Rainforest Cafe: Interview for Made to Measure Magazine

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 8:30 p.m.: Charly Robinson—senior vice-president of operations—manages a few reflective moments about his corporation, its direction, and the significance of uniforms as part of the larger picture. 

A native of Indiana, 43-year old Robinson intended to become an engineer.  He worked his way through college in the hotel-restaurant business, and graduated from Purdue University with a degree in restaurant & hotel management instead.  Married with 2 children, he and his family live in Minneapolis (Rainforest corporate headquarters).

H&A: What exactly is the Rainforest Café? 

Charly:  It’s a restaurant with a supporting retail outlet.  We pride ourselves in serving a diverse menu, which caters to adult and family dining at moderate prices.   Our theme is ecology and environment.

H&A: Whose idea was this? 

Charly: 25 years ago, Steven Schusler, a bird-lover and ecology fan, decided a special way to promote awareness and appreciation of the environment would be to re-create that environment as a restaurant.  He wanted people to sit and enjoy the beauty of our world.  He tried to market this concept of wildlife, and even turned his home into a rainforest.  He would invite people over, hoping they’d like his idea.  In 1994, Lyle Berman, our C.E.O., went to Steve’s house and they agreed on the Rainforest Café.

H&A: Did you turn the house into the first restaurant?

Charly: No.  We decided to open here in Minneapolis--the Mall of America.  We started with 150 seats and retail space for promotion of environmental awareness. 

H&A: Where are you located now?

Charly: We have thirty 300-seat restaurants, with 6 more scheduled to open in 1999.  22 are domestic, under our direct corporate control.  The additional 8 are more like international franchises because of customs, cultures, and laws unique to individual countries.

H&A: That’s terrific!

Charly: We’re doing well, growing, and are publicly traded on the NASDAQ.

H&A: Do you get funding from environmental agencies?

Charly: No.  We have our own Rainforest Foundation that focuses on education and land purchases for environmental use.  Our main goal is to educate people about the rainforest.  We’re not trying to preach, but to teach—children and families--about wildlife and endangered species.  We want to bring people more than a dining experience.

H&A: Do your employees support this philosophy?

Charly: Our mission is to pass on, through families and children, a passion for life and a concern for its survival.  All of our employees are instilled with this idea.  We encourage them to believe in something, as individuals.  I think they have a higher consciousness about our world.

 

Remember, we’re a food company.  We carry our thinking into the dining business by putting out a higher quality product.

H&A: How does this  “higher consciousness” impact your choice of uniforms?

Charly: Uniforms are a very important part of our concept.  They are part of the visual definition of who we are, and part of the machinery of the restaurant.

H&A: “The machinery?”  You still think like an engineer!

Charly: Yes.  A person has to have a product that allows for quick, efficient movement.  It can’t get in the way, has to wear well all day long, be easily cleanable, comfortable, and give its wearer a sense of pride about him/herself.  You have to think—are the pockets easy to get into?  Will a person with special needs—maternity, larger body, disabilities—look as good in this uniform as everyone else?

H&A: What do your people wear?

Charly:  In the front of the house, they wear safari shirts, hats, slacks or shorts, and fanny packs.  We provide the shirts and each individual provides the rest.  In the kitchen, we provide a basic black & white checked chef pant and white chef coat.  Anyone who wants to wear something different purchases his/her own garment.

H&A: Isn’t that kind of a hodge-podge?

Charly: No.  We have very specific guidelines about what our employees wear.  By law, anything with a logo has to be purchased by the corporation.  Other garments may be purchased by the employees.  We set limits on fabrics, colors, styles.  We have a definite look, standards we want to project; a uniform must fit into that projection.  For example, in the kitchen, a chef doesn’t have to wear black & white checked pants.  He/she can wear whatever color or pattern is preferable.  It can be the balloon pants or the slimmer ones.  But they have to be chef pants.  No khakis.

H&A: Have your employees always worn the same uniform?

Charly: We used to have them in polo shirts.  After a while, we decided the safari shirts were more attractive, and people felt special when they wore them.  We didn’t change just to change.  We wanted to look different from other restaurants, and we wanted something that complimented our employees.

H&A: How do you handle sizing?

Charly:  We use a unisex garment, which makes it easy.  For maternity, the safari shirt can be worn outside, instead of tucked in.  Each unit or restaurant has a stock room, and new employees try on the sizes.  We don’t allow anyone on the floor who is not in uniform, looking his/her best.  That’s a good reason for keeping a full range of sizes and clean garments on hand.

H&A: You chose to purchase rather than to rent?

Charly: Renting was never a consideration for us.  With our international restaurants, it isn’t an option.  Domestically, we handle each unit according to state laws and what works best for that unit.  But we always buy.   Handling 200-300 employees per restaurant and keeping track of that volume for rentals is impossible. 

H&A: What about cleaning?

Charly: Again, it’s up to the individual units.  We give them as much independence as we can.  What works well for one city may not for another.  The employees are responsible for their uniforms.  That’s why it’s important to have a garment that holds up well.

H&A: How do you keep track of them?

Charly: Each employee is issued a uniform when hired.  Then, there’s a hold on the last paycheck until it’s returned.

H&A: Do they all come back?

Charly: About 70%.  The rest of them—it isn’t worth the hassle.  It costs us more to track down the clothing than buy new.

H&A: Is there theft?

Charly: It’s never been a problem.  We keep the uniforms in the stock room and the director of purchasing inventories them.  Remember, most of the uniform belongs to the individual.

H&A: What about vendors?  Do you prefer “one-stop shopping?”

Charly:  We do what works.  When we had the polo shirts for the front of the house, we had one vendor.  When we went to the safari shirt, it didn’t work anymore, so now we continue to purchase all of our supplies and kitchen-wear from that vendor, but we have gone to a smaller custom manufacturer for our shirts.

H&A: Is a custom garment a problem?

Charly: No.  We figured out exactly what we wanted, and we found a manufacturer.  Disney, a partner, helped us with that.  We get 4-6 weeks’ delivery on the merchandise, and our director of purchasing here in Minneapolis gets orders from each unit manager.  Our units have the garments drop-shipped to their locations as per need.  We expect our local purchasing people to be proactive, not waiting until the last minute to do the ordering.

H&A: You seem to have given a lot of thought to uniforms.

Charly: Uniforms are very important for us.  Timing is critical.  We’re a director-of- operations driven company, and we pay each unit director good money to run the individual unit.  We provide the trust, support, and responsibility to do the job.  How each individual drives the unit is up to him/her.  Company standards must be met, however.  Every employee must be in a cleaned, ironed uniform, attractively and appropriately attired.

H&A: How is your corporate hierarchy organized?  You pay so much attention to efficiency.

Charly:  The uniform focus starts with the vice president, the director of operations.

H&A: That’s you.

Charly: That’s me.  Then, we go to the vice-president of food and beverage, who handles procurement. From him, to the director of purchasing who is in charge of ordering.  Each unit has a director of operations who oversees the local unit, and that director has a purchasing person whom is directly responsible for uniforms.  It sounds like a lot of people, but it really isn’t.  It’s important the job be done right.

H&A: Earlier, you mentioned the competition.  How do you evaluate it?

Charly: All of our people eat out a lot.  We’re always looking to see what’s up in every aspect of the restaurant business.  Price is important to us, but it’s never our primary concern.  We want to be coordinated with our environment, and we want to be synonymous with high quality fashion, food, and atmosphere.  Our employees feel proud to work here.  We definitely don’t want to look like everybody else.

H&A: You’ve given your organization a huge amount of thought, time, and energy.  That’s obvious.  Is there anything else that you want to add?

Charly: Yes.  We feel our uniforms are a very important part of our restaurant concept.  Unfortunately, uniform manufacturers haven’t kept up with the current trends in fashion and clothing.  They haven’t been as creative within their industry as they could be.  It’s the same old thing everywhere.  Uniforms need to keep up with the styles.  A successful company always wants to go to the next level.

H&A: If you had to pick someone to handle your job dealing specifically with uniforms, what would be the necessary qualifications?

Charly: I’d want someone who is familiar with and knowledgeable about body shapes, movement of bodies and how they work; the look and feel of the operation; the laws of the state for each specific operation; handling and distributing stock.  Uniforms are like anything else—it’s a process, just like food.  You need to know what you need--how much and when, and stay ahead of the game.

H&A: Final advice?

Charly: Do you mean are there valuable life lessons to be learned?  I don’t think so.  It’s a learning curve from where you start—you, the company, and how it works.  I just want to make sure I always introduce everyone to everyone else so there’s a connection.  New people like to be in control, and do things their way.  One of the things they do first is fire the old people and change old ways of doing things.  That’s not always healthy—to change for change’s sake.  If people know each other, and can support each other, the transition is usually more productive for everyone.