Pulling the plug (slowly)

On Friday the 18th, it hit the Macon Telegraph that the Vineville Ave. Krystal was closing. It also apparently was on TV that evening on 13 WMAZ News at 11pm. A LOCAL RESTAURANT THAT'S SERVED UP BURGERS FOR MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS WILL SOON CLOSE ITS DOORS GOOD. THE KRYSTAL ON VINEVILLE AVENUE WILL SHUT DOWN ACCORDING TO A STATEMENT FROM THE COMPANY. THE STATEMENT SAID THE COMPANY WILL SOON UPDATE ALL OF ITS STORE BUT DECIDED THAT THE OLD VINEVILLE STORE DID NOT FIT WITH THE NEW MODEL. THE STATEMENT DID NOT SAY WHEN THE STORE WILL CLOSE. As quickly as possible I put together a trip down to see if it was true, and if so, to be there to lend support. I needed to get pictures, stories, and plenty of food. It turns out the easiest part was the food.As soon as I had confirmed on Friday that the store was closing I put in a call to Kenny at Krystal HQ as well a a frantic email to Kenny and Tiffany. Mainly to figure out what the heck was going on. Also to find out what the future of my Krystal Lover's Hall of Fame plaque would be. It is now 8 days later and neither my emails not my phone call have been returned.As soon as I arrived I located Bernida. She was in the back office doing paperwork. She said she'd been doing paperwork for a few days and would continue for another few days. She was so very glad to see me because as soon as she heard about the store closing her first thought was "How will I be able to tell my Krystal Lover?" (That's her nick name for me.) I told her that as soon as I had heard the news I was filled with three emotions: Shock, Anger, and Sadness. Without hesitation Bernida added in "Disappointment." In the news story above from Friday is says they didn't know when the store would be closing, and only gave vague reference to why: "It doesn't fit with the new model." The problem is that it was known on Monday in other Macon stores. Someone leaked it to Bernida. In reality the plan was to not tell anyone until Wednesday. Let's recap the official Krystal plan: Monday: other stores know the Vineville store is closing (but not the Vineville folks). Wednesday: the Vineville folks are supposed to get the news of the closing. Friday: the news hits the paper. Sunday: the store closes. I agree, Bernida. That is disappointing. I wonder at what point I was/am supposed to officially find out. I told Bernida I had three questions: Why is the store closing? What will happen to her (and everyone else)? What will be the fate of my KLHOF plaque She only had an answer for question #2. She's going to the Watson Blvd. Krystal in Warner Robins. She didn't seem terribly excited about it. It was then that I realized Bernida is walking down the same path I walked about 2 years ago. When i was teaching Computers on the base and MGTC lost the contract, everything happened suddenly. There was a 3 or 4 month period where I was "allowed to believe" that I would be on a new CBT development team for the school. I was then relocated back to the base to teach Fire Extinguisher, Corrosion Control, Sheetmetal Math, and various other classes I have no business teaching. I was disappointed then, much like Bernida is now. I'd put in only 5 years at MGTC, Bernida has over 14 years in with Krystal. As I sat in the Krystal over the next two days, my three questions kept coming up over and over among the customers who stopped by. I logged 16 hours of booth time from 1pm on Saturday to 1pm on Sunday. Plenty of questions, no answers. Bernida wound up calling her district manager about my plaque, and without any direction to go by they decided it would be best for me to hold on to it for safe keeping. I decided to take it off the wall on Saturday, so there wasn't a chance someone would walk off with it. I'd overheard LOTS of people talking about items in the store they'd like to keep, in particular the clock.Among the reasons tossed around for the closure were the fact the store had been robbed twice, recently. With the resulting change in hours, perhaps profits had also dropped, making the store too expensive to keep around. There seemed to be fairly firm evidence that there was a lease issue involved as the lady who owned the small shop next door was also closing, and she leased her store from the same people as Krystal.If you look at the map of all of the Macon area Krystals, you will notice that all of them are just off of interstates with the exception of Vineville (A), Gray Highway (C) and Bloomfield (G). Bloomfield is across from the Mall (which is itself decomposing). Gray Highway is a major highway out of Macon so that store gets plenty of traffic. While Vineville is also a major road in Macon the traffic gets so bad at times people bypass that area during rush hour. As I mentioned in my previous post I got roped into an interview for WMAZ on that Sunday night. I don't have any video of the interview, but the text of it got posted on their web site. LOCAL RESTAURANT THAT'S SERVED UP BURGERS FOR MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS WILL CLOSE ITS DOORS FOR GOOD. THE KRYSTAL ON VINEVILLE AVENUE WILL SHUT DOWN ACCORDING TO A STATEMENT FROM THE COMPANY. THE STATEMENT SAID THE COMPANY WILL SOON UPDATE ALL OF ITS STORES... BUT DECIDED THAT THE OLD VINEVILLE STORE DID NOT FIT WITH THE NEW MODEL. THE STATEMENT DID NOT SAY WHEN THE STORE WILL CLOSE. ONE MAN WE TALKED WITH... WHO WAS INDUCTED INTO THE KRYSTAL LOVERS HALL OF FAME... SAYS HE HAD A SPECIAL BOND WITH KRYSTAL EMPLOYEES. JASON JENNETTE, KRYSTAL LOVER 3:04 "It's a lot of fun but it took me a while to realize that it's the people more than the food more than the location. They treat you like family. It's a nice place to go back to it's lots of memories." EMPLOYEES AND MANAGERS WE TALKED WITH SAID... OTHER KRYSTALS HAVE OFFERED THEM JOBS. I would give Krystal credit for helping the employees get jobs at other stores. The problem is, in one case, someone is getting relocated to the Gray Highway store, that is already completely staffed. She's fairly certain she won't be able to get enough hours to keep working at Krystal. Another girl decided instead of going where she was assigned, she was quitting and going back to school. Sadly, one guy walked to work at Krystal since he had no car. The new location was too far for him to walk, so he's going to lose his job. Looking back on my interview, I think I may have fibbed. I blame it on being emotional about the store closing, but the way all of this went down is absolutely NOT now you treat family. At least not a normal family. Poorly played, Krystal. Poorly played. I line up behind Bernida in the "Disappointed" line. And from what I heard over the weekend, there are a LOT of customers in line right behind me. I do know that a huge majority of the morning coffee crowd (lovingly called the Krystal Kritters, or Krusty Kritters) are choosing other, non Krystal, places to spend their mornings. I wish I could say that my 14 hours of driving had cleared up issues for me, but sadly it just muddied the waters. A week later, and I still sit here: Shocked, Angry, Sad, and now Disappointed. Of course in the old days, a Krystal or four would be the perfect cure for all these mixed feelings. But right now I suspect a Krystal would taste very bitter, and a bit dirty, instead of steamy, fresh and oniony. I am not upset about the store closing. It happens. Heck Macon's got more than their share of Krystals. Its just sad that no one seems to have the balls to step forward and be a man about the whole thing. Be honest, open, and up front with your employees and customers. The only way you earn respect is by giving it. At least that what I always thought "customer service" meant.