Nick Stone
speaker
134 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Jan 2025
last heard Jan 2025
Nick Stone’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
And we actually turned it in a way to throw caution against the wind, to do things that we talked about that we knew now we could do it without any fear of consequence. So we went 100% digital. We didn't have order ahead. We didn't have an app to integrate all this technology. We went pro-tech. changed the menu, we changed the way of serving people, the format.
We used to to our advantage and it was so complicated from the people's side because if people can cast their mind and memories back, if we had one of our teammates that was tested positive for COVID, that meant everybody that they had been exposed to then had to go two weeks quarantine. So one person comes in making coffee and they work for three hours.
And then the next day they work with a different person and two of the same. We're talking everyone being knocked out for two weeks. And then we've got to somehow scramble and open the store. And then a lot of people didn't want to work. They didn't want to stand next to other people because they were feared or they had people that had compromised immune systems.
It was completely logical and it was fair and normal. Very, very complicated. But getting through that was one hump
And I think that's what's been even more challenging and at times like really dispiriting has been dealing with our legacy footprint, particularly with coffee shops in office buildings that were the core of the business, the core of the proposition and that are no longer really financially viable. And that has been probably more frustrating. I fully appreciate the benefits of flexible working.
I'm a huge proponent of it. I saw it as a huge issue in banking, why we would get to director level and I was... on the executive leadership team of our bank in Europe and Americas. We were constantly talking about, why aren't we having enough young females coming through at the director level that are ready for executive positions?
A lot of it was because they had gaps of their career where they were having children and they took time out. And the organization kept moving forward and sort of left them behind. There wasn't enough maternity leave. There wasn't enough consideration that, hey, maybe they just work three days a week coming back after their child or what have you.
And I'm a big proponent of it, but it's very, very hard for our business because a lot of the stores really only have what I call material revenues three days a week. And for everything you read in the press about the push to return to work and corporates demanding it, I have not seen a significant change in the last couple of years. And I do think that what we're dealing with
there's some permanency to it and this is the way it's going to be. And that's hard. You know, at times you think I've built so many stores like this and they don't really work how we anticipated or how the feasibility was meant to work.
But it's inspiring. It's inspiring at the same time. You know, like you can focus on all the negatives and the challenges, but we're serving 80,000 people and making a difference. And like, For as many hard stories I have, I have stories where people come tell me and say, you know what, I am so grateful at Bluestone Lane. I had the worst morning. I didn't sleep a wink.
My baby was up and I was just so looking forward to walking in here at five past seven in the morning and seeing a friendly face, seeing some people, new people, adults, and then listening to music and grabbing a great coffee. I just want to tell you what you do is essential to my world and my community. And then you're like, okay, all the challenges, wow, it's pretty cool.
I'm really, really proud that I don't think we've compromised our company values or our product to chase potentially more lucrative outcomes. I haven't compromised on the importance of service and human connection. Like we could use automated coffee machines which reduced the skill of the barista. There's a lot of brands out there. There's one that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars.
They use an automated machine. They don't focus really on experience. They focus on convenience and getting product to people. that exists and that's very successful in the US. Like drive-thrus are very successful in the US. Having pre-made food, have commissary made food that comes in and it doesn't have the integrity of ingredients or quality.
I could definitely add more sugar and more syrups and, I take shortcuts on beverages and really reduce the health components. So for me, I'm really proud that I've stuck to my guns. Yeah, we've had some LTOs. Are we like absolutely pure saints? No, we're not. We're practical.
We know what our consumers want, but I'm not prepared to be a candy store wrapped up with a coffee logo, which so many of them are. And I'm not prepared to just be a window which just shovels out product for convenience. I want to create community. I want places where we have locals, not customers, because ultimately that is what I'm looking for.
And whether that scales, whether that reaches the economic potential that it should, or whether it makes as much money as it's necessary to be a public listed company and take on the world, I'm not sure. I don't know. It's really up to whether people value it or not.
I think there's enough people out there that do, but I do think there's a huge way to go to educate and just to remind people that this is just not like a junk coffee. This is not just a poor quality bean, poor quality milk, poor quality packaging, environment, service, music, cleanliness, food. there's a really lot of heart and thought in this. And yeah, it might be 50 cents more expensive.
It might be 25 cents more expensive. It might be a dollar, but look at the whole value you get at Bluestone Lane versus some of the others. And that can be a contrarian thought. And people might say like, Nick, you are a capitalist and a free market person. Yes, I am.
But there's a point in time where I think that you got to recognize that some people are providing more value and it's well beyond just the price you're paying. So that's the thing I'm most proud of. Yeah.
I've got one other thing that's in my mind that I'm just thinking about a fraction longer because, Alana, I did not read any of the pre-questions. I just want you to know this is a completely broad number.
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