Congrats to the Wingman

So I was having trouble figuring out what I was going to write about for my last blog. I was sitting on the computer, surfing the web, when I got on facebook and found the perfect thing to write about. I found a linkthat Brian Rider, a 21 year old Grand Valley State student and my roommate from sophomore year recently posted. The link was to an article in the Grand Rapids Press that talked about how he won an award for the business he started that same year. Digital Wingman, his company, won $1,000 cash and free legal, product design and business services in Lakeshore's Next Top Entrepreneur contest organized by Lakeshore Advantage, the regional economic development agency.

I remember that year he had many sleepless nights trying to get the company started and I'm really glad to see he is seeing success from all those long nights. Brian created a software that is used by the housing departments of schools to allow students to create floor plans of dorm rooms on the school Web site without having to actually do any physical moving of furniture to try and find the perfect layout of their rooms. He has sold his product to GVSU, Central Michigan University and North Carolina State University. He said the company has made over $100,000 in revenue and typically sells his product for $10,000 to $30,000 a school.

I can't really believe that his business have come this far in the past two years. To tell you the truth, I had my doubts about if this would ever take off. But I was wrong, and I want to say congratulations to Brian and Digital Wingman for not giving up and starting what looks like it may become a very successful business.

The Big Three. About As Bad As The Lions

Michigan's economy is the worst it has been in a long time, and I feel like it just keeps getting worse. Michigan is so dependent on the Big Three and the auto industry, and with the struggles of Ford, Chrysler, and GM, our state is headed in the wrong direction. The Big Three has asked our federal government for $25 billion to bail them out of their financial problems, but even living in Michigan, I liked Congress' answer. Congress abandoned a vote on the bailout after a disastrous appearance in which the automakers were criticized for lavish corporate travel, as well as for having poor business plans and high labor costs that some members said would keep them from being competitive with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. The announcement came just days after Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli and General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner traveled to Washington on separate corporate jets. Why are these guys still traveling around the world in corporate jets if their companies are having such financial problems?

I know that something needs to be done, and something has to change to stop the downfall of the Big Three. Maybe it needs to start at the top of the companies. Now I don't know all that much about economics, or everything that is going on with Michigan's economy, but I do know if I was running one of these companies I wouldn't still be traveling around in my lavish private jet! I think it's absolutely ridiculous, and if I was a part of Congress, I would have ripped the CEO's as well. The Big Three can't just expect to have our government give them billions and billions of dollars if they aren't willing to make some sacrifices.

"Ford Motor Co. said it may sell its fleet of five corporate jets after top executives of the three Detroit automakers were harshly criticized by members of Congress this week for their travel expenses."(The Associated Press). What I don't understand, and I guess I never will, is why it took Congress to call out the Big Three for them to realize they should probably cut back on travel expenses, including traveling in private jets. I really hope things turn around for Chrysler, Ford and Gm, but they need to start making sacrifices themselves. Instead of laying off employees, how about the CEO's start taking pay cuts and traveling first class instead of their own planes!

Meijer Trying To Speed Up Checkout Times

Recently all Meijer stores implemented a new program that monitors their cashiers speed at the checkout lanes. From the second the first item is scanned a timer starts and doesn't stop until a receipt is spit out. To assess efficiency, the store's computer takes into account everything from the kinds of merchandise being bagged to how much each customers is paying. Each week, cashiers get scored and if a cashier falls below 95% of the baseline score too many times, they are likely to be demoted to a lower paying job, or in extreme cases, even being fired. Because of the economy all retailers are trying to do anything they can to increase efficiency inside of their stores, but is this the best way to do it?

I am one of those people that wants to get in and out so this sounds like a great idea to me. On the other hand, there are many people that like to talk and have a friendly conversation with their cashier, so they would hate this new operation that Meijer has adopted. Interviews with cashiers at 16 Meijer stores suggest that its system has spurred many to hurry up and has dialed up stress levels along the way. One cashier, who is 22 years old, says he recently told a longtime customer that he couldn't chat with her anymore during checkout because he was being timed. Other cashiers say they avoid eye contact with shoppers and generally hurry along older customers who might take longer to unload carts and count money.

I understand what Meijer is trying to do, and what most retailers are trying to do. Speeding up customers through check lanes means that they can keep the number of checkout lanes open to a minimum, reducing the cost of labor, but I don't know if this is the right way. There are older customers that do take longer, or even some that do want to chit-chat, so why should the cashier or customer be penalized for this? Why not take an approach like Target, my current employer? When check lanes begin to get backed up, employees are taken from the salesfloor to come help cashier until the lines decrease. To me it makes more sense and if a customer is taking a while, or they want to have a short conversation, the rest of the team helps out. I think it will be interesting to see how this works out for Meijer in the long run.

Last Minute Shoppers

I have worked in retail for over two years now and nothing bothers me more then last minute shoppers. I just don't understand how you can wait til the day before, or even the day of a big event to go out shopping. This Friday was Halloween, and all across America kids of all ages put on their costumes and went out to gather up as much candy as they could. I happened to be working at Target on Friday and let me tell you, I honestly don't understand what all these people are thinking. Why wait til Halloween to come get a costume or accessories. When I walked past the Halloween section it was like a mad house. People rummaging through the few costumes we have left looking for a certain outfit, then when they can't find what they are looking for they come complaining to you. It is so difficult to deal with these people because they don't understand why Target is sold out of what they are looking for. Probably because TODAY IS HALLOWEEN! It is so hard not to look at these people and say... where were you 3 weeks ago!? It's not like Halloween came out of no where, it's happens to be on October 31st every single year.

I understand that there are always going to be some people that wait until the last minute to go shopping. I really wish that when these people came into stores that they would have some understanding of why the stores are sold out of items. I mean if you think about it, it's ridiculous. With Christmas approaching fast, I am already prepared to deal with upset customers on Christmas Eve that want the "hottest" toy of the year for their kid. I mean the same thing is going to happen on Christmas Eve this year, next year, and the year after. I just wish that these people would have some understanding of why the store may not have the item is stock, rather then making a scene, and making a person like me, an normal employee, feel bad because they just had someone yell at them for 5 minutes about a toy for Christmas or a costume for Halloween. So here's a little hint for all you people planning on waiting until the last minute to do your shopping. Go to Target soon, we are already putting Christmas products out on the sales floor. You have two months, don't wait until December 24th.

Good Experience at Applebees

This weekend my family drove over from Lansing to come and take me and my sister out to dinner and catch up. It's always nice to see my Mom and Dad because of school and working, it makes it difficult for us to get to see each other in person. When they got he we hung out and talked for a while then we went out to dinner. We normally just get pizza or go somewhere in Allendale but we decided to go out to Standale this weekend to eat at the Applebee's there. It was a great decision.

When we got to Applebee's for some reason it was PACKED! You could tell that the waitresses had their hands full with a lot of tables just from the way they were all frantically racing around the restaurant to help all their customers. Normally when this happens, I feel like the service you get is always sub-par because the waitresses have all their tables seated, and the cooks are busying trying to make all the food and get it to the customers as fast as possible. This weekend though, Applebee's got a "gold star" in my book. Our waitress, although you could tell see was extremely busy, was great. She came over right away, brought us our drinks very fast, and really helped my Mom making a decision with what she wanted to dinner. On top of the good service from our waitress, the cooks must have been running around in the back too, because our food came fast. Since it came out so fast, I expected it to not taste that great. Applebee's again proved me wrong because the food was amazing.

Applebee's went above and beyond the service I expect any day at a restaurant, let alone a Sunday when they were extremely busy. I just wanted it to be known that the Applebee's in Standale, MI gets an A+ in my book for the great customer service and excellent food.

Subway Drive Through

Yesterday I was on my way home from my class downtown and was headed to my night class in Allendale on GVSU's main campus. I only have about 30 minutes to make it from downtown to Allendale for class, and due to rush hour traffic this can sometimes be very difficult to make it. Another thing that normally sets me back is having to stop and grab some food for dinner. I usually stop and McDonalds or Taco Bell, some place that has a drive through so I can get my food fast without ever having to leave my car.

Yesterday I discovered my new favorite thing. I was driving down Fulton trying to figure out what I was going to do for dinner on my way to my class. As I was approaching Garfield I saw the best thing I've ever seen. At the corner of Garfield and Fulton there is a Subway resturant. This isn't just any ordinary Subway though, this Subway had a drive through. It's pefect! You can get better tasing, healthier food than a McDonalds, and you still don't ever have to get out of your car. This Subway with the drive through was exactly like a normal Subway except for the fact they had a drive through. It opperates the same as any other drive through. They have a menu hanging from the cieling so you can figure out what you want, then you place your order, pay, get your food and your on your way... without even leaving the seat of your car. I loved it and it made me realize that Subway should start thinking about doing this at more locations. I believe it would help lead Subway to a competitve advantage over other sub shops because there aren't really any out there with a drive through window. Overall this trip through the Subway drive through was a great experience, and due to the drive through window, that Subway can expect more of my business.

A Blue Christmas?

Everyone in the United States is feeling the effects of our bad economic conditions. Retail stores have been reporting their September sales and many companies saw signifacnt declines in sales, some even hitting double digits. This is not a good sign with Christmas right around the corner. J.C. Penney's same-store sales fell 12.4% compared to last year, American Eagle's sales fell 6% and Kohl's decreased 5.5%. Dean Hillier, a partner and a retail specialist with A.T. Kearney, a management consultancy, said the Christmas shopping season "could quite frankly be one of the worst we've seen in 25 years."

Discount stores have been the only bright spots. Costco's sales are up 6% and Wal-Mart's sales were up 2.2%, and that may not seem like a lot, but it's better than facing the losses that most retailers are facing. Even Target, a very popular and trendy retailer, faced losses in September of 3%. Target's cheif executive and president, Gregg W. Steinhafel, said the decreases in sales can be attributed to "the economic slowdown as well as higher net write-off rates in Target's credit card segment"

The economy has been effecting everyone. Not only your regular, everyday people are feeling the effects, even huge retailers are taking a hit from our failing economy. MasterCard SpendingPulse, which measures national retail sales, said a steep drop in consumer spending sent its specialty retail sales index down 7.7 percent in September from the same month a year ago. This is really a sad sight, especailly with Christmas approaching so fast. If the sales declines over the past month or so, this could shape up to be a Christmas full of board games and movie tickets.