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The Innovation (Tips on Success)
Tips on Success.
BY FREDERICK J. NYE, OF H. D. DWIGHT & CO., SYRACUSE, N. Y. The first principle is neatness, and we try to be even neater than ordinarily neat firms. For instance, we wash all glasses with hot water and soap and rinse them thoroughly and polish them before using them again. Every glass receives a washing 'like mother used to give.' At most fountains the glasses receive only a cold water wash, which we do not consider is enough. You cannot get the grease from the glass by cold water, and you cannot polish the glass afterward. There is something inviting about a nice, clean polished glass. Of course, this method breaks more glasses than the other and requires the service of a woman constantly to do the washing. The breakage on glasses amounts to $100 a year. We have a dumb-waiter to take the glasses from the fountain to the cellar, where they are washed and sent up again as soon as they are dry.
Another plan which I believe should be carried out by all means is the hiring of a man to look after the fountain and do nothing else. In 1892 we employed C. J. Candee to look after our fountain, and he has full charge, making up new drinks and all that work. The other dispensers whom we employ never have anything to do with the drug department, and the clerks in the drug department are not allowed behind the soda counter. When we hired Mr. Candee to take charge of the fountain no other firm in the city went on that same principle. The plan was to have the drug clerks, and even the proprietor himself, dodge back of the counter when a customer came in and draw the soda The result was that no two glasses of soda tasted alike and there was no system.
We believe that the eye, as well as the taste, must be pleased, and we take great pains to fix up all the fancy drinks so that they will look inviting. With all hot drinks and ice cream soda, and, in fact, almost every drink, we first lay down on the counter a paper napkin. This is always done except when there is a big rush, and there is not time. Courtesy is insisted upon, and if a customer is dissatisfied we throw away the drink and mix another without extra charge. We have one customer who always drinks egg phosphate and he must have it made just so. Sometimes new clerks have thrown away three or four drinks before they succeeded in pleasing him. Little things will turn trade away quicker than big things sometimes. Take one beverage I might mention. If it is the least bit warm it is nauseating. They tell me that in some parts of the country they cannot get a good one. The matter of mineral waters is important. Some druggists make their own mineral waters and bunco the public. We buy our mineral waters direct from the springs and have a certificate to that effect. Often people have told us that our mineral waters did not taste right and they believed we must be making them ourselves. They had been drinking artificial waters at other fountains and came to believe the false was the true. It does not pay for a druggist to make artificial waters. Sooner or later he will get found out. There is a good profit in the real thing, anyway. We have to charge 10 cents a glass for our ice cream soda. Many druggists in Syracuse sell it for 5 cents, but we cater to the best class of trade and must use the best materials. We claim that a glass of ice cream soda costs us 5 cents to produce.
The dispensers put on clean coats every day. The first thing that is done in the morning is to clean the fountain, and this daily cleansing is a thorough one.
We never allow used glasses to stand around on the counter. Nothing is more offensive than that, and you see it done in some pretty good stores. The dispensers should remove the glasses as soon as the customer has finished and should wipe off any slop that may have been made. We encourage the people to make our drug store a hanging-out place, and we have never had any trouble with people abusing the privilege. We are located on the corner, where several street car lines pass, and like to make people comfortable while they are waiting for the car. Many men meet their wives at the store and they usually buy them a glass of soda water before they go. Girls meet here to go to the theatre. We have put in two telephones near the street and they are in use most of the time. We do all we can to attract trade, and if it doesn't come it is not our fault. - The Soda Fountain.