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Showing posts with the label Restaurants

Green Gables: The Demise of a Great Sioux City Eatery, Why It Failed, and Why Large Chain Restaurants Can Fail as Well (A Customer’s Point of View)

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Green Gables, Sioux City, Iowa ___________________________ “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” – Sam Walton __________________ Given that this blog is about branding, albeit my personal brand, I have been thinking a lot about businesses, both small and large, that fail, some of them longstanding pillars of their communities. As a customer, I am aghast at how obvious their downfalls seemed to me, that, perhaps, they were listening to the wrong experts, instead of customers. Downfalls start small. Companies begin shaving away slivers of their products and hope that customers won’t notice, but I can say with confidence that we do notice when a company tries to pull a fast one and then tries to spin it as something positive. For example, the Dial Corporation took a 5-ounce bar of soap and morphed it into 4 ounces by carving out a “convenient” curve, maki

Thought for the Day--May 5, 2011: I Want, I Want, I Want...

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No, you can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want And if you try sometime you find You get what you need -- The Rolling Stones Yesterday , I offered my take on how you can nudge your entire family to eat healthier; you may want this more than anything in the world, but the truth of the matter: you really can't force people to make changes, no matter how much you want it. You can change only your own behavior, but, even then, you really don't have that much control over the outcome. For example, you might set this goal: "I will eat 1,000 calories a day for 31 days [changed behavior] so that I can lose 10 pounds [expected outcome]." So you go on your new plan and stick to it (success); however, you lose only 5 pounds (failure?). You wanted to lose 10 pounds, but the outcome did not live up to your expectations. Is this an automatic fail? I don't think so; you lost 5 pounds instead of gaining 1 o

Thought for the Day--January 19, 2011: Considering the Context When Eating Out

The takeaway from this week's Weight Watchers' meeting: When going out to eat, consider the context. For example, Is this primarily a social or business event? OR Is this an eating event? Either is okay, but how you approach the event will depend on the context. For a social or business context, the food itself is less important than socializing with your companions, so you might not need to use a lot of your extra PointsPlus for the event. However, sometimes we go to a restaurant because of the food. In that case, it's okay to focus on the food by using your extra points. NOTE: If you're not on Weight Watchers, it's okay. You can still go to restaurants just for the food-- Keep in mind, though, moderation in all good things.

Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment