Culver's owner pays $144K to employees out of pocket

[vi edit]

Owning a bar is *very* different than a franchise restaurant.

One. No franchise fees.
Two. A lot of your staff is paid at wait staff rates and for tips.
Three. You are free to buy food from whereever you want and not forced to from the franchise corporate food supply.
Four. Booze profit margin is A LOT higher than a cheeseburger's.
Five. It's a largely cash business and you can shuffle money a lot easier than fully electronic franchise business does.
Six. They are really nothing alike. At all.

 

[fenrir]

I doubt this guys altruism. I mean, this is a huge feel good news story, that will likely drum up a ton of business. Plus, he doesn't have to train new staff AND they are going to not be lazy fucks, as they feel the owner loves them. And, let's be honest here, this guy owns two restaurants, it is likely that over a 4 month period he isn't going to miss $144k.

Drum up a ton of business in a town of 11,500 people. Yeah, that is going to happen. LOL

Training new employee's would have been far cheaper than what he ended up paying them. You will not find any lazy people at Culver's as they keep the employee's busy. They also treat the employee's well (at least around me and Platteville).

 

[smackababy]

Owning a bar is *very* different than a franchise restaurant.

One. No franchise fees.
Two. A lot of your staff is paid at wait staff rates and for tips.
Three. You are free to buy food from whereever you want and not forced to from the franchise corporate food supply.
Four. Booze profit margin is A LOT higher than a cheeseburger's.
Five. It's a largely cash business and you can shuffle money a lot easier than fully electronic franchise business does.
Six. They are really nothing alike. At all.

1. Maybe, maybe not. There are franchise bars.
2-3. I will give you these, as the arguments would vary greatly between bars.
4. Not really. Food costs are ideally under 30%, which is where most of your beer and liquor costs are.
5. Maybe in the 80s. Bars aren't strip clubs.
6. More so than you think.

 

[gorcorps]

I've been there a number of times. How can you get a burger, fries and drink for $3.15?

 

[vi edit]

Bar's aren't the same as a franchise restaurant. One of the spin offs I was supporting had an owner that had a bunch of bars in Vegas. He was very successful there, made buckets of money and knew what he was doing.

He tried taking those fortunes and rolling them into franchise restaurants and failed miserably. The other owners bought him out and sent him packing. It's a very different environment. Depending on a size a restaurant could have 60-120 or more employees. A bar has a fraction of that. With a franchise restaurant you are looking at anywhere from $35,000 to over $2,000,000 to just buy into the name. Then you are looking at another 4%-6% to your bottom line for Royalty fees depending on the franchise.

A bar can look the same forever with minimal upkeep. With a franchise restaurant you may be asked to go and "refresh" things every 5-10 years to keep in style with what the parent corporation wants.

The amount of control you have over your operation is very limited in a franchised environment and everything costs a lot more because you have to funnel purchases and marketing through the corporate company.

 

[vi edit]

I've been there a number of times. How can you get a burger, fries and drink for $3.15?

Snack pack!

 

[mcurphy]

Snack pack!

Yep, it's a snack pack deal they do only on Wednesdays at the Culvers in Janesville, WI. Not sure if it's available at other locations. I think it's something like $1 off all snack packs, and cheese curds are only $1 as well.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Why is it so hard for some to accept that some people may just want to do certain things because they are capable and it is the right thing to do? There isn't always some ulterior motive behind every good deed a person does in their life.

 

[smackababy]

Why is it so hard for some to accept that some people may just want to do certain things because they are capable and it is the right thing to do? There isn't always some ulterior motive behind every good deed a person does in their life.

Because, that is true around 0.01% of the time. Most people do good deeds for some type of reward (even if it is only a feeling or completely imaginary).

 

[NoTine42]

I like their ice cream (concrete mixer) but don't care much for their regular food.

Their chicken strips are very good, and a side salad with Asian sesame dressing is enjoyable for a fast food joint.

 

[PenguinPower]

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is someone who understands what food service and running a restaurant is all about.

You got that right. Anyone who can get an Ee to say that they're going to work there for the next five years despite being paid minimum wage and having less than 40 hours a week is a great businessman.

 

[NoTine42]

Yep, it's a snack pack deal they do only on Wednesdays at the Culvers in Janesville, WI. Not sure if it's available at other locations. I think it's something like $1 off all snack packs, and cheese curds are only $1 as well.

Around here, there is also the kids meal Tuesdays where anyone can order the kids meal (without guilt trip)..which is a snack pack + custard scoop w/topping

 

[ultimatebob]

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is someone who understands what food service and running a restaurant is all about.

Really? I thought that fast food workers were expendable. You could can everyone and then find retrain new people in about a week, especially during a summer school break. You sure wouldn't see a Taco Bell or a Burger King franchise show this kind of loyalty, anyway.

I guess that the publicity was worth the cost, though.

 

[gorb]

Soda.

Owner sounds like a cool dude

 

[gorcorps]

Really? I thought that fast food workers were expendable. You could can everyone and then find retrain new people in about a week, especially during a summer school break. You sure wouldn't see a Taco Bell or a Burger King franchise show this kind of loyalty, anyway.

I guess that the publicity was worth the cost, though.

Hah, retrain my ass

IMO they can get rid of anybody working the cash registers at fast food joints and flip the screens around so people just punch in their own orders. The same way ATMs allow you to do the menial part of a teller's job, there's no reason to have a middle man involved to push buttons on a screen. Keep the cooks and a manager to handle customer service issues, and you're GTG.

 

[dank69]

Because, that is true around 0.01% of the time. Most people do good deeds for some type of reward (even if it is only a feeling or completely imaginary).

What kind of fucked of life have you lived that you think 0.01% of people do good deeds without expecting a reward. My neighbors and I do shit for each other all the time... Wait, you mean feeling good about doing good is counted as a reward? WTF should I feel bad about doing something good?

 

[smackababy]

What kind of fucked of life have you lived that you think 0.01% of people do good deeds without expecting a reward. My neighbors and I do shit for each other all the time...

You're one of the few, then.

Wait, you mean feeling good about doing good is counted as a reward? WTF should I feel bad about doing something good?

I mean, if you are only doing it so you can feel good, you aren't doing anything other than eliciting a reward for an action. Same with religion. "Be a good person, not because it is right, but because if you don't, you will go to hell!" isn't really teaching you to be a good person. Just saying do this, or else that. A lot of people are taught via a rewards based system. "You reap what you sow", "What goes around comes around.", etc. Following those tenets might make you seem like a good person, but you'd only be good with the expectation that something good will eventually come of it.

 

[NoTine42]

Hah, retrain my ass

IMO they can get rid of anybody working the cash registers at fast food joints and flip the screens around so people just punch in their own orders. The same way ATMs allow you to do the menial part of a teller's job, there's no reason to have a middle man involved to push buttons on a screen. Keep the cooks and a manager to handle customer service issues, and you're GTG.

I don't think many people want that. There was a restaurant in Disney World (Pecos Bills) that used to have some touch screen "cashiers" and they were rarely used...even with long lines at real cashiers.

They still have touch screen ordering for the lunch at Be Our Guest (and you get a nifty "GPS" pod so they know where you later sit). But there are a lot of staff manning that process.

 

[dank69]

You're one of the few, then.



I mean, if you are only doing it so you can feel good, you aren't doing anything other than eliciting a reward for an action. Same with religion. "Be a good person, not because it is right, but because if you don't, you will go to hell!" isn't really teaching you to be a good person. Just saying do this, or else that. A lot of people are taught via a rewards based system. "You reap what you sow", "What goes around comes around.", etc. Following those tenets might make you seem like a good person, but you'd only be good with the expectation that something good will eventually come of it.

I agree with all this, I just think that there are more people doing good for the sake of doing good than you think.

 

[ultimatebob]

Hah, retrain my ass

IMO they can get rid of anybody working the cash registers at fast food joints and flip the screens around so people just punch in their own orders. The same way ATMs allow you to do the menial part of a teller's job, there's no reason to have a middle man involved to push buttons on a screen. Keep the cooks and a manager to handle customer service issues, and you're GTG.

That's true. You still need a manager around to help out when someone enters an order wrong or needs a refund, though.

 

[smackababy]

I agree with all this, I just think that there are more people doing good for the sake of doing good than you think.

Yeah, it was a bit of a hyperbole with my estimation. Sadly though, the number is far lower than it should be.

 

[dank69]

Yeah, it was a bit of a hyperbole with my estimation. Sadly though, the number is far lower than it should be.

I agree, it should be 100%.

 

[nakedfrog]

Their patty melt is so delicious.

 

[darkewaffle]

Never even heard of Culver's but a nice gesture by the guy at any rate.

 

[Engineer]

One guy does something good and a fight breaks out on ATOT about every aspect of it. Heh.