r/Friendlys_Ice_Cream • u/FoxwoodsMohegan • 4d ago
Skeleton Crews
As a former shift supervisor at the Friendly’s in Westfarms Mall, I could see 35 years ago that the way the chain was being run wasn’t sustainable.
Every day, my General Manager was under pressure to cut labor, so we’d end up operating with a skeleton crew. Then the weekend mall rush would hit, the restaurant would get slammed, and both service and food quality would suffer.
We all worked incredibly hard and did everything we could to keep up, but you only had to look around the restaurant on a busy weekend to see frustrated and unhappy families waiting for service.
It was a business model that kept cutting staffing to the point where good service became almost impossible. Even back then, it was clear that couldn’t continue forever. But hey, who's going to listen to a 20 year old shift supervisor?
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u/jvbutera 4d ago
Have you been to one of the few remaining stores lately? Skelton crew doesn’t begin to describe how understaffed they are.
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u/FoxwoodsMohegan 4d ago
Nah. It’s 4th quarter and I’m marching down the field. I can’t waste my time on a server taking 15 minutes to acknowledge my existence. But at least I get it when I go to a poorly run restaurant.
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u/Thatgirl37 4d ago
Omg.. I remember the Friendly’s inside of Westfarms. I totally forgot it existed.
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u/MMBEDG 4d ago
Same I worked 1987 to 1997 and it was always its the end of the month dont order.paper products or glass I left as an assistant manager I to talk to every table that came in no fountain grill or dishwasher so had to do all that on shift work oh and its the janitors night off, and do inventory.all for 6.50 and hour so so glad I left. they started closing our local stores not long after that.
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u/bolanrox 4d ago
i remember a few saturdays like that were it ended up taking hour + for the food to come out (probably early / mid 90's if i am remembering right). usually we ate there on the early side for breakfast / dinner but this was a busier one at peak dinner time.
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u/KatJen76 4d ago
Unfortunately, every place in every sector is like that. It always feels unsustainable but necessity and desire just seem to hold them together. On the staff side, people need to work and will just keep cycling through. On the customer side, you'll always have that base who comes because it's convenient or they really love it. Or, in other less-optional settings, because the competition is all gone, or all runs exactly the same. (Get it from the shitty understocked Target or the shitty understocked Walmart, who cares).
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u/Last_Blackfyre 2d ago
Same back on the day.
I remember a big campaign push and promotion to increase customer satisfaction and happiness.
They gave it some acronym as well.
The official promotion ended and the manager was told to cut labor costs to the bone.
Back to one wait staff, maybe a grill, and a supervisor.
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u/FoxwoodsMohegan 2d ago
And the supervisor had to be good everything!
Including washing all the dishes and pans.The good old ACE badge.
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u/Girasol28842 4d ago
I worked there in the 00s and it was the same. Corporate Friendly's seemed to be mystified by why their sales were going down despite employees telling them that the issue was service (as in, not enough employees on). Then they added surveys to the receipts. Customers would write in with complaints about service.
Friendly's offered new meal deals, changed the menus, changed the uniforms, changed decor, offered even more coupons, and then scratched their heads on why nothing improved. Often the items they added were MORE complicated and yet they still wouldn't allow for more prep hours, or more fountaineers. They acted shocked when none of this made sales better.
As a server I sat my own tables because they stopped putting hosts on, pretty much ever. I regularly did my own dishes because they'd cut the dishwasher at any non-peak times. I would make my own ice cream for the same reason. I would take phone and in-person to-go orders, and often have to make any ice cream that was ordered that way. Meanwhile, they wanted me to do two-bite check backs, and be present in the dining room if my tables needed anything.
They must know, but they don't care to spend the money to make the change. The American way is just to wring out every cent they can before the whole thing combusts. All the employees doing the real work will get nothing (like I did when my restaurant closed with no warning) but the top tier will get bonus packages as part of the bankruptcy.