowl party with his friends – that was it. He didn’t bring in one party or business meeting after that.

Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome

I thought all Canadians were nice people, but I guess every group has their bad apple. Max and his brother both worked at the rink. His brother was a wonderful, supportive guy, but Max was a young 20s, full of himself goalie who thought he was king of the dome. When I first met Max, I liked him. We gave him free leftovers almost everyday. He bought from us regularly and we gave him a discount. We even named a pizza after him – the Max Special – which was all the meats with extra bacon. I thought we had a good thing going. Then, he started calling me names – Aunt Jemima, Harriet Tubman, etc. I certainly was in good company with these names but it was the idea of saying them with disrespect.

Pierre booked a private party, the only outside party he booked in 2.5 years. It was a lawyer running for Judge. It wasn’t a campaign party, just a get-together with his volunteers to buy them dinner and pay for their kids to ice skate while he signed up the volunteers to distribute signs and pamphlets over the next few weeks. We had to be careful about these things as our building was owned by the City of McKinney and had to remain unbiased. The lawyer had gotten permission from the front desk ahead of time, but the people working that night took exception to the party and Max even threatened Kyle if we didn’t shut it down. Max and other employees kept saying ‘Todd said’ whatever and Todd called Pierre, but neither one of them showed up to help sort out the issues. The solution ended up being to close a see-through gate about 10 degrees. It was the stupidest thing ever and I’m sure the private party members never came back after all the to-do. The party went well after we moved the gate a little. The fallout came later. Parents started coming to me, individually, telling me Max was telling them not to buy from us and that I was a bitch. Max and Pierre were close, so I told Pierre. Pierre said he would talk to Max, but I don’t know if he ever did or what he said because the bad-mouthing didn’t stop.

When we reported Will for stealing, the impudence got worse. None of the male rink employees would buy from us anymore and they were horrible to me. And worst of all, Todd would leave Max and some of the other young guys in charge at night. They didn’t keep the lobby clean, even when people vomited on the floor and tables. The male employees stole from us after we closed at night, except I don’t think Max ever stole from us. These young guys weren’t mature enough to run a business and shouldn’t have been left in charge. And they should have been taught to respect the tenants and help us build our business as it means money for all concerned.

Kyle and I both mentioned to Pierre that he should stop hiring Max to work at his seasonal ice rinks. You can’t reward someone for bad behavior, Max disrespected our business and me, Pierre’s business partner; how could Pierre hire him for anything??? So it’s no surprise when Pierre hired Max once again, that I texted Pierre asking how could he hire someone after being disrespected like that. Pierre sent me an email, offended that I would send a text instead of an email – I still don’t know why a text is rude and an email isn’t. And Pierre pretty much told me it was none of my business. Once again, no support from Pierre. This whole restaurant was Pierre’s idea and yet he didn’t have our best interests at heart.

An Ice Rink is a Handicap

Operating a business in an ice rink is a bigger handicap than you would expect. Before we opened, I was sure we could win over skaters and their families by offering healthy food at reasonable prices, despite the rink’s refusal to support us with a “no outside food or drink” policy. Pierre assured us he had spoken to many skaters to find out their needs in a cafe so we could fulfill them.

The rink was situated in a relatively undeveloped area. There were empty fields, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, a few businesses, and some apartments. The only other eating places nearby consisted of 1 restaurant and a gas station – and the sports venues had snack bars that were open during tournaments. Once again, I thought we could win over the neighborhood and become their favorite bar, especially since we were close enough for them to walk home if need be.

When we opened the bar, it doubled our cash flow almost immediately. So I thought I was seeing the turn around I had assumed would happen and success was just around the corner. But we were still floundering. And it became quite clear Pierre’s marketing plan was non-existent. So Kyle and I started exploring the world of marketing. It’s hard to do everything, but it was make or break time so we had to try. Kyle worked with local breweries to have Pint Nights in the bar. We did coupons, flyers, and cold contacts. We searched for websites to list our business, whatever we could think of. Still Pierre did nothing.

We got some new, outside business but it didn’t last long. People just don’t think of going to an ice rink for dinner and a beer. And part of the problem was the kids. We didn’t allow kids in the bar without their parents, but not all parents watch their kids or respect the adult environment of a bar. Plus the kids were running wild just outside the door. Siblings of skaters have nothing to do during practice or competition so they use the entire lobby as a screaming playground. I once suggested that the rink put in a playground for the kids, but that went nowhere. I thought it was a great idea, since it would cut down on the chaos and destruction in the lobby.

I truly believed the numbers were turning in our favor when we opened the bar. I knew the last ditch effort to market the bar would tell me everything. And it did. Business did not increase enough for our cafe to become a viable entity. My biggest mistake here was not realizing the extreme handicap of being in an ice arena and insisting on a “no outside food or drink” policy to even sign the contract for the space. I listened to Pierre and Todd as they painted the the glistening future of this business opportunity. I believed Pierre and Todd as they promised their support in this joint venture. After all, they were the resident experts. I was Taken, and Liam Neeson wasn’t around to save me.

Not a Friendship Membership

When we opened the cafe, Pierre went to Sam’s to buy a membership but they made him mad so he got a membership at Costco. It was handy and cheaper than Sysco for items like candy and water bottles. We got a business account that was enabled for tax exempt purchases since we were buying most things for resale. Pierre was good about making Costco runs for us when we were getting low on water, but he always bought sanitary wipes while he was there. I told him we didn’t need them because we already had sanitizer in squirt bottles for cleaning counters and equipment. He continued to waste our money buying the wipes, which tells me he didn’t watch the Food Handler videos or just didn’t care. Like I told you earlier, it wasn’t his money so I guess it was easy to waste.

I went to Costco and got my membership card. For the account we got, 2 people get membership cards and you have to pay extra if you want to add more people. Pierre wanted to add Nick to our account. I didn’t like the idea, because Nick wasn’t part of the cafe. Nick was a former student of Pierre and now a skating coach. I love Nick, but he’s not part of the business and really didn’t even support us much. He hardly ever bought anything from the cafe. Mainly though, Nick wasn’t qualified for tax exempt purchases and I didn’t want to be involved in any kind of sales tax fraud.

So one day, I went to Costco and when I got to the checkout they told me my membership was no good. Turns out, Pierre had put Nick on our membership even though I wasn’t in favor and when Nick was added Costco took me off. What the Heck! This is a business, not a friendship membership. I don’t know if Pierre and Nick are more than friends, but I sure don’t see any reason to have Nick on our account. It’s cheaper for him to have his own account anyway since personal accounts are cheaper. I had Nick taken off the account and got everything straightened out. I did find out later that Pierre paid the extra money for Nick to be put back on the account as a third member. I told Pierre he better make sure Nick was paying sales tax on his purchases.

This is the kind of crap you shouldn’t have to deal with when trying to build a business. I don’t know where Pierre’s brain was, but it wasn’t on building a restaurant. It’s a bad sign when your partner goes behind your back on business actions. I should have run away as fast as possible.