Red Bank Krystal

[cadillacdude1975]

adios. boarded up. shut down. out of business. ciao.

chattanoogan.com/articles/article_170079.asp
chattanoogan.com/articles/article_170080.asp

[JC]

Ahh.... they had two anyway.

Has RB ever had two of anything?

[Conservator]

A sad day in Red Bank history.

[Deleted]

I hope they take care of Jennifer, a LONG-time employee. Good kid.

[LimitedRecourse]

Just before a town booms, it contracts....

[cadillacdude1975]

Jennifer Bolton is her name. she has been at that store for 22 years. most of those employees went to east 23rd and signal mountain road. seeing how jennifer lives in the middle of dead bank, im sure she is at the sig mtn road store. i will find out.

i talked to my inside person last night and the reason it was closed was pretty simple. before corridor J was opened, that store used to have the volume of Hixson. back then, that was about 25 grand a week. when i was the assistant there, it was doing about 15 to 17k a week. recently, it had dropped to 10k a week, 11 on a good one. and well, that is just not enough to float inventory and payroll and maintenance on one of the oldest buildings in the krystal chain.

it was running with no general store manager, so they knew it was dying. i was offered that store in 2005 and turned it down as i knew what was going to happen. i could stand in the parking lot each morning and look south down dayton blvd, and i saw all that traffic going up ashland terrace. the mistake krystal made was refitting that old store, when they should have acquired the vacant lot on morrison springs road on the left side right after you go under the freeway.

anyone ever seen the business that hardees does in the mornings? it is insane. demographics is a huge part of operating a successful business, no matter what one sells. and this is a sad lesson they have learned.

the people of big ridge have been screaming for a krystal for 10 years. and they wont put one there. on another note, there is a new one opening on amnicola highway in june. it will be identical to the new brainerd road store, with the car hops and all that jazz.

[Jethro]

Oh man, just had a flashback from the 4am college days.

[cadillacdude1975]

from the alcohol or the gut wrenching brought on from krystals? lol

[Jethro]

Mar 2, 2010 14:52:08 GMT -5 cadillacdude1975 said:

from the alcohol or the gut wrenching brought on from krystals? lol

You can't have one without the other! But I wouldn't be out till 4am unless I was assisting in draining a keg.

[Bryan Stone]

after 1a Krystal has drunkass drug pocessioned patrons.

but hey. everybody's got to eat. if they got the cash

[goomba]

ah, I remember that store well! talk about late night shenanigans!
& they should have moved near Hardee's. I used to cook the breakfast at hardee's, talk about busy!

[gridbug]

Bad location. How are people supposed to afford Krystals after the inevitable tickets everyone gets driving down Dayton Blvd?

[cadillacdude1975]

i fail to see why everyone is complaining about the cameras. i have been through dead bank on almost a daily basis since the cameras were installed, and not one time have i ever gotten a ticket.

anyway, that is a debate for another thread, not this one.

[tmac11]

The Red Bank store has been in bad shape for quite some time. The GM was moved to Cherokee Blvd so look for all the good things that were starting there to go down hill soon enough. The inside word was to open up 5 new stores around Chatt within the next year but many are planned to close. The company is planning to double in size over the next 10 years. It's much cheaper to build new and relocate then renovate especially with the Chatt area changing so much. A great example is Red Bank vs Hixson. Hixson does sometimes 35 to 45 k a week versus 10 in Red Bank. Newest stores are planned for Broad St where the car dealership was. E Brainerd Rd near the Bi-Lo, Amnicola Hwy, Soddy Daisy, & not sure about the last one. It was still up in the air at last word. The company needs some restructuring and really needs some talent. The GM at Cherokee was always there sometimes working 100 hours because he had no manager support. I used to hate going there but because I work at VIP gift right down the street I started going back. Unfortunately I heard he left from mistreatment. I guess it's time to start bringing lunch from home...Anyway these problems should be fixed before any expansions take place.

[cadillacdude1975]

he? are you talking about Mr. Ed, the older black man? he has been gone for almost 5 years. he had a lawsuit over something and he came in to a large amount of money and said adios.

and hixson isnt anywhere near 40k a week now. she (Yvonne) is doing good to crack 30 now. booger king built that new store across the street and its put a dent in her morning sales.

[Police Moderator]

I answered an "Assist Medical" call there 20+ years ago. Seems an employee was tasked to clean the vent above the deep fryers and he took a short cut and stood on the top of them straddling the still "On" cookers.

His foot slipped and into the fryer his foot went. I wouldn't wish that pain on my worst enemy (Well maybe one or two of them). I always wondered what happened to that dude, but I would wager a court settlement was made.

I couldn't eat there for a week or two, until I was sure they had changed the oil in that particular cooking unit.

[cadillacdude1975]

i saw one of the teenagers one night playing around and not paying attention to what she as doing. she dropped a basket of fries, and i mean literally dropped them in the fryer. shew didnt have a good grip on the handle, and the entire basket fell into the fryer and splashed her hand. the grease got the top of her hand and left one hell of a blister. one of the nastiest 3rd degree burns i have seen. to this day, the top of her hand has the texture of freddy kruger's face.

lesson learned for her sadly. she avoids fryers at all costs now. i cant say i blame her. but it goes back to screwing around and not paying attention and that is what got her injured.

[tmac11]

No he was a younger guy. I think his name was Rick or Richard. I'm not sure but he really cleaned the place up and the people they had were really dedicated and caring. Mr Ed works at Rossville Blvd. Wish I knew where he worked now!

[Dragonlily]

Everytime I went to the RB Krystals over the last few months the food quality and service was awful. On one occasion, they served me fries that were chewy and cold. When I asked for fresh fries I was informed those were fresh fries. I begged to differ and asked for fresh fries. They took the ones i had and dropped them in the fryer to warm them up a little. I cant say much better about other visits there either and I eventually quit going there and would drive to Sig Mtn or Cherokee locations when RB was a mile from my home. I think decline in quality and patronage is why the RB Krystals was doomed.

[JC]

Krystal fries come in two varieties.

One mushy and one stale... both served cold.

[Dragonlily]

So true, and sad too, because when fresh, they have great fries

[cadillacdude1975]

Central Park has the best fries. hands down.

[Jay]

Mar 4, 2010 7:05:41 GMT -5 Police Moderator said:

His foot slipped and into the fryer his foot went. I wouldn't wish that pain on my worst enemy (Well maybe one or two of them).

Ouch!!!!

Mar 4, 2010 11:27:22 GMT -5 cadillacdude1975 said:

to this day, the top of her hand has the texture of freddy kruger's face.

Eeeeek!!!!