Tag: heartbreak

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.

Worst Managed Rink in the World

Pierre taught lessons in this building at least once a week, so I trusted him when he said opening the cafe was a good opportunity and this was the best facility in the chain. He also reminded me regularly that Todd was never around and certainly not trustworthy. Like I have said before, I had no idea how bad it could really be.

It’s true Todd wasn’t around much. I was there all day everyday and I hardly ever saw him. On one side, that’s a good thing because he was very disrespectful of me, his tenant. However, there was also a downside to his absence. During the day, he had some women running the show. They may not have smiled a lot, but they were very professional and knew their jobs. Evenings and weekends, the kids took over. They may have looked like adults, late teens and early 20s, but calamity reigned. These guys sat with their backs to the front desk and chatted most of their shift. This band of miscreants wasn’t welcoming or helpful. They didn’t enforce the rules or take care of business – and many of them stole from our cafe.

Max, the ringleader, would call me names and tell parents not to buy from us because I was such a bitch. I don’t think he ever stole from us, but not sure about that. (Your landlord should never campaign against your business.) I brought this to corporate’s attention, but Max was not punished and later he was promoted, and the harassment continued. One night someone vomited in the lobby and there was a trail leading into the bathroom. People had to step over it all evening because the employees didn’t feel like cleaning it up and there was no adult working to teach them to do the right thing. I brought this up with corporate, but it continued to happen. Who wants to buy food when there’s vomit on the floor? And some of the boys stole from us after we closed for the evening.

It’s truly heartbreaking when you give people free leftovers almost everyday and a discount on everything they buy, just to be treated like dirt. My mistake here was not hanging out in the lobby at various times of day and talking to people who were there regularly. At this point I felt trapped in hell. How can your landlord be so dedicated to your failure?