Chapter 9: San Antonio

The general sales meeting was held at the Alamo Heritage Suites, a boutique style hotel that was far from the most expensive in town, but perfectly situated for some sightseeing. It was also just the right size for our thirty-two participants. The meetings were scheduled for Monday through Wednesday and we left Seattle Saturday midday. We had two rooms booked and with two bedrooms in each suite, we had more than enough room for the three of us. We had requested adjoining suites and we were lucky enough to get them at the end of the hall where foot traffic would be much less.

We flew my usual carrier, Alaska Airlines, and upgraded to business class for the over four-hour flight. We arrived at the hotel just after seven, dropped our bags in the rooms and headed out for an evening's entertainment in old San Antonio. There was an air of anticipation among the ladies. It was their first time away from the office on business and they were anxious to meet other people in the company. I especially wanted them to get to know the female management that would be attending. My objective was to help them feel at ease with the group and participate when the opportunity arose.

We were a day ahead of any of the other management people, so I wasn't surprised when I didn't see anyone I knew. Sue and Jan were enjoying the change in scenery and anxious to get out on Sunday and do some sightseeing. I was very familiar with the city and volunteered to be their guide. My offer was accepted immediately. I also knew where to find some nightlife.

The Six-gun Cantina was fairly new and quite popular with our age group. It was a strange mix of Texas modern and old Mexico, but it had a decent dance band on weekends and the drinks weren't too costly. It should be a bit of fun and my two ladies were easy to talk into to giving it a try. I'd met quite a few women during the year I lived here and I wondered if any of them would appear. That would be interesting.

We found a table, small as it was, and settled in briefly until a waitress appeared. I recognized her, but she didn't spot me right away. Jan and Sue ordered martinis and I chose a local draft beer. When the waitress, Kate, returned with our orders, she looked at me again.

"Where have you been?" she asked, clearly searching her memory for a name.

"I've been everywhere," I grinned, "but most recently in Seattle."

"Okay ... it's been a while, but don't tell me. I'm good remembering names. I'll come up with it sooner or later. See yah," she smiled and walked to a nearby table to serve some other customers.

"I might have known you'd be famous," Sue grinned.

"Famous or infamous," I shrugged. "I spent a year on my own here. I won't pretend I didn't look for a little companionship now and then."

"Nothing steady?" Jan asked.

I shook my head. "I did date a couple of women a few times, but nothing really clicked. I knew I wasn't going to be here long term, so I guess I didn't try very hard."

I didn't see a smile on either of their faces, but I got the impression that they were satisfied with my reply. It was the truth, and the truth is always easier than the alternative.

We danced a few times and generally enjoyed the western-style swing band. Our waitress returned after we ordered our second round and pointed her finger at me.

"It's Gabe, isn't it?"

"Very good," I said. "I'm impressed."

She gave me a big smile as she turned and went on about her business.

I saw Sue just shaking her head. I didn't know what she was thinking.

It was cool and cloudy on Sunday morning, typical February weather. It would warm up in the afternoon, but I was doubtful it would rise to 60°. I had booked a city tour that would include the Alamo. The trolley-style bus would leave a nearby hotel at ten in the morning with hop-off, hop-on permitted. That left plenty of opportunity to shop if either of them wanted to do that. We could return anytime in the afternoon.

It was a good day for Sue and Jan. They loved the city and the Mexican-American ambiance. We stopped at the Alamo, of course, but also made two other stops to stroll the Market Square and La Villita. We tried some of the food kiosks to keep from getting hungry and the three of us enjoyed the day together. When we finally got back to the hotel, both Sue and Jan had several bags of purchases to show for their efforts.

We ate late that evening, choosing the hotel's restaurant and finding it very good. We were tired from all the walking during the day. The meetings would begin in the main conference room at nine Monday morning. Dave would host the meetings. Breakfast was a buffet in the meeting room, giving the attendees time to socialize and renew acquaintanceships. It would be my opportunity to introduce my two ladies to their new colleagues.

Dave's personal assistant, Roberta Miller, had arranged the room, the food service, the necessary equipment, and his agenda. She was an expert at it. All my brother had to do was to show up and do his thing. While he was the big boss, he was also the financial head of the company and his focus would be on our performance over the past year, our outlook and plan for the current year, and our plans for the future.

My role was two-fold. I was responsible for presenting the Lynnwood operation and our plans for bringing it up to the standards we expected from our branches. I was also asked to comment on market planning and the competitive outlook for all the branches. This wasn't something new for me. I had done it over the past ten years and it was second nature to me now. I had contacted all the branch and sales managers and talked to them about their markets and their competitors. There were very few markets I hadn't had experience with, so it made putting the data together much easier. It also prevented my being misled by wrong or out-of-date information.

In our business, a family business, several of us wore two hats. I concentrated on sales and marketing strategy, Dave worked on financial and administrative issues, and Stu Cairns was responsible for production issues. With the right people, our organization worked well. At the direction of my father, we spent a lot of time in succession planning. We needed good people at the ready to take over when someone left for any reason. We were all getting older and we had to make sure we developed our replacements.

Our future as a family business would ultimately be in the hands of Dave's son, Bernie. He was the logical successor to Dave and, more importantly, he was cut from the same cloth. He understood why we did what we did. He wasn't some young guy with gung-ho ideas of how to make Black Gold into a mega-corporation. He'd been around his father and grandfather long enough to learn why the business was successful and what its limitations were. All indications were that he would do well when it came time for Dave to retire.

Jan and Sue knocked on my door just after seven-thirty, Monday morning. They were looking very nice and ready for the meeting. I had avoided spending any personal time with them other than our tour. I spent Saturday and Sunday night in my room, reviewing my notes for my two segments. Even though these meetings were very familiar to me now, I never took them for granted. In truth, I wanted to make sure everyone attending knew I had come prepared. That was particularly true of Sue and Jan. I was determined to impress them.

"Good morning, ladies. Let me get my briefcase and we'll be off. You both look very smart this morning," I said as we headed for the elevator.

"Thank you," Sue smiled. "You look very dashing yourself."

"Dashing? That's a new one for me. Is it because I'm wearing a proper shirt instead of a polo shirt?"

"Don't forget the nicely pressed slacks and polished loafers," Jan added.

"Well, I've got to make a good impression with the troops, so I thought I'd put a little extra into it today," I said smugly. It was always nice to start the day out with someone paying you a compliment.

Both Jan and Sue were wearing conservative outfits. Dark slacks and light blouses. Very little jewelry and makeup, I noticed. They were very attractive women in my view and I wondered why the everyday outfits. The looked very nice, but very ordinary. I suppose, in the back of my mind, I wanted them to stand out. I wondered if I could convince them to "show off" a bit more.

We found a place at a table with two people from Los Angeles and I introduced Jan and Sue. We headed for the buffet almost right away and I decided to have a full breakfast, something unusual for me. I noticed my ladies were still being very careful with their diet selections. Lots of fruit and cereal. I might have felt guilty, but didn't. We chatted with our colleagues about everything but business, comparing life in L.A. to Seattle. They were sympathetic to our rainy climate and we were sympathetic to their earthquakes and wildfires.

We had a full half-hour before the meeting was called to order and spent it introducing Sue and Jan to anyone and everyone I could. They wanted to talk to Tannis Sanders, the branch manager of San Antonio and I left them to seek out Dave.

"Any luck finding a production candidate?" I asked as we exchanged greetings.

"Talk to Rob Johansson. I think he might be able to help you."

"Thanks. I'll catch up with him at the break. Am I following you with the sales and marketing report?"

"Yep. As usual," he smiled. "I won't ask if you're ready. You always are."

I nodded my thanks and started to look around the room for Mr. Johansson, the branch manager of Boise. He wasn't hard to find. At six-foot-four with blond hair, I spotted him almost immediately. He was off in a corner, talking to Maria Martinez, the sales manager for San Antonio. She had started her sales career under Rob in Boise and had been very successful. Like Jan, she had all the right moves for the job.

I waited for an opportunity to interrupt and say hello to both of them.

"Good morning, Maria. Nice to see you again. How are you?"

"Great, thanks, Gabe. Nice to see you too."

"Rob, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if you and I can get together at the break for a couple of minutes?"

"Sure, Gabe. Why do I have this sneaking suspicion it's going to cost me something ... or someone?"

"You know me too well," I chuckled.

Dave opened the meeting and gave his usual financial overview of Black Gold Coffee. It had been another good year, although not as good as expected. Lynnwood, of course, had underperformed. Phoenix suffered a major fire in an afterburner and put half their roasting capacity out of action for six weeks. Amazingly, they only suffered an eight percent drop in sales, but that and the added costs of interim supply pushed their profit performance below plan. Most importantly however, despite the problems, they had not lost market share. They were now back operating at capacity.

Dave didn't dwell on minute details in his report. He covered our profit, cash position, receivables and bad debt ratio, along with capital expenditures. A further report on future capital requirements would be given later on Wednesday. On the whole, Black Gold continued to be profitable, with plenty of available cash and consistently less than thirty days on receivables. An enviable financial position for any company.

Roberta Miller, Dave's P.A., then gave a brief report on coffee futures and expectations for the coming year. This report was often dubbed comedy relief, since the phrases "frost in Brazil" or "drought in Ethiopia" would undoubtedly be included in any calculation of future cost. Roberta gave the report with a straight face despite the heckling from the audience. She took it all in good humor.

We took the morning break at that point and I sought out Rob Johansson as requested.

"Dave tells me you might have a production management candidate. Can you fill me in?"

"Reluctantly, I do. I don't want to lose this one, but I know I won't have an opportunity for advancement for some time."

"Who is it? Do I know him?" I asked.

"Mel Cooper," he said with a slight smile.

"Mel Cooper," I said, trying to dredge up who he might be referring to. "Fill me in."

"He's our senior supervisor and has all the tools for the job."

"Oh, shit, I remember him. He damn near sat on my shoulder when we were putting in the new equipment five years ago. He's that good?"

He nodded. "He's that good. I've known for a while I was going to lose him, but I've been trying to delay the inevitable. Knowing you, he would be a good fit."

"Do you think he would move? Seattle isn't Boise."

"I guess you won't know until you talk to him, but ... he's just gone through a divorce and I think a fresh start might be just the tonic he needs."

"Well, I guess then I'll formally ask you for permission to approach him and interview him," I said.

"Permission granted," he smiled. "Good luck. Dave tells me you've been operating by committee, so I assume you'd want him ASAP if he's what you're looking for."

"Yes. I need to take the pressure off that committee and get some leadership on the plant floor. Sooner is definitely better."

We parted as Dave called the meeting back to order and asked me to give my presentation. There wasn't anything startlingly new this year. The continued growth of the pod market in Keurig and Tassimo had yet to peak and production capacity was being stretched to keep up. East Bay, our supplier, was putting in an additional line to cope and that would alleviate the tight delivery schedules. In addition, more and more private label product was showing up and that was to our advantage. It was a ridiculously expensive way to buy coffee, but it was convenient and had caught on despite the cost.

We broke for lunch and found a table with Maria and Tannis together. They welcomed Jan and Sue, then decided they could tolerate having me there as well. I faked a move to another table that caused them to break out in laughter. I had worked with both these women and knew them to be high performance employees. I made sure they knew that I held Sue and Jan in the same category.

I was proud of the number of women that I had helped in developing at Black Gold. Most of them were already there, just waiting for an opportunity. When I spotted talent, I let their supervisors know and I let Head Office know as well. Not all the talent was single, but in Lynnwood that seemed to be the case. With Rita, we had five single, middle-aged women in important positions. From all appearances, I seemed to have a bias.