This season has been challenging. We entered the holiday season with the least experienced staff in many, many years. After 17 years in business, we had become accustomed to having a handful of senior staff members in our ranks to help rock the season with us side-by-side. But this year the stars simply did not align. We found ourselves training an almost entirely new crew in the few months leading up to our biggest and most demanding season.
Yes, we had a couple of seasoned veterans, but these are team members that work very limited hours. So really the team was being built almost from scratch. At the start, we often resembled the movie Bad News Bears. Everyone had a heart of gold, but we were in serious need of finding our groove. And our leadership – us – well, we weren’t drunk like Walter Matthau was in the movie, but we were spread thin and overcommitted on too many projects.
It was a rough start.
There was frustration. There were tears from some. There were times we doubted we would make it through the season. But, at last, we have.
We are deeply thankful that the stars did finally align. These last two weeks have been joyful for us behind the counter, and we hope it has been joyful for you in the store. Our store is really about people – not product – and the new people we introduced into our ranks have proven themselves to be resilient, thoughtful, and hard-working.
The next time you visit our store, please congratulate our newest team members. We should have bought them cheesy T-shirts that read “I Survived My First Christmas at STUFF”. But they are too angelic for that….
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