Kevin Graff

CSD: The Coffee Cup Hotel

February 12, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
C-stores are known for providing a myriad of services, but could your stores house customers for the night if the weather turned bad? What do you think of Coffee Cup Fuel Stops' makeshift emergency hotel? Can other retailers, even major chains, be doing more to prepare for and help customers with emergencies?      [more...]

To me, this story isn't so much about opening up your store to overnight guests as it is about just being good human beings. There is that one cardinal rule of service that says 'before you are a retailer, you are a human being. And before she is a customer, she too is a human being.'

It's not hard to figure out the right thing to do in these situations. Set the business angle aside, and just to the right thing for your customer. The wonderful paradox is that you'll probably end up selling more, too.