Being in the restaurant business for so long we get used to working every holiday. It makes perfect sense. When everyone else is off work celebrating whatever the day means to them, we’re here making sure that they’re being taken care of. In our immediate role as expediters of vendor relationships we’re at the root of the supply chain, making sure that when restaurants need food and supplies that we’re here to guide them through the transactions. Ok, so we’re here, but what about the vendors? Where are they?
No matter what holiday you pick, you’ll always have some vendors that will stay open on the holidays and of course others that close. This year wasn’t much different than in years past, but it struck me for some reason, that in the city that never sleeps (that would be New York), almost all the vendors we work with were closed. By contrast, our vendors in other cities including Washington DC, Boston, Tampa and Miami, seemed to truck on without any interruptions in service and with very few closures.
My immediate thought is that the labor force dictates these schedules to some degree. Whether the companies are Union houses or not, or maybe more importantly if the markets are Union. Or maybe it’s simpler than that, companies who stay open may simply believe they will clean up or pick up new business. I can’t say that we have sourced a new supplier as a direct response to being open on a holiday, although once we did remove a company from our program who along with many other reasons were closed for Superbowl Sunday causing a great uproar to many of our customers. Ok, some of you may argue that this should be a national holiday. All I would say is that had the company made that choice as a “gift” to their employees it would have been one thing, but the decision was made because they largely didn’t feel they had a choice. People just wouldn’t show up to work! Who’s the boss anyway? I guess that’s a debate for another day.
Not to stray too far from the topic, we just wanted to make it known to the supplier community. We’re here, and we’re open. If you want a day off, how about Tuesdays?
- 20:35 Wouldn’t it be great if all our suppliers actually took off the same holidays? #
- 22:04 What is your best selling menu item? #
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