BIGGBY COFFEE -- More on IONIA

Well from Ionia I did dive into GR (it's only about 25 miles away) to check out the buzz from the newspaper article this morning...I stopped in several stores and had a chance to chat with a couple of operators, everybody was digging the positive vibe commin' out. We serve our customers everyday with a smile and now we had the opportunity to impress some new people, who on an average day, might not give us a shot....

I still have a few more thoughts on Ionia though....Luke is the one that made that beautiful drink....I had a chance to chat with MaryAnn before I left and she told me that he has taken a lot of pride in his work and he has been working on his 'caffe latte art'...let me just say again...thanks, it made my day!

MaryAnn and Doug were working the store....boy she is one fired up woman! I think she got five things done this morning before I had my first cup of coffee. She had even been to our home office in East Lansing, getting more mugs for her retail display.....I guess they been flying off the shelves there in Ionia. Before I blinked she ran to the back and got something else to show me, and then before I knew it she was dragging me to the back of the house to show me a chart on her cup counts for the month of Feb...

You can see she has marked it for everyday of the week....let me tell you how I look at this....this is all about the customer...you can't get all worked up about something as dull as cup counts (and getting your staff wrapped up in it too) without being single mindedly focused on a great customer experience....just look at Luke's efforts (you know I'm comming back for more of that art.) MaryAnn's got it....she got the energy and the personality....this is what it's all about!