We Close When We Say

Tonight I ran into two situations where despite posted hours, places closed on their own terms. First was at the King of Prussia mall. We had gone there, my family and I, to celebrate my sister's 20th birthday by having dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. After we finished eating, we rushed back over to The Plaza to hit a few stores before the mall closed. At 8:50, with 10 minutes left until the mall closed, the owner or manager of Old Navy locked up. Despite the store and the mall hours being listed as a 9 PM closing time, this store shut its gate 10 minutes early. I am not going to gripe too much because I had no intentions of going in there, but there has to be some monetary loss there as well as a just a poor business decision. Shoppers are typically more spontaneuous and stupid when short on time. People are much more likely to buy something without taking much time when they are given the "10 minutes until we close" warning. Closing early means you miss out on that family that was going to run in a just buy something without spending much time thinking about it. Sure this isn't going to grately effect the company's profit margin, but it's still money lost.

Later, friends of mine and I met at a bowling alley. We knew we only had until 11:30 and it was already 20 after 10. This is not a terrible amount of time, but it was enough. We walked into the place and went to pay for a few games and shoes. We were met with a slightly rude "you know we close in a little over a half hour." The hours are hanging right behind this employee which clearly say that the place is open until 11:30 Monday through Friday. I responded by pointing this out to the kid. He responds by saying, "we only stay open late if we have a league." Essentially saying - look, it's late and since there is nothing official going on, we are closing up shop early so I can get home." Again, they place lost business because what would have been 2 games per person switched to one. In the long run, like with Old Navy, they don't notice. But it is not good practice to advertise your hours and then neglect to tell people about the clause that says "these hours are only valid if the people who pay more to be here show up. Otherwise, we'll kick you out when we get tired."

Maybe the angle to take is the vauge hours. Parks typically go with "park hours are sun up to sun down." Or "we close in the late evening." If you don't tell people an exact time, then you can make your own call on when to close. But if you have posted hours, you should honor them.

b

Brooklyn

So tonight I visited the last the last real borough I hadnt been to yet (I am not counting Staten Island unless someone gives me good reason to). If I had a bucket list, I could check off going to Brooklyn. I passed through Brooklyn once on the way to Coney Island but I wouldn't consider it as if I'd been to Brooklyn.

Tonight I met up with friends at a bar/bowling alley aptly called Brooklyn Bowl. This place is across the street from the Brooklyn Brewery. It's a really cool spot to check out if you don't mind packed, loud places. I know that is to be expected at a bar but this place was much cooler than a bar. Where you come in - straight ahead is a small (maybe 20 tables) restaurant area. Making a left and heading down the hall you reach the main bar. If you turn around you are facing a stage. This isn't you typical small bar, small band stage. This is a pretty legit sized stage. And next to that is a 20-30 lane bowling alley where the seats are not that uncomfortable plastic in a horseshoe shape but leather couches. Here you can order from the restaurant menu, as I saw people drinking coffee and eating dessert. I know some bowling alleys have food but it's generally not anything special.

This is why this place is cool, it is a restaurant, bar, concert venue, and bowling alley all in one but not all combined as each exists apart from the other. I definitely want to go back at a time where there is not a band playing so people can actually talk, and when it is not so crowded so that we could actually get to bowl.

Also, you know you are in Brooklyn when the music playing is Interpol and Jeff Buckley and the 10 projector screens around the place are all showing Planet Earth. I wish this was the type of bar people around here went to instead of the choices we have locally.

Had an interesting conversation with a guy from Brazil studying abroad here while waiting for my train home, but that story is for another post.

Goodnight.

Bowling

Frazier lanes is home to some of the best Strike and Split graphics I have seen at bowling alleys. Definitely proud my fire breathing dragon simulation I got for one of my strikes. Makes it all the more worth it.

Mike is in town!

Sixers tomorrow night. Why? - #3. That's why.