Happy New Year 2021
26-year-old Ferb finished shoveling the snow and salting the sidewalk in front of the Coffee Shop. He went inside and Gretchen handed him a hot tea. "Do you hope to have many customers today?" Ferb shrugged his shoulders, "I hope to have enough customers every day."
Gretchen checked the inventory and glanced at the orders that were placed over the pick-up app Ferb developed. "We don't have too many people sit in anymore, the to-go orders have become more popular in recent months." Ferb agreed, "I was thinking about applying for a building permit to install a drive-through window."
Gretchen glanced around the main area of the shop, "Where would you put it?" Ferb busied himself preparing orders, "I've not figured that part out."
Ferb was sitting in his office in the back reviewing the quarterly accounting. 'Business is better than I thought.' He got up and went to the front. "Gretchen, what would you say if I suggested we open the shop extra hours and hired a couple more people?"
Gretchen handed the order she prepared to the customer. "Have a great day." She said as they thanked her and left. "Ferb, we can't afford to hire more staff and extend the hours? Are you serious?"
Ferb nodded. "I've finished reviewing the last quarter and we're doing better than anticipated. We could, theoretically, hire three extra staff and remain open an extra six hours every day and we'd still be ahead."
Gretchen pursed her lips at him. "I hardly see you at home anymore. You're either here, or at PF Enterprises with your brother." Ferb sighed, "I'm sorry, love, I've been covering everyone's vacations." Gretchen nodded sadly, "I know, I miss you, that's all. I guess if we can afford to hire an extra person or two, that would lighten your load here."
A couple days later, Gretchen hired two highschool students and one college student to work in the shop. With the shop opening an hour and a half earlier and staying open four hours later into the evenings, she was surprised at the number of extra customers who stopped by.
Gretchen was helping with the afternoon rush when Ferb came in, "We need to place larger orders with the catering company." She informed him. Ferb nodded, "I've been talking with the head of the catering company. They're being evicted from their current location. I'm planning to sign a partnership deal with them, they can upgrade and use our kitchen area and we'll be able to expand our menu to include hot meals."