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ESSAY우리 동네 중국집, 그 반전의 혁신Our local Chinese restaurant, the unexpected innovation
16 May. 2019
2018년 5월 16일
자르겠다고 마음 먹으면 바로 잘라야 해서, 예약해야 하는 미용실은 못 가고 주부들 저녁준비 시간인 퇴근길에 가면 바로 자를 수 있는, 집에서 가장 가까운 만원짜리 미용실에 이발하러 갔더니 원장님 하는 말, “요 옆 중국집이 문 닫게 생겼어요.”
우리 아들도 시켜먹는 그 중국집은 장사가 꽤 잘 되는 편이었단다. 그런데, 시급이 올라가면서 주방장 월급 280만원, 배달원 250만원 주고 나면 주인이 그보다 못하게 가져가게 되어서 도저히 더 이상은 버틸 수 없어 주방장에게 그 가게를 인계시켰다는 것이었다. 원래의 주인이 없어진 것 말고 달라진 것 없을 것 같던 중국집이건만, 전화받고 서빙도 하고 바쁠 때는 탕수육도 튀기고 때로는 오토바이도 타던 그 주인이 없으니, 주인이 된 주방장이 요리 하다 말고 전화받고 전화받다 요리 밀리고 요리 밀리니 항의전화가 오고 불은 면발 배달 가니 또 항의전화가 오고... 주인이 된 주방장이 그만, 점심장사 하다 말고 문 닫고 들어가버렸단다.
혼자 해도 잘 돌아가는 미용실 원장님이 장땡이라 하니, 하시는 말씀, “왜 직원 안 쓰고 혼자 힘들게 다 하냐고 가끔 묻는 손님들 때문에 속 터져요!”
2019년 5월 16일
오늘 미용실 갔더니, 원장님 하시는 말씀이, 주방장 사장님이 그 중국집을 배달원에게 넘기고 또 그만두었단다. 그래도 1년은 버텼다. 사장님이 된 젊은 배달원이 가장 먼저 한 것은 배달 지역 넓히기. 배달은 시간이 관건인데, 신호대기가 없는 뒷길 등으로 빨리 달릴 수 있는 지역에서 최대한 넓혔다고. 그리고 사람들이 일회용 그릇을 싫어하는 것을 간파, 예전의 그릇 회수 방법으로 돌아갔단다. 많이 주문하면 서비스도 팍팍 내보내고, 그래서 돌아온 결과는 40퍼센트 매출 증가. 4명이 하던 가게가 6명으로 늘었고, 복지 차원에서 한 달에 회식도 두번씩 하고, 이 미용실에서 머리를 자르면 이발비도 회사가 내준다. 예전에는 서로 그냥 형, 동생 했다면 이제는 대리, 과장, 차장 등 직급으로 부르며 사기를 진작시킨다. 머리 자르는 동안 시끄러운 젊은 소리가 간간이 들리는데, 그 중국집 소리란다. (사장님 바뀌기 전에는 조용했다고...) 혁신은 멀리 있지 않다.
(페이스북에 올린 글을 옮기는데, 신기하게도 두 글이 연도만 다르고 날짜가 정확히 같다!)
May 16, 2018
If I decide to cut my hair, I have to cut it right away, so I can't go to a hair salon where I have to make a reservation. There is a hair salon that costs 10,000 won for a haircut closest to my house, and since it is the time for housewives to prepare for dinner, I can get a haircut right away without a reservation after work. I went there and the hair designer said, "The Chinese restaurant next door seems to be closing.”
If I decide to cut my hair, I have to cut it right away, so I can't go to a hair salon where I have to make a reservation. There is a hair salon that costs 10,000 won for a haircut closest to my house, and since it is the time for housewives to prepare for dinner, I can get a haircut right away without a reservation after work. I went there and the hair designer said, "The Chinese restaurant next door seems to be closing.”
The Chinese restaurant where my son also ordered delivery at home was a pretty good business. However, as the hourly wage went up, after giving the chef 2.8 million won per month and the delivery man 2.5 million won, the owner took less than that, so he couldn't stand it any longer and let the chef take over the restaurant. It's a Chinese restaurant that didn't seem to have changed except for the fact that the original owner was gone, but the previous owner had answered the phone, served the hall, fried when the kitchen was busy, and sometimes delivered by motorcycle, but now the owner was gone. The chef, who has now become the owner, received a call while cooking, and the cooking was delayed because he was answering the phone. When the cooking was delayed, a complaint call came, and when the dish was delivered while it was cold, another complaint call came. In the end, the chef who became the owner closed the door while serving lunch and went home.
When I told the hair designer that a hair salon where you can do it alone is the best, she replied, "It's frustrating when customers sometimes ask me why I work so hard alone without staff."
May 16, 2019
I went to the hair salon today, and the hair designer said, "The owner chef maintained the Chinese restaurant for a year and eventually gave it over to a delivery man and quit."
The first thing the young delivery man who became the owner did was to expand the delivery area. Because delivery was time-critical, he widened the delivery area as much as possible within an area where he could run fast on back roads with no crosswalks where he had to wait for a traffic light. And knowing that people hate disposable bowls, he went back to the old method of delivering regular bowls and collecting empty ones. When large orders came in, extra food was also sent along with them for free.
The result was a 40 percent increase in sales. The restaurant, which used to be run by 4 people, has grown to 6 people. They ate out together twice a month for employee welfare, and when employees got their hair cut at this hair salon, the owner paid for the haircut. In the past, if they just called each other by name, now they called each other by titles such as assistant manager, manager, and deputy manager, creating an atmosphere of the company.
While I was getting my hair cut, I heard a loud, young sound from time to time, and it sounded like the noise from that Chinese restaurant. (It was quiet before the change of the owner of the Chinese restaurant...) Innovation was not far away.
(While moving two separate posts on Facebook together here, I accidentally discovered that they are the exact same date, only in different years!)
- 김선경 (Kim, Sun Kyung)