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August Market Report
54th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!
Dear Club DLM Members,
August 2002 marks Dorothy Lane Market’s 54th year
in business. When I think back on how everything was, there certainly has
been a lot of change. I remember as a youngster going to the market with my
dad. He had on a white apron and carried a Listo grease pencil for marking
prices on bananas. Of course, there were smells of fresh apples, oranges,
and potatoes, built in displays that seemed 10 feet high — of course,
I was just six years old. There was a farmer that brought eggs through the
back door, then my father and Frank Sakada, (his original partner), held up
each egg to see if it was small, medium, or large and placed it in the corresponding
basket. There was no air conditioning and lots of humidity, as evidenced by
sweating bottles of milk in an old refrigerated case that didn’t work
too well.
On one hand, so much has changed between those days and
now. But, on the other hand, one thing that hasn’t changed is our attitude
toward customers. Back then my father would do just about anything, almost
no limits, to satisfy a customer. I remember him saying, “Our customers
don’t have to shop here; they need to get wonderful service when they
come to Dorothy Lane.” Our associates today are aware that his legacy
to us is great customer service. We actually fear the idea of not providing
wonderful service and think seriously about this every day. So, we’re
very proud of our associates that go the extra mile for our customers. We
even publish an internal letter called the “Legend Letter” every
four months. It’s all about great legendary service rendered by Dorothy
Lane Market associates.
The following are excerpts from our internal newsletter,
the Legend Letter:
- A customer wrote DLM a thank you letter to express his appreciation for
Don Monnin helping him out. The man had lost his wallet and Don loaned him
$10.00.
- Regan Ross was at Springboro DLM on his day off when he noticed a customer
with a flat tire, they had been waiting 1½ hours for a tow truck.
Regan changed the tire and was offered $20.00. He said, “No, you shop
at DLM, and now I’m happy to be able to give something back to a customer.
I’m glad to help.”
- After moving to California, a customer wrote to say how much she missed
her shopping experiences at DLM. She looked forward to seeing people daily,
like Julia Garwood, who greeted her with a big smile every morning as she
purchased her coffee and donut.
- An elderly lady became sick while at DLM, so Dottie Overman took her home
and made sure that she was safe.
- DLM received e-mail expressing appreciation for the kind, willing attitudes
of David Kissell and Henry Proctor. A lady was having a birthday celebration
at her home and needed two quiches added to her order. Henry assured her
the quiches would by ready, and David delivered them to her home by noon.
As you can see from these stories, DLM associates will go the extra mile
for our customers. A customer once said, “Many years from now, I won’t
remember the steak or bag of oranges that I bought at Dorothy Lane Market,
but I will always remember the great service.” On the flip side, past
DLM associates that have moved to other states remark that customers at Dorothy
Lane are different than in other retail establishments; they appreciate that
DLM’s customers treated them better.
It’s been a wonderful 54 years. Thank you very much.
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Bakery
