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PUBLISHER'S VIEWPOINT
February 2002
Make
Things Happen
I’m
struggling with my editorial. I just spent three days outside
Phoenix playing golf, drinking beer and chatting with 15 or so
of the most prominent dealers in the country, nearly all of them
old friends. We were guests of a prominent equipment
manufacturer that must remain nameless. You would think I would
be privy to great insights about the current state of the
business. After all, these are very bright folks. And I did
learn some cool stuff, but not exactly the total
breakthrough-type visions I get from these folks sometimes.
For example,
Paul Ellingson of Bargreen-Ellingson told me a story about how
the guys at one of his chain clients structure to minimize
infighting among operations, facilities and purchasing
functions. It’s such a good story we’ll save it for another
time.
I played golf
with Marc Fuchs from M. Tucker Co. as he spoke on the cell phone
with his installer at the Winter Olympics in
Salt Lake
City.
Tucker, based in New Jersey, has the multi-million dollar
equipment contract for the Games foodservice, operated by
Restaurant Associates, which explains the New York-area
connection. It was the last day before the Olympics folks closed
the site for the security sweeps, and they needed to find every
piece of equipment. Marc would talk to the installer on-site,
take a shot, call the office, call his installer back. It was
hilarious—and probably cost us five strokes—but it was a great
lesson in how things get done. What did we do before cell
phones?
I also
listened in on an intense late night discussion among several
dealers on the value of brand, particularly in the smallwares
arena. The consensus was that brand is important, particularly
when it carries significant pull-through value, but that
manufacturers must remember that it’s not everything. When the
price differentials get too extreme, it becomes a problem. Now,
we at FER live on helping create brand value and
recognition, so understand we have our bias. But my friends had
a point. I’ve heard many chain folks say the same.
Overall, the
mood was pretty good. Yes, the market is soft. In some
territories, it’s dreadful. But these dealers are the best, so
the attitude was that in good times and bad, you have to go out
and make it happen. Not a bad lesson. And I guess I did find
something to say.
Speaking of
making things happen, did you notice we’ve tweaked the design of
the magazine? After five years, Julie Wilhm, our art director,
Brian and Jen thought it was time for a bit of a refresher. We
think the new typefaces are more readable, we like the slight
change in the cover format, and we’ve tightened the design
format in the big features. It’s all about making the magazine
easier to read. We hope we’ve succeeded.
Cheers,
Robin Ashton
Publisher
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