Roadhouse Magazine Issue 27

THE STAFF ROOM 22 RHM Magazine - roadhouse.net.au Q: So firstly Graham congratulations on your retirement, how long did you spend at Roadhouse? A: I spent 18 and a half years at Roadhouse. Starting at Cheltenham around a year after DFO opened, so I was pretty much a part of the furniture from the beginning. Q: You were always in shoes, remind us of your LBR - Life Before Roadhouse? A: My wife Karen and I both worked in a shoe discount outlet called ‘Factory To Foot’ out in Ringwood. From there I worked my way around the footwear industry and found myself in Richmond Plaza at a place called Jenkin Factory Outlet which was my father-in- law’s business. I worked there for 12 months as it was closing down. I was approached by a chap that owned Unique Shoes who was taking over the site so I continued on! Then 18 months later, on a cold Friday night, in waltzes Mr. Rowan Hill, a cold VB in hand and makes me an offer I couldnt’t refuse! I was a Roadhouse employee within a month of that meeting. That was 2001. Q: Tell us a little about your first day, if you can remember it? A: It was much more intense than what I was used to, much more service orientated and the pressure was definitely on! I thought that we were very strong on customer service but this was at another level. It was almost a case of don’t let the customer out unless you’ve made every possible attempt at the sale. Q: What were the prominent brands you stocked in the beginning? A: The ones that stand out in memory are the old faithfuls – Mack Boots, Dr. Martens, Land Rover, Hard Yakka , it was also the very beginning of Caterpillar which was very expensive at the time. Work Brute was another brand that many wouldn’t remember, but that became the brand we all know now as Mongrel Work Boots ! Q: Do you remember any of the original team members? A: I can tell you that it was a skinny roster! There was obviously Rowan, myself, Shane who was with Roadhouse for 12 months or so, with a couple of young casuals floating around on the weekends. Q: What would you say was the biggest change in the business over the years? A: Easily... computerisation! The hardest thing to grasp was actually having to work in a computerised store. After decades of everything being done manually with those things that we call a ‘pen and paper’ we had to move on to having to input every sale, stocktakes, discounts, promotions, customer bases etc. all into a computer... wasn’t that fun! That took quite some time to get used to and I can tell you that there are still some people that are struggling with it! Q: What was the defining moment that made you decide to retire? A: I don’t think that there was a defining moment. I was approaching 65 years of age and would look around the store and see the young guys (especially Xavier), that had stepped up and grown into the position. I could see that their careers were ahead of them as mine was ending and they were ready to takeover. It was then that I started to gear down and began to think about getting out of bed later, all the wonderful places in Victoria and Australia that I needed to visit, and especially not having to spend half my life on my knees doing up customers shoe laces! Q: So what do you have planned in the immediate future? A: Well, in August there is eight of us doing a ‘Kimberley’s Adventures Tour’ in a pimped out, specially designed 4 Wheel Drive that will go for nine days, that goes from Broome to Darwin. Following that, four of us will continue on to the Kakadu area where we will stay for around three days, then back to Darwin and then home. Beats the hell out of selling shoes! GRAHAM NEAL Store: ROADHOUSE DFO Morrabbin, VIC Position: Store Manager 18 Years Our ‘much l oved ve te ran’ Graham has now o f f i c i a l l y re t i red, co l l ec ted h i s go l d watch and l i ke El v i s, ‘ l e f t the bu i l d i ng’ ! He now spends h i s day s ge t t i ng out o f bed l ate r, p l ann i ng t r i ps a round Aus t ra l i a , h i ki ng and l i ke eve r y o the r re t i ree – t r y i ng to nav i gate h i s way a round Ne t f l i x ! En j oy re t i rement o l d f r i end !