St Hubert

"For children, separation is hardly easy. The atmosphere of boarding schools seems quite strict compared to that of home. So they always look forward to Sundays, which are either visiting days or parlour days, depending on the case, with impatience. Certainly, the Légers are sometimes too busy to spend the day with their offspring. No matter, they are never far away. When they come to Saint-Hubert street, Claire and Jean-Pierre do puzzles and watch NFB films on television. Fortunately, in the summer, they spend wonderful holidays at their grandparents’ on Île Perrot. As they get older, they start attending cultural events: shows, exhibitions, museums. The Légers never refuse them any opportunity to enrich themselves intellectually. There are also ski weekends at Mount Sutton. Nothing lavish about these getaways. Claire makes sandwiches and takes her little brother down the slopes. Hotelier friends offer discounted lodging to the two teenagers. Never any pocket money or reckless spending. Even when their business prospers, the Légers prefer to let their children fend for themselves. Just because our parents own a rotisserie doesn’t mean we should have everything handed to us!"

"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 new employee does not know it yet, but his hiring coincides with a strong growth spurt for the company. He will soon experience it very concretely. One fine morning, the staff is greeted by a dreadful crash: the Légers have just rented the neighboring building to expand their premises. The walls vibrate under the blows of sledgehammers, to the point that sometimes you have to hold the dishes so they don’t fall off the shelves. This cataclysmic atmosphere hardly bothers the older employees. They are used to it. It’s already the second time in five years that the rotisserie has been renovated and reorganized. The St-Hubert spirit is also a bit like that: a kind of state of permanent revolution."

"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."

"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.”"

"The study also highlights promising but largely under-exploited activities. For example, catering and counter services prove to be the most profitable operations, but strangely, they seem to have been somewhat neglected. For instance, the counters are not always very accessible or functional; as for the buffets, they are little publicized, remain unknown to the general public, and their operations are poorly defined. Here too, a change of direction is necessary. From now on, the buffet and counter services will be the new “locomotives” of the company. Much less emphasis will be put on delivery, whose operating costs have soared, notably due to rising gas prices. The oil crisis spelled the end of the famous yellow ladybugs that were long the company’s emblem."