Edison, NJ

Welcome to Edison, NJ and Menlo Park Mall which sits on the ground where Thomas Edison tinkered in his invention labs to perfect his now famous lightbulb. Ironically, I'll be reinventing and revamping here as well... revamping food and reinventing people. Over the next weeks and even months, we'll be perfecting the famous Chicken Sandwich and taking it back to it's original, perfect recipe. I'll also be developing leaders who confidently serve customers and know our brand and vision by heart...because they believe in our mission with their own hearts.

We've already begun this process. To start out our first leadership meeting the store has had in years, I gave $5 to each person and told them to purchase some food from the competition in the food court. I also told them the first person back would win a prize which simulated the hurriedness many of our customers feel. This exercise sparked great conversation as I asked each leader to evaluate their interactions with the competition and outline what operational excellence would look like to them. It turned out that the leadership team's own thoughts were very similar to the four keys Chick-fil-A believes are crucial to customers: Speed of Service, Attentive and Courteous Team Members, Taste of Food and Cleanliness. With this in mind, I shared my vision for the re-creation of our store: Taking each of these areas, evaluating and making positive changes in order to reach operational excellence. The team will see major changes over the next months, but it was imperative that they understand my spirit and the heart of why I'm making each change which is: to increase the quality of each customer's experience when they visit with us and to build positive, lasting impressions of our store and brand as a whole in the community.

I'm looking more forward to the future of our store with each interaction. We will make this team successful. I have no doubts.