An old icon is bygone!

I just read a report that a long-time Colorado Springs business has closed its doors. Michelle’s was one of those locally owned and operated businesses that lasted for four generations. It was a place where those of us who grew up here remember visiting as a child, took dates to as a teenager and treated the kids to a sundae as an adult.

While I reminisce and get all wrapped up in nostalgia I’m also frustrated and appalled. In the news report I read the owner of the shop stated “When we opened up there were a few restaurants downtown, but now there are hundreds and coping was hard." I have no other response than what a poor excuse.

I can tell you exactly what happened. Poor management. Unfortunately we’re experiencing this just about everywhere, whether at a local establishment or a chain. Management is just not taking the time to properly train and supervise its staff. What happened to Michelle’s is a prime example of this problem.

Over the years, the level of service and the customer service at Michelle’s severely degraded. The past few years it became so bad that my family and I just stopped going. When you have such a large and loyal customer base and they can’t even take it any more, there’s a big problem. It’s an internal problem, not an external one.

I don’t know when it started but when did it not become customary to train and supervise front-line staff? These are the people that have direct contact with your customer base. Just because they’re not paid well doesn’t mean that their position is not important. In fact, at a restaurant, the positions of host or waitress or bus-person are the most important.

So, who’s to blame? You can’t blame the staff because they’re usually doing what they’re told. They need leadership, guidance, systems, processes and constant monitoring. If you had a ship you wouldn’t just point it toward where you wanted to go and forget about it. You probably wouldn’t end up where you wanted and the ship would most likely run aground. You need a good captain to navigate and steer. Unfortunately it seems that Michelle’s had its very own Joseph Hazelwood.

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