It Happened Again.

On Saturday last, I went to a restaurant/grab and go close to my office.  To be honest,

I’d been curious about the place for a while, however, every time I passed by, it was

‘opening soon’ and when it did our schedules didn’t coincide.

Finally, I passed by and it was open (Yay!). I parked and quickly made my way inside

both curious and expectant as to what their offerings might be.

On the good side, the decor was well appointed-indicating that a lot of time, effort and expense had gone into it... Lovely pictures, gorgeous moldings, and appropriately

positioned lighting- all creating an atmosphere that would entice a patron to purchase

and perhaps linger.

On the bad side, there were obvious challenges.

My order was taken by an affable server... in a dirty apron - Strike One.

I then asked directions to the washroom. On approaching the very nice sink to wash my

hands, I was assailed with a dirty washrag in the said sink. Don’t know how long it was

there, didn’t know who it belonged to, didn’t care - Strike Two.

At that point, I took another look at the establishment-a long, hard look. I noticed empty

cups haphazardly stacked in corners, other dirty rags in the sink behind the serving

counter and general disarray that spoke of not enough care in terms of general upkeep-

Strike Three!

Which brings me to the point of my soliloquy; "Exactly what are you selling?" If after all the resources expended to woo the customer, you cannot be bothered to at the very least, to keep up appearances, it tells me two things: One, after spending all that cash for your brick-and-mortar, you had none left for frontline training, or Two, you haven’t yet fully conceptualized your business as a going concern.

I left there, clutching my purchase-alas, my dogs were the only partakers of the meal

(I had to settle for a cheese sandwich) but even more so, saddened that in a year’s time the owners of that business will probably be wondering why such a grand idea didn’t pan

out.

What are your thoughts?