January 4, 2014
► Customer Feedback: Maggie T from Merrimack, NH stated that her general shopping experience with us was Excellent. Did any of our team members do an unusually good job? “Mia tested our pool water and did an excellent job explaining the results – she was easy to understand and her recommendation worked. She was great – made us feel like she had an investment in helping us succeed. Kudos for a great job!” Sales help, operations, communication, and products were all rated Excellent. What do we do really well? “Customer care is always top notch!”
► Everything changes Sunday, January 5: Every department promotion, the road sign, the above ground pool folders, advertising, and weekly specials: “Family Fun Sale”
► Store hours change: we are now closed on Wednesdays until March. Full time (40 hour) employees are now on a 32 hour week; though you may use available sick/holiday/vacation time to get back to 40.
► Have a good time at the Wrap Party. If we have to cancel or postpone for weather, I will change my voicemail (extension 2428).
► Happy Birthday to Becca S. on Friday, January 10.
► There were 28 One-of-These awards for December; 5 for customer service. Top volume was Joe with 5, and Jim with 4. Finalists were Jim, Ann Auker, Anne-Marie, and Andrew. Owner’s Choice was Andrew, and the drawing winner was Joe.
► If you have anything to add to the Gull News for next week; give it to Rose.
► Assume that people do not read signs, but they do think badly of stores that look like they are going out of business. So apologize to every customer about the look of the store as we prepare for the floor repairs. We are likely to look like this for more than a month.
► The new rules for Seasonal Reward$ began on January 1. Two changes: we dropped the 500 point bonus to sign up, because I never hear cashiers mention it. “It’s free to join” rather than “we pay you $5.00 to join”. So we are giving away $13,000 to people in 2014 just in $5.00 signing bonuses, and none of that encouraged anyone to join. We also improved Seasonal Sense; going from 15 cents per 100 points to 20 cents.
► I am putting some $5.00 Longhorn coupons on the bulletin board, that are good 1/1/14 to 2/9/14.
► From Coffee News: Big eater: She is a very small woman, weighing just 105 pounds, but she’s a very big eater. Sonya Thomas proved just that when she ate five and a quarter pounds of turkey in 10 minutes during a turkey-eating contest in New York city. The contest was sponsored by Wild Turkey 81 Proof. Thomas, who hails from the state of Virginia, has won a number of food-eating contests and holds 38 world records. She once ate 53 soft tacos in 12 minutes. Known as the ‘Black Widow,’ she says she wants to show she can out-eat the men. “I want to make boys of them.” she says.
► It Could be Worse: After I worked through lunch to help my boss with a report, he offered to show his appreciation by taking me out for a bite. The place he had in mind had a wonderful buffet, he said, with foods from around the world. I was absolutely salivating with each detail. So what was is idea of an exotic dining establishment? Sam’s Club. We spent the hour dining on the free samples they handed out.
Wendy Brown, Illinois