Starbucks closing 600 more stores

He said for a nominal service charge
I could reach nirvana tonight

Off topic, but I'm taking advantage of the holiday to finalize plans for my Wizard of Oz themed eatery, with 765 outlets coast to coast by the year 2010 and gift cards in every corner stop 'n' rob to follow. All I have so far is the song crooned to every customer by the Scarecrow/greeter, to the tune of "If I Only Had a Brain."

I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain
And my belly, I'd be scratchin'
While my hunger’s busy hatchin'
If I only had a chain.

I'd unravel ev'ry riddle
Nothing’s individ'le
It’s all ‘bout franchise gain
When the crowds come a throngin'
You could be another Longhorn,
If you only had a chain.

Oh, I could tell you why
Red Lobster’s not near the shore,
I could invest where I never been before
And then I'd sit and eat some more.

I’d be a Starbucks muffin
My head like Boston Market stuffin'
Those Chili’s apps – just insane
I would dance the Baconator
Life a low common denominator
If I only had a chain!

MMnhph (!knaint move my mouth!) Oil Can!!!...Oil Can...

Try some mobil 1

In the absence of microrefined lubricants, of course.

hooh ah hah

I love working in the food industry. It is my passion. After working for Buffalo Wild Wings for a year and a half, I started to believe that I chose the wrong profession. It is a profession, a craft, a skill. Most of us had the opportunity to decide what we wanted to do for a living. In most cases, a lot of the employees that work for these large chains and corporations did not have that choice. They applied for countless jobs and the Starbucks (example) was the only place that would hire them. At BW3's, a newly hired employee was put through a 3 day training program, no matter what kind of experience they had. Then you have an employee that has no restaurant exp. cooking your frozen patty or dropping your frozen wings. These chains have taken the skill and dignity out of our profession. They are not cooks, they are shift workers. These are not restaurants, they are factories. Anyone can take a frozen bag of soup and put it in boiling water, but how many can make a batch of soup from scratch. I was a Kitchen manager at BW'3, I was making 32,000 a year, working 60 plus hours a week, making maybe $8 an hour. Everyone, myself included hated working there. I had to run a 30% food cost, 15% labor cost, and at the same time pulling in $5000 a night in gross sales.
These places do not care about their employees, they do not care about their customers. I hate to see people lose their job, but I am sure there is that other place on the corner willing to train them for 3 days and schedule them 30 hours(part time=0 insurance). It is obvious that the people who praise the major chains and corporations have never worked in one of these factories. If you enjoy eating at these places, thats your choice, and your health. The everyday employee that works in the chains and corporations are not benefiting by your business.

That was a brilliant summary.

Not all chains are the same. Victoria Station put all their employees through a great deal of training and had continuous training for them on a regular basis. Whether it was a wine seminar by a distributor, a field trip to a distillery, or lessons about fish preparation from a local monger, there was always more training. VS kept food servers, barkeeps, carvers, bussers for long periods of time. Most of us loved working there. I remember during my employ it took almost 4 years to have 1, complete turnover in employees. Many of us not only stayed with the company for years but traveled around the US as trainers for them. They were a truly responsible company. They refused to promote a full time worker into a management position unless that employee continued their outside education as well so no one stayed in management simply because they weren't qualified for anything else. My point being not all chains are evil and not all independents are responsible and fair.

Cala...They dont want to hear that on this site...You are being positive...

Funny I know at least four people that were working at local places and left to work at a chain...two went to O Charlys and one to Applebees and one to Cracker Barrell....Why because they were making more money and they got health insurance...Guess the volume of customers was not as good as a chain to make money...

I'm not trying to stir up anything. I try to frequent independents whenever I can. My beef with large, box chains - like Walmart- is that they come in, lower their prices to WAY below market value, drive out all competition by strangling off others' lines of revenue. Then, after the competition is gone, prices shoot back up and the locals are forced to pay those prices because now there are no other options at which to shop. Places like Starbucks and Whole Foods don't operate in that manner. (They may have some shady HR dealings that I'm not aware of but there's a bunch of that going on in independents as well. And when I learn of ANY business doing crap like that I stop my patronage.)

Here's what does get my goat... last count there were 30 independent restaurants advertising in the pages of Gannet publications. Gannet has been so notorious for the above mentioned practices that BOOKS have been written about it. And yet every week I can look in their pages and there's another independent restaurant advertising there because it's a few cents cheaper for them and then they rail on the rest of us for even considering dining at a chain. I find it a bit hypocritical and negates their argument.

Let's be grownups. Any business that serves its community with quality products or services, treats its employees justly and pays a fair wage, deserves a space in the business world. Being a chain in and of itself doesn't make you a demon and being an independent doesn't make you a saint or vice versa. The loss of any business that operates as a true servant to the community is a loss for everyone.

BTW Robert, as far as I'm concerned I will never eat at a Cracker Barrel ever again based on their ill and sometimes illegal treatment of gay employees and minorities. Same goes for Wendy's. Not to be left out, I remember being refused service at Kaleins (spelling) back in the late 60s because my friend that I was dining with (a professor at U of L) had a full beard and was deemed a hippie.

I would never return to a place either that treats me wrong....Local or Chain...

Guess the volume of customers was not as good as a chain to make money...

There you have it: The essence of the mercenary beiong, sans anything remotely approximating art or aesthetics. That, my friends, is the practical, everyday definition of Philistinism. Not that I'm accusing Robert of it, or of anything else that might come too close to the truth.

Sometimes moving up to make a better salary is a good thing such as when you have to make a house payment or a bill from LG&E or the water bill or stuff like that....I find that it is a lot easier to pay these with money....and if you make a little more you might even have some left over after paying all the bills...IMO