Something's changed, it must be the owners.

[edible_hat]

Does anybody else get customers who think the store has changed owners because something's changed? Some examples from the month I've been working for my current employers (who have been in business for 4 years):

-Customer sees me behind the counter, in business casual attire (since I hadn't yet got my uniform), "Oh, are you the new owner?"

-Yesterday one of the EFTPOS machines was upgraded, several customers who came in during that time thought it was due to a change of owners.

-The monthly specials change on the first of the month, several customers asked if the new specials were because we changed owners.

-Cigarette display laws are changing next month, in preparation for that we got new shelving. While it was happening just about every single customer asked if "the new owners want that changed". Once every three days or so a customer will notice the change and ask if we've got new owners.

[Boozy]

That's sort of an odd conclusion to jump to - I wonder why your customers are under that impression.

Has your store changed ownership a lot in the past? Or has everything been the same for years and its just so happened that there have been a lot of upgrades recently?

[TonyDonuts]

The truck stop I managed changed hands last year.

New signage.

New paint scheme.

Different product lines.

Added a Subway.

Completely, completely, COMPLETELY different uniforms for the staff.

Almost completely different staff (counting me about four people survived the transition).

It's been a year and a half since, and customers and some vendors still need the finer points of the Company-A-sold-store-to-Company-B-so-now-store-is-a-Company-B-store-and-not-Company-A-store concept explained to them.

Conclusion-People are morons. Enjoy the show. Revel in it.

[SuperB]

My family has been behind the counter for 13 years and we still get cabin owners who only come up once in a blue moon and assume we're new.
One couple this summer were amusing as they walked through the store like they owned it, obviously showing their friends the community, their cabin, etc. acting like they should have been well known and we must be the new owners (since I didn't have a clue who they were). Should have seen the look on their face when they and their friends learned I'd been here longer than they had.

[chops]

Ya know, I can almost see the logic in people thinking there's a change in ownership due to the EFTPOS machines being changed. Recently, Supervalu bought several chains of grocery stores that had been operating under the various brands of Albertson's, including our local chain (Shaw's). A few months later, the entire registers had been replaced.

[edible_hat]

Has your store changed ownership a lot in the past? Or has everything been the same for years and its just so happened that there have been a lot of upgrades recently?

The current owners have been there for 4 years, when they first bought it they added a not-KFC and changed most of the signs. The only recent upgrades are the eftpos terminal and the cigarette displays (and every store in the state is changing their cigarette displays to comply with new laws that start on Monday), those are the kind of things that new owners would change so that sort of makes sense.

I have no idea about the "new guy must be the new owner" thing. But when I worked for a different company people would think I was the manager and the real manager was my lackey, must be my commanding presence or something (then again, when I worked for a computer store a few people thought I was the janitor!)

[Broomjockey]

the cigarette displays (and every store in the state is changing their cigarette displays to comply with new laws that start on Monday)

I've heard this mentioned a few times. Just wondering, what are the new laws?

[edible_hat]

I've heard this mentioned a few times. Just wondering, what are the new laws?

One packet on display per brand/size/packet colour combination (and that goes for things like cigarette papers and filters too), no individual cigars on display (customers can still buy them individually, they just have to ask what we have in stock), the entire display (tobacco products and smoking paraphenalia) must take up an area of no more than 3 square metres. Lighters are considered smoking paraphenalia, but matches aren't.

I had another one today: the pie warmer's broken, two people asked if the new owners are going to get it fixed or replaced.