Special Issues

Nation’s Restaurant News – January 2004

Laurie Reimer: In the same spirit of the chain's founder, this GM

serves old-fashioned hamburgers and biggie-sized kindness

By Liza Berger

Wendy's, Wendy's of Michigan

Concept type: quick service

Company location: Grand Rapids,

Mich.

Unit location: 1971 E. Beltline Ave. NE,

Grand Rapids, Mich.

No. of years with company: 7

Age: 47

Hometown: Grand Rapids, Mich.

Personal: married, three children, two

stepchildren and four grandchildren

Most rewarding part of your job:

Knowing people enjoy coming to this

Wendy's — we do make a difference

here.

One thing you would like to change about your job: I really can't

think of anything. I enjoy it so much.

Tip for other general managers: The attitude you have coming into

work every day reflects how your crew will do their jobs.

It could be said that the Wendy's on East Beltline Avenue in Grand

Rapids, Mich. delivers fast food with a family-style flourish.

When regulars walk through the doors of the unit, which Wendy's of

Michigan, a 48-store franchisee covering southern and western

Michigan, operates they often are greeted by their first names and

find their orders ready even before they reach the counter.

One reason for that detailed attention is Laurie Reimer, the store's

general manager, who prides herself on customer service.

According to Reimer, the most rewarding part of her job is "knowing

that we provide good, quality service, and that people love to come

to our place and eat."

Reimer's penchant for showing her customers extra attention, her

bosses say, has helped the restaurant to become the store with the Links

highest volume for Wendy's of Michigan. Being No. 1, they add,

means Reimer's store does more transactions than any other one in

the franchise, pulling in more than $1.5 million a year, about a 30-

percent rise in sales since the store opened three and a half years

ago.

Terry Wagner, president of Wendy's of Michigan, says Reimer does

"an outstanding job."

"She works hard every shift every day and does her best to make

sure her store reflects that," he says.

Reimer is an impressive manager, Wagner says, not only because

of her store's brisk business but also because she manages one of

only two stores in the franchise that does Phase 2 training, the last

phase of training that employees need to become assistant

managers. Reimer, however, was tapped as general manager of the

store a little more than three years ago — before it became a Phase

2 training store.

"Part of the reason we picked Laurie is that she has the knowledge

to train [others]," Wagner says. "It is a large-volume store. God bless

her, it sits across the parking lot from corporate headquarters, and

so she gets a lot of visitors."

Those visitors include such foodservice veterans as Robert

Schermer, chief executive of Meritage Hospitality Group, owner of

franchisee Wendy's of Michigan.

"[There is] a lot of show-and-tell going on there," Schermer says.

"You can't just talk the talk in that store. You have to walk the walk,

and Laurie certainly does that."

And Schermer, who eats at the store almost every day, adds that he

hardly has to wait for his big chili minus the cheese, large diet drink

and grilled-chicken sandwich.

Reimer started out at the age of 20 as a part-time waitress at

Fable's, a local business. Later she worked as a waitress for Elias

Brothers' Big Boy. Within six months she was promoted to dining

manager. She stayed at the company for 11 years.

Seven years ago, after taking time off from the restaurant industry to

work with her husband at his automotive-repair business, a staffing

service placed the now 47-year-old Reimer with Wendy's of

Michigan. She started out as an assistant manager in training at a

training store. Three and a half years later she was promoted to

general manager.

Being good to customers has its personal rewards, Reimer says.

She met her husband, Roger, when she was an assistant manager

at Big Boy in 1995. One morning two of her servers were not at

work, and so she had to wait tables. She told him not to worry; she

would take care of him. A few days later he sent her flowers and

thanked her for her smile. "The rest is history," Reimer says.

Reimer's ability to connect with people extends to her employees. In

her current position she's had to overcome several challenges.

When she first arrived at the store, the turnover rate was 300

percent. It now is 100 percent.

Part of the secret in retaining employees, she says, is letting them

have ownership over what they do. She gives her workers

responsibilities and makes them feel that they are an important part

of the restaurant.

"A lot of people look at fast food as the bottom of the scale, but we

are providing a service," she says.

When she gives an interview to potential employees, she asks why

she should hire them. Making people want to stay on starts with

"getting them in and making them feel they own the business. They

have an ownership in it."

She lets them know that "I might be the general manager, but you

guys actually run the operation."

Other managers, she says, are surprised that she lets her

employees do so much. Crew people can order supplies, for

example, and be involved in scheduling.

"Those are some of the things we do here to make people think, 'We

don't mind coming to work,'" she says.

Delegating responsibility ultimately means she can enjoy her time

off. Typically, Reimer, who lives in Howard City, about 35 to 40 miles

north of Grand Rapids, works five days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

She doesn't get calls on her days off, she says, and when she goes

on vacation, she is confident that the store will run smoothly. When

she is not at work, she might be found at the bowling alley. She also

likes to play golf.

Treating her employees — 30 staff members and five managers —

well is a big reason her employees have chosen to stay.

Crew member Angela Fitzgerald, 23, says Reimer is an effective

manager.

"It doesn't matter what's going on. She tries to make our lives easier,

but, at the same time, she tries to make sure we don't do anything

stupid," says Fitzgerald, who has worked at Reimer's store for two

years and calls the staff a family.

Fitzgerald adds that Reimer works beside the crew and steps in

whenever they need help. "If we're really behind or busy, she'll try to

calm us down before she jumps in. She lets us know it'll be over

soon."

According to Fitzgerald, Reimer is more willing than other bosses to

listen to the crew. One time, Fitzgerald says, she had a personal

problem and was upset when she came into the store. Reimer talked

to her about it in a back room, and both of them cried. Reimer then

told her that if she ever needed to talk to someone she could talk to

her.

"She's like my second mom," Fitzgerald says. "No matter what's

going on, I know I can talk to her."

Some of the skills involved in managing also come into play when

she is training employees. And Reimer says she is constantly trying

to perform better. "Every day I'm still learning," she claims.

As a Phase 2 trainer, Reimer receives trainees after they have

finished about five weeks of Phase 1 training. She then works one

on one with them for about five weeks. During that time they learn

about ordering, controlling labor costs, setting up cash drawers in

the morning and overseeing the operation.

A lot of what it takes to train is patience, she says. It also takes a

person who likes to see people grow.

"My goal is to see [my employees] succeed," she says. "If they

succeed, I know I have done my job."

District manager Kristi Carney says Reimer's patience has benefited

the company. Carney recalls one employee who came to Reimer to

be trained and questioned everything that Wendy's did. Carney says

Reimer remained calm and answered every question. That

employee is still with the company, Carney says, and has grown as

a person "because of Laurie's patience and willingness to explain

every question."

Because her store is a Phase 2 unit, it is a cut above most Wendy's

stores. All of the Wendy's restaurants in the 48-store franchise are

100-percent Sparkle certified, which means they carry a Wendy's

standard of "B" in cleanliness, customer service, food inspection and

other criteria. Reimer's store is certified as an A-level unit, which is a

grade higher than B level and reflects the store's consistent high

quality.

Reimer has been recognized for her abilities with internal service

and sales awards.

Being good with customers, Reimer says, means taking an interest

in them and taking that extra step that will make her customers' lives

easier. She tells her register operators to get trays for mothers with

children and help them with the high chairs. Often she tells her staff

to learn two new customers' names during a given week.

The key to customer service, she says, is "taking an interest in [the

guests] and getting them to come back."

In order to become an effective manager, Reimer says, she

constantly is watching people like Carney. She adds that she aspires

to be a district manager in the future. Carney says that if she could

duplicate Reimer in other stores, she would.

Reimer is "very understanding," Carney says. "She has clear-cut

goals and likes to make work fun. . . . She's great with the

customers."

"I've enjoyed it tremendously here," Reimer says. "It's a lot of hard

work and a lot of fun, and it offers a lot of rewards."

What the boss says:

"She generally wants to do a good job," says Terry Wagner,

president of the franchisee company Wendy's of Michigan. "She

wants her store to reflect herself and vice versa. I'd say she's driven.

Her maturity helps, but really what I think drives the store is her

attitude. She really wants to be the best.

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