Minkchocolates

March Forth

Monday. Fred reminds me that March 4th is the only day of the year that is also a command. He asks me if I’m going to use that to celebrate my achievements and set new goals.

“Maybe if it wasn’t so close to New Year’s,” I say. “I’m seeing a lot of failed resolutions and we’re only eight weeks in.”

I emphasize how being in the café business allows me to see and listen firsthand to people profess change but ultimately slide back into old habits.

“In January, our skim milk consumption increased four-fold. Everyone was on a diet,” I offer. “By the first of February, low-fat milk is the sole domain of ladies who lunch, and vegans who cheat.”

Tuesday. Fred sends me a link to the 25 most inspirational songs of all time. There’s Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire, and a couple of tracks from the Rocky movies.

“Put these on the store playlist,” he says. “Start your day with a staff pep talk, and crank these loud. Get them motivated to strive for excellence. To march forth and conquer.”

This in response to my having told him that I’ve been struggling to find the antidote for complacency that I fear has permeated the rank and file. No longer does it suffice to rely on the communication book to point out the things that were missed. My ‘Discipline Equals Freedom’ approach has lost its edge. I’m loathe to micro-manage. I think it’s time for some one-on-one. Or at least a staff meeting.

Wednesday. I call up Faith at the Morgan Crossing store, and we talk staff motivation. She tells me she’s split her regular to-do list into tasks and assigned them to various shifts. Rather than make any one person responsible for a particular thing, or have to rely on everyone being generalists and doing everything, she has a specific shift responsible for specific tasks.

“Funny how that much coveted ten thirty to seven shift fell out of favor when it got assigned bathroom maintenance,” she says. “But the nine o’clock dust and fluff is in huge demand.”

That triggers my rant. “Where did this sense of entitlement come from,” I query. “Haven’t they had to walk to and from school up hill in the snow with newspaper in their shoes?”

Faith struggles to hold back her laughter. “How old are you exactly?”

Granted, I may be a victim of an Eastern European immigrant’s work ethic, but I don’t think the advent of the iPhone precludes anyone from working hard. You just can’t call it in, and expect to succeed.

Thursday. I sit down with Ben, and tell him it’s time for everyone to undergo a performance review. I remind him that each of his hires were brought on board for attitude, and that we trained for skill. I go on to pitch the concept of March Forth, reiterating my belief that this is a perfect time for each employee to re-set their goals for the year.

“Let’s get back to the Four Seasons standard of excellence,” I say. “I know none of these kids are going to be baristas forever, but on the highway of life, this pit stop should at least help cultivate a desire to do the best possible job in any circumstance.”

He thinks about it for a minute, and then volunteers Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive as his pick for the lead-off song at the pep rally.

Friday. Fred calls to remind me not to take the concept of March Forth too seriously. He tells me about a guy he knew that rented costumes for his staff, having everybody dress up like Revolutionary War soldiers. They convened in a Save-On Foods parking lot and practiced marching in unison.

I asked about the outcome of that team building exercise. Apparently there was a mutiny, forcing that guy out of retail. He’s now a stay-at-home dad and part-time video game tester.

“I’ll take that under advisement,” I tell Fred, and with that, I log onto iTunes, and start a new playlist.

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

Call the store: 604.633.2451
Call my mobile: 604.376.3464
Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop: minkchocolates.com
Tweet: twitter.com/minkchocolates
Join: facebook.com/mink.chocolates
Read: blog.minkchocolates.com
Watch: youtube.com search mink chocolates
In Person: 863 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N9

Nine out of every ten persons say they love chocolate. The tenth lies.
– Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Last one to leave turns out the lights

7AM to 7PM, 7 days a week, for 17 days. 

Those were the hours we chose to run with for the 2010 Winter Olympics. There was no magic hospitality industry formula for determining when we opened or when we closed, the staffing level or the schedule. 

As a slogan, it had a nice ring to it. We were going to take the ball and run with, and change on the fly if necessary. 

Excitement really started to build as the torch relay got closer to Vancouver. We were serving more and more people with Vanoc (Vancouver Olympic Committee) or IBC (international Broadcast Center) credentials, and the ubiquitous red mittens. More and more of our customers had accents, credit cards issued by foreign banks, and logo apparel of different nationalities. 

The opening ceremonies were Friday, February 12^th. We decided we’d start wearing our Olympic souvenir hockey jerseys on Monday the 8^th. Mink bought every staff member either a Canadian jersey (their choice of home or away colors) or that of their country of origin or family ancestry. 

Ben Best is from Dallas, Texas. Vancouver’s a hockey town. Poor guy took more than his share of abuse for those three weeks. How prescient was his Team USA jersey in a sea of Maple Leafs? 

The Games got underway and we got slammed. Throw Valentine’s Day into the chocolate mix, and that first weekend was nuts. The volumes we did were staggering. All of a sudden, twice weekly deliveries of dairy became daily deliveries. Suppliers who couldn’t get downtown because of parking restrictions took to loading my unlocked car in the middle of the night in front of my house. Five hours sleep a night became a luxury. 

By the 16^th we found our rhythm. We could handle the hordes. We got our breaks back. No one missed lunch. Everyone got to pee when they needed to. 

We were missing a lot of our regulars, but meeting people from all over the world. They found us because the Cafe fronts the pedestrian greenway that got them from Robson Square to the Olympic cauldron. That was a huge draw. 

It was Olympics on the TV from open to close, but unless a gathering crowd was hooting and hollering for someone or some country specifically, we were oblivious to what was going on. Except for hockey. 

To live through the preliminary round loss to the US, and make it to the gold medal game against that very team, our neighbors to the south, our largest trading partner, the country that causes us to get a cold when it sneezes, made for levels of pandemonium hitherto unknown. And on that final Sunday of the Games, after busting our chops so furiously getting it done, the only sensible thing to do was close the Café and let the staff watch the game, and take to the streets afterwards. 

I scraped the auxiliary hours off the window, but left the Go Canada Go tagline and the small Canadian flag. I taped a piece of company letterhead below, saying “Closed Early for Hockey”.

I went home and watched the drama unfold from the comfort of my living room. My staff stayed downtown, watching with 250,000 of their closest friends. And in true Canadian fashion, Ben and his jersey came through the celebration unscathed.

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

Call the store: 604.633.2451
Call my mobile: 604.376.3464
Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop: www.minkchocolates.com
Tweet: www.twitter.com/minkchocolates
Join: www.facebook.com/mink.chocolates
Read: blog.minkchocolates.com
Watch: www.youtube.com search mink chocolates
In Person: 863 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N9

Welcome Olympic Visitors

Courtesy of @meljo45

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

Call the store: 604.633.2451
Call my mobile: 604.376.3464
Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop: minkchocolates.com
Tweet: twitter.com/minkchocolates
Join: facebook.com/mink.chocolates
Read: blog.minkchocolates.com
Watch: youtube.com search mink chocolates
In Person: 863 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N9

Nine out of every ten persons say they love chocolate. The tenth lies.
– Anthelme Brillat-Savarin