Beatrice Richard

"But far from crushing the Léger family, the ordeal energized them. To start, it revealed to René the unsuspected strengths of his wife. “It was above all an opportunity for me to discover my wife’s true personality, her courage,” he would later say. “She fully understood the situation I was in and all the troubles that might ensue for our little family. Yet, she never stopped encouraging me, constantly reminding me that it would all end one day…” As a result, the recovering man underwent a deep personal reevaluation."

"First step: enhance the chicken dish to make it even more appealing. On March 22, 1952, the St-Hubert rotisserie serves its coleslaw for the first time, to the great delight of its customers."

"Happiness never comes alone. Now that the dining room of the rotisserie is operating at a furious pace, a new clientele is appearing on the horizon. Some time before the launch of the advertising campaign, René had observed a curious phenomenon. People were calling to have chicken delivered to their homes. “We don’t do delivery,” he would reply, “but if you want some, we’ll bring it to you.” At the time, with the rotisserie in dire straits, it was hard to refuse customers. But the rotisserie owners had no intention of making this service standard, due to insufficient resources. In the meantime, the radio advertisement changed everything. The phone, which had been silent for far too long, is now constantly busy. In the evenings and especially on weekends, a growing number of customers, enticed by the ads, are asking to be served at home."

"The Légers feel too close to people to act otherwise. Are they not from the same background as most of their regular customers? From that small, emerging middle class of the post-war period? Tightly knit, this class then makes up the majority of a francophone Quebec society eager to take off. The Légers share the same values and aspirations: to work hard to improve their condition. This creates invisible but tenacious bonds. Success therefore begins with self-respect and respect for others. From the opening of the rotisserie, its founders adopted the QSP policy (quality, service, cleanliness). Their philosophy is to offer the best at the best possible price. They will never deviate from this. Also, whether in the kitchen or the dining room, protocol is no laughing matter. Nothing that comes back from the dining room, not even an untouched loaf of bread, must be returned to the kitchen, on pain of dismissal. Beware of those who forget, even for a moment."

"The company’s growth also dictates the unification of products and their preparation methods. It is necessary to ensure that customers find the same good taste from one rotisserie to another. To this end, management hires a supervisor responsible for ensuring the application of key principles of quality, service, and cleanliness. This concerns the preparation of the sauce, the choice of chickens, their cooking, and the management style."

"Early in the morning, the pies and coleslaw arrive by truck, directly from the Pont-Viau kitchens where an army of kitchen hands has been working all night at a hellish pace. Everything is stacked on shelves that line the walls from floor to ceiling. By evening, it’s all gone. And it all has to be done again… André Verreault, 16 years old, spends his summer of 1967, and his nights, making heaps of coleslaw with three colleagues specially assigned to the task. Beside them, an army of pastry chefs produces thousands of apple pies and sugar pies. Amazed, the young man and his colleagues discover another way of doing restaurant business: fast food. Thousands of hot meals are served every day between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. But it was with General De Gaulle’s visit to Expo, on July 25, 1967, that the true kickoff occurred. On Labor Day, St-Hubert Bar-B-Q will break all sales records: in one day, 910 chicken spits are served. At five chickens per spit, that makes 18,000 meals… In the process, another restaurant is opened on the La Ronde site, which Jean-Pierre will manage. It will meet with the same success. In a single day, an average of 4,000 chocolate mokas, 4,000 vanilla mokas, 5,600 slices of apple pie, and 4,000 whole chickens are served there."

"It was in this bright context that Claire and Jean-Pierre finally took their places at the head office. Their parents gradually stepped back to make way for their children. They always trusted young people. The same was true for their children. In any case, why would they worry? They were offering them a growing business “on a silver platter.”"

"Without knowing it, René Léger invents a concept of modern dining, ensuring quality on a large scale. The Expo episode proves it: St-Hubert Bar-B-Q serves “real” full meals at the same speed as hamburgers. To save time, chicken is served on aluminum plates with plastic utensils. So, no dishwashing, since everything is thrown away after use. Since frying is prohibited on site to prevent fires, fries are replaced with mashed potatoes, which also allows them to be prepared in advance. Space is saved on the plate by pouring the sauce into a “well” dug in the middle of the mashed potatoes. To speed up service, each employee performs a single task, unlike the protocol in use at other rotisseries where one person is responsible for two or three operations."

"A first profitability study confirms what was already known: prices need to be raised as a matter of urgency. But not just any way. A second analysis pinpoints the problem: at St-Hubert, rotisserie chicken has always been sold at the same price, whether at the counter, in the dining room, or for delivery. This is a costly policy, as the investment differs for each operation. The situation is therefore corrected by adjusting the prices according to the service used: moderate for meals served in the dining room, lower for counter sales, and higher for delivery—the service that turns out to be the most expensive. Of course, this new approach implies a few cuts to the St-Hubert “tradition.” Some are significant! Thus, the president of St-Hubert will have to resign himself to sacrificing one of his “sacred cows”: from now on, delivery will no longer be free."