The Clueless Restaurant Owner, Part XI – OUT OF BUSINESS
On June 1, 2013, I wrote what I believed to be the final installment of this “Clueless Restaurant Owner” series of articles.
That was the tenth article in the series and it ended on a very high note (for us, not the restaurant). The assistant store manager (ASM) had left her SteviB’s location (a franchise, certainly not a corporate store) for a new company, and things have been going fantastic for her since that point. Leaving this clueless restaurant owner behind and going to a real company was the stroke of luck that she needed.
One of the important things to note is that despite being the primary manager in the restaurant and having nobody above her except for the jackass restaurant owner himself (let’s refer to this asshole restaurant owner as “Kenny”), the ASM was never given the official job title as general manager (GM) for the duration of her time at the restaurant. Yes, she was bumped up to the status of GM when the store’s GM was fired back in November, but she was promptly demoted back to the ASM when “Kenny” tried to bring back the GM the following month. Of course, the old GM never returned, but at that point “Kenny” never gave the ASM the title of GM. She was simply an hourly worker with a sh*tload of responsibilities and headaches, many of those resulting from “Kenny” and his wife.
Anyway, the ASM left on good terms despite the sh*t that she was continually dragged through by “Kenny.” The ASM knew that the store’s new manager, “Elle,” was going to have a hard time, and she even offered to give both “Kenny” and “Elle” extra help if they needed it. “Elle” was greatly thankful for this offer while “Kenny” was pissed that the ASM would dare leave his restaurant.
Sure enough, for those first couple of weeks, “Elle” called the ASM on a regular basis for all sorts of help about minor issues and procedures in the restaurant. The ASM was true to her word and gave “Elle” honest and accurate tips and pointers over the phone. One day “Elle” called and asked the ASM to do her a personal favor. The restaurant was out of boxes and “Elle” wanted the ASM to drive to another location and deliver them to her restaurant. Of course, this request was made at 8 am and would have required the ASM to drive not once but TWICE in heavy rush hour traffic. No way in hell was she going to do a favor like that, especially when it was “Elle’s” fault that they were out of supplies. That’s around the time when “Elle” cut off communication and the ASM didn’t hear any more stories about what was happening in the restaurant. Besides, the ASM had a new job and she was too busy excelling with it and impressing the district managers.
The First Few Months Since Leaving The Restaurant
Fortunately for the ASM, and this is mainly for our amusement, several of her old co-workers at SteviB’s remained friends and informed her about what was really happening inside of the restaurant since she left.
For starters, “Elle” ruled the restaurant with an iron fist. This was one of the ASM’s initial fears, but her concerns did NOT matter to “Kenny.” He chose “Elle” to run his restaurant, and everything bad that happened falls directly on his shoulders. He knew exactly what he was getting into with this person in charge of the place. Despite that, some nasty surprises were still in store for him.
“Elle” was quick to write up the workers for the smallest of infractions, whether they were legitimate or not. She was a fearmonger and used that as one of her techniques of keeping others in line. Unfortunately for her, this only resulted in what few good workers were there to pack their stuff and leave for other jobs.
Remember in previous articles where I mentioned that “Chris,” one of the shift managers, was making terrific progress and well on his way of being a salaried manager of that restaurant? Well, “Elle” had also taken note of his progress. She promptly demoted “Chris” back to a minimum wage worker and restricted him to cleaning dishes in the kitchen. “Chris” had good customer service skills, he was fully qualified to operate the cash register and close the restaurant at night, and from what I heard he was exceptional as a cook and making the pizzas. Customers knew him by name and trusted him with making fantastic speciality pizzas.
“Elle” was threatened by his presence and demoted “Chris” to the lowest position in the restaurant. He finally left on his own terms and found a better job down the street. At least he’s finally out of that hell hole.
On top of that, “Elle” brought in her own family members as workers in the store. That’s against the restaurant’s rules, but remember that “Kenny” is a gutless coward. He allowed “Elle” to have her family work and to give them the few precious hours that were available to the workers. The rest of the crew got the short end of the stick as “Elle” made the schedule and “Kenny” approved it each week.
According to the workers, “Elle” hated the ASM with a passion after she left the restaurant. “Elle” allegedly ranted and raved about how the ASM was a bad person and she dumped a bunch of problems onto her restaurant. It’s all the fault of the ASM. Of course, the opposite was true. “Elle” was a whiny little bitch who cannot be trusted any further than she could be thrown. Blaming others for your own problems is a major sign that you’re a terrible leader. How are your workers going to listen and trust you when you’re constantly whining and pointing the blame elsewhere?
Speaking of trust problems . . .
The First Robbery of The Restaurant
A couple of months after the ASM left the restaurant the place was robbed. This took place in the cover of darkness after the store was closed for the day. The restaurant was empty during the incident.
This particular SteviB’s location is located in a strip mall not too far from the interstate. This is not a standalone restaurant.
Here’s allegedly how the robbery occurred:
The robber approached the strip mall at night after the business was closed. The robber somehow gained access inside the back of the strip mall (all the stores are connected by an interior hallway), located the fuse box, and just happened to know which exact lever to pull to knock out the power for only this restaurant. Knowing that the power was disabled and the security system would be disarmed, the robber went around to the front door, unlocked the door, and easily walked into the restaurant.
The robber then entered the office and found a way to open the restaurant’s safe (the lock was battery-operated). The money was stolen and then the robber left the restaurant. From what I understand, it was “Elle” who opened the restaurant the following morning and discovered the robbery.
I don’t know about you, but to me and everybody else who heard the story, this robbery screams “INSIDE JOB!” Not only did the robber know exactly how to disable the power, defeat the security system, and break into the restaurant without damaging anything, but the robber also knew how to open the restaurant’s safe. “Kenny” changed the combination immediately after the ASM left. Did he do that after very untrustworthy workers were fired? Nope. But sure as hell he changed the combination when the most trustworthy and hardest working person left on good terms. Way to go, “Kenny!” Does your burning hatred and jealousy of the ASM’s success and happiness keep you warm at night?
So, yeah, the place was robbed and the prime candidates are the three managers who have access to the safe. All of them have reasons to rob the place and gain a quick boost in income. Unfortunately, from what I understand, the evidence doesn’t clearly point in any direction to which one helped commit the crime.
The Second Robbery of The Restaurant
As you can see by the title of this segment, the restaurant was robbed not once but TWICE.
I believe that this incident happened in either late August or early September. It’s hard to pinpoint the date as we weren’t told the story until some time after it happened.
One morning (this might have been a Monday) “Elle” was taking the deposit to the bank when she was robbed of the money. It was a quick snatch and grab and the robber was gone before he could be stopped. The story sounds innocent until we reveal several crucial details.
1) “Elle” decided to WALK the deposit to the bank. She has a car but she allegedly left the car at home because it needed gas. On that day “Elle” rode the bus to work as she normally did before buying a cheap car a few months ago.
Knowing that she was going to have to take a cash deposit to the bank, why didn’t “Elle” sure as hell make sure that her car was ready? This isn’t anything new. Walking a deposit to the bank is dangerous as it leaves you wide open for an easy robbery. Why in the hell would you NOT bring your car on a day when you know you have to take a deposit to the bank?
2) “Elle” was on the wrong side of the street during the robbery. This particular restaurant and the bank are both on the same side of a busy street. However, when the snatch-and-grab robbery occurred, “Elle” was on the opposite side of the street. For some reason she wanted to go to a McDonalds and grab something to snack on while ON THE WAY TO THE BANK. She’s walking, carrying a large supply of cash in a marked bag, and she decides to go out of her way while being extremely vulnerable to an attack.
Why in the f*ck would anybody go out of their way for something that can easily wait until after dropping off the cash at the bank? Is “Elle” really this f*cking stupid?
3) The Monday deposit is always the biggest.
We believe that this incident occurred on a Monday since it also screams “INSIDE JOB!” and such a robbery on a Monday would have the biggest payout for the robber.
Basically, the Monday deposit contains the cash from Saturday afternoon and evening as well as all day on Sunday. This cash is even bigger if Saturday is a banking holiday. Those weekends will normally include cash going back to Friday afternoon.
The Monday morning deposit is also a little bit larger as it’ll most likely contain extra cash from the restaurant to be broken into smaller bills and coins to make change. When you combine two of the busiest days plus extra money to make change, the Monday morning cash deposit can be very large, even for a poorly run restaurant such as this one.
Outcome of the Robberies
Apparently “Kenny” tried to hold “Elle” responsible for the money that went missing from the second robbery. She claims that she was innocent and even filed a police report, but she was grossly negligent for handling the deposit that morning. Plus it would be very easy to stage a robbery like that one, and she has plenty of contacts who would help her pull it off.
“Elle” actually contacted the ASM a few weeks after the second robbery and told her that she also left the company. She made it sound like “Kenny” was trying to bully her, but we all know that “Kenny” is a gutless sack of sh*t. He apparently insisted that “Elle” pay back the money, and she promptly quit her job. Another person also contacted the ASM and confirmed this story.
When you look back at both robberies, it’s very believable that “Elle” orchestrated the events. She could have easily planned them and had others carry out the events, whether they were family members or close friends. Let’s also not forget that “Elle” was arrested and sentenced to prison years ago for fraud. She was caught writing bad checks and was thrown in jail.
“Elle” also used to work as a stripper. Are all strippers bad? No, certainly not. But stripping is still considered as one of those forbidden jobs associated with sleazy people and rule breakers. When you factor in her previous employment, her criminal background, and her current low pay and attitude towards the restaurant, it’s very believable that “Elle” was responsible for BOTH of the robberies. It’s just a matter of “Kenny” filing the reports and the police finding enough evidence to convict her. But will that actually happen? I seriously doubt it. “Kenny” is still a gutless coward and I personally believe that he simply cut his ties with “Elle” the moment she quit her job. He probably considered it as a loss and factor of having questionable people in trustworthy positions. She’s gone so just forget about it.
OUT OF BUSINESS
After “Elle” quit, “Kenny” made “Señor” the new manager of the store. Remember that “Señor” is a pot smoker who A) Cannot manage anything to save his life, B) Has tried to hook up with other female workers in the store, and C) Has lost large amounts of money on his watch. This guy should have never been hired in the first place (he was turned down by a different SteviB’s franchise before being hired by “Kenny”), and now he’s in charge of the restaurant.
Well, his reign at the top was very short-lived. On October 31 of this year, that particular SteviB’s location was closed for good. Corporate had swooped into the store and removed all of their signs and, from what I understand, the equipment as well.
Remember that “Kenny” is a gutless coward. NOT A SINGLE WORKER WAS TOLD THAT THE BUSINESS WAS GOING TO BE CLOSED! They all discovered it when reporting to work the next day. The motherf*cker did not tell anybody! Is that classy or what? What a guy!
It’s a shame that a couple of good workers were caught in the crossfire of “Kenny’s” severe inability to own or run a business franchise. Most of the good workers had already left by this time, but a couple were still there. That’s too bad for them especially with the holidays around the corner. Hopefully they’ll find a more honest and reputable business in the near future.
Final Thoughts
It took six months since the departure of the ASM before this SteviB’s closed its doors for good.
When the ASM was still employed there, the store was making about $12,000 a week in sales. After she left that number dropped to around $8,000. At that rate it took two weeks just for the restaurant to make enough money to pay rent. On top of that it still needs to make enough income to pay the workers, pay for the food costs, and pay for whatever fees incurred for running the franchise.
This all comes down to “Kenny” and his wife and their severe inability to run a small business. Apart from the ASM they continually picked terrible workers, they micromanaged the place in the wrong direction, they upset customers and their biggest client, and they FAILED HORRIBLY at marketing the business. What they did over the past few years was a textbook example of HOW TO NOT RUN A BUSINESS. The failure clearly resides on their shoulders alone.
And that’s it.
Unless something major is discovered, this article officially concludes the tales of “Kenny” and the (mis)adventures in his franchise restaurant. May he never own another franchise or manage any more workers for the rest of his life. Really.