Chloe is Back from Europe!
Chloe has been gone for 10 days and had an amazing tour of Europe from Rome to London by bus with a group of young adults. They stayed in hostels along the way, and they were NICE hostels. I imagined run-down places that were cheap for young travelers. The pics we saw were not that, and some had quirky set ups that looked like they were staying in a fort or a tree house.
While Chloe was taking pics holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, we were holding down the fort at the Dispatch. Cherie has officially moved to Chico to pursue her degree at Chico State, but she came back for two weeks to manage the store. I think she appreciates why Chloe gets the big bucks now! 😊 Cherie did a great job putting out the little fires that pop up throughout the day, and I was able to leave the workday behind knowing she was going to handle the store.
It has been an interesting learning experience for me while Chloe was gone, and I realize there are a few things we need to improve.
Chloe and I need to take a step back and let our staff figure things out on their own instead of jumping in to solve the problem. This is very hard for me, personally. I like efficiency and, of course, I want our guests to have a positive experience. My staff isn’t going to learn all the small details if we keep jumping in and take over. The other day I was in the back packing a box when I heard a customer ask a question I wondered if my employee knew the answer to. I wanted SO BADLY to run up to the front and answer, but I waited to see what would happen. She handled it well by saying she wasn’t sure and called me up to the front. Hopefully, since I gave her some time to think about if she knew the answer, she learned something when I came out and gave the correct information.
We need to train our staff to know as much as we do. I was thinking that I would like to go Europe and see the things Chloe did, but I would like to do it WITH her. How can we if our staff isn’t trained well enough for us to be gone and be on a 9-hour time change? They all did very well while Chloe was gone, but there were many phone calls asking a lot of clarifying questions when I wasn’t at the store.
I wish I was better at merchandising. I went to the Las Vegas Gift show recently, and the inventory I bought is starting to be delivered. It’s like Christmas around here every day! However, after putting the items into the system and price-tagging them, I stare at the store and have no idea where to put the items and move others around for it to look cohesive. Chloe and Serena are WAY better at it. They are coming in soon to “fix” whatever I screwed up. 😂
Chloe is extremely knowledgeable about this industry, and I am so glad to be doing this business with her. Traveling vicariously with her has been a lot of fun! I am also extremely grateful that Cherie came back to manage the store while Chloe was gone. I don’t know what I would have done without her. Thank you, Cherie, and I wish you the best at Chico State!