for FReeper RegisteredPosted on 12/10/2002 7:49:27 PM PST by Registered
No more Grand Slams for FReeper Registered
| After 22 years, restaurant closes its doors Denny's Restaurant, a virtual institution among late-night diners, abruptly closed its doors for good Monday afternoon, citing lagging business. The Norton shores restaurant, which opened in 1980, closed at 3 pm Monday. The restaurant was hurt financially by safety and security concerns that forced the corporation to stop making it a 24-hour eatery-a "trademark" of Denny's restaurants, a corporate spokeswoman said. Customers (Like Me) and workers were not given advance warning the restaurant would be closing, said Melanie Mathews of Muskegon, a (darn good) server at the restaurant. Employees, some of whom worked at the restaurant for more than 20 years, were told the restaurant was closing during a meeting Monday afternoon, she said. "It was a big blow" (tell me about it), Mathews said, "There's a lot of people out of a job and a lot of families and children that will be affected by this...there were women in there sitting and crying"(not me, I'm a guy) The 48 employees were offered a two-week severance package and the opportunity to transfer to other Denny's restaurants, the closes being in Holland and on Plainfield Avenue in Grand Rapids, said Debbie Atkins, spokeswoman for Denny's, which is based in Spartanburg, S.C. The Norton Shores restaurant originally was open 24 hours. But several years ago, corporate officials (that don't understand Michigan "culture") decided to start closing at 3 am every day but Sunday, when it closed at 1:45am, Atkins said. "Unfortunately that hurt the business-the fact that we couldn't be open 24 hours," Atkins said,"Security is a top priority for us-ensuring the safety and security of our customers and employees. And we didn't believe we could do that at that location in the early morning hours" The restaruant was the site of a a couple of melees over the years. In 1994, police said a "near riot" and "free for all" brawl in the restaurant at 3:11am involved more than 50 people-practically all the patrons at the time (the Michigan "culture" thing). And in the 1999, a fight that involved 15 to 20 people caused $4,000 in damage at 3:32am . During that fray, patrons left without paying while others went into the cooking area and grabbed food (to eat and watch the action of course). Atkins said, Denny's now will be looking to sub-lease the property on which the corporation holds a long-term lease. Mathews said she was disappointed that the corporation chose to close the restaurant so close to Christmas. "It seems like they could have held on at least until after the holidays", she said, (and now for the Willie Green wind-up statement...) "To Denny's, you're no more than a bottom line number, and that's how we felt yesterday." Atkins said corporation officials "regret" the decision to close...there's never a good time for this," (duh) Atkins said. For any additional questions, call Denny's Customer Service Team at 1-800-733-6697.
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And yes, EVERYBODY sat and waited for a good long while. Some people just have to take everything personally.
In about another 150 posts, we'll start nuking the Arabs.
You planned this, didn't you?
Doubtful. Denny's has a history tainted with racism.
I always preferred Bob's Big Boy anyway.
Well, you'd be crawling too if you'd just spent months living in a bottle of tequilla. If you'd wanted your worm dead, all you had to do was tell the waiter. Sheesh!
Not me
When my son was 9 or 10, he had a friend over, and my wife and the two kids were going to dinner (I was out of pocket somewhere).
"Where do you boys want to eat?"
"WAFFLE HOUSE!" (I don't think either one had ever been, but maybe once or twice)
"YEAH, WE WANNA GO TO WAFFLE HOUSE!"
"AND WE'RE GONNA GET THE MOST EXPENSIVE THING ON THE MENU!"
Wife: "Knock yourselves out, kids. Go for it!" (laughing)
Big Waffle House, double diced, smothered, covered, chunked bump!
I can highly recommend the WH in Darien, GA, just off I-95. The chief cook, Donald, is a genius with omelettes, and an A#1 first class guy too. My parents eat breakfast there at least 2-3 times a week, and it's a highlight of our trip whenever we go to visit them. My kids got to pose with Donald for my dad's camera with spatulas and WH hats, and their pictures are up on the bulletin board as "OUR FUTURE EMPLOYEES". :-D
The weltanschauung of the local hoi polloi lacks sufficient gravitas.
Why do you say that? Just because they used to be called "Sambo's?"
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