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.