One of my consulting clients is a bakery. They had a good-sized bakery and shop in Chicago’s northern suburbs. Their products were very high-end, very artistically decorated, and incredibly tasty. Then they decided to open a very large factory-style facility in southern Wisconsin to bake stuff by the pallet load for large retailers like Whole Foods.
The owners abruptly shut down the business in December, giving no notice to their employees or anybody else. I understand that the company is being sued by the employees who were fired with no advanced warning. I’m sure that there are suppliers and customers lining up at the courthouse as well.
Floyd, the company owner, called me last week for some technical advice. After a bit of chit-chat I mentioned that I had heard about his company going out of business and he replied that he had quite simply gotten in over his head.
I’m somewhat stunned about the whole turn of events and have turned to Cover Freak to work out my feelings about it.
Barb Jungr “Things Have Changed” (Bob Dylan)
Yeah, things have changed. Especially for the employees who showed up for work to find the doors locked. Finding yourself with no livelihood two weeks before Christmas changes things in a hurry.
But things didn’t change abruptly for Floyd. The business expansion he was planning was a large, high-stakes venture. When a project like that has problems you see them far in advance if you’re paying any attention at all. A wise and prudent businessman cuts his losses in such a situation and preserves his core business. Floyd didn’t. He let his business keep hemorrhaging money and didn’t tell anybody until it was too late for anybody to not get screwed by his bad management decisions. I find Floyd’s conduct both sad and appalling.
I’m not a Bob Dylan fan, but every once in a while he comes up with a song that’s just pure brilliance. This is one of those songs. I like the musical arrangement but I find the singing to be a little too “jazzy.” Others might beg to differ.
Hem “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” (Elvis Costello)
I’m sure that everybody that Floyd left holding the bag is disgusted and I can only hope that they eventually try to be amused. There’s also a line in this song about what happens when you go chasing after vengeance. I hope that everybody gets what they’re owed by the company and I hope that Floyd gets what he deserves for screwing so many people. That would be justice, not vengeance.
Hem does a great job slowing this song down and bringing on the mandolin and pedal steel guitar.
The Sodamen “Blink Of An Eye” (The Waco Brothers)
It was all gone in the blink of an eye. The bakery’s web site announced that they were closing “effective immediately.” And that’s the most shocking part. No attempt was made to let people make plans and find another job.
I love the Waco Brothers. They’re a fantastic live band and this punk rock two-step never fails to get the crowd riled up. The Sodamen deliver a competent cover, nothing revelatory but they get the attitude right.
Holly Wilson “In Too Deep” (Genesis)
There’s a saying that when you find yourself in a hole the first thing you should do is stop digging. Floyd got in too deep but he just kept digging, apparently thinking that if he just got all the way down to China everything would be okay. It didn’t quite work out that way.
The original version of this song is one of the most horrible Adult Contemporary songs Genesis ever did. But this bossa nova version almost redeems it.
A Day To Remember “Over My Head” (The Fray)
Floyd’s comment about getting in over his head originally struck me as a bit flip, but on further reflection I at least have to give him credit for being honest. He didn’t try to sugar coat it, he didn’t make excuses, he took responsibility for what happened. It doesn’t make the way he treated the people who depended on him any less awful, but maybe he’s not beyond redemption.
Somehow I managed to be blissfully unaware of The Fray before putting this post together. This version’s way better than the original.
The bakery owner reminds me of a company I worked for that went through a similar situation. The Polish truck driver said it best, “You eat with too big spoon, you choke yourself.” Probably even more apt for a bakery than a carpentry shop.
Matt, I love that line and it sums up the whole mess at the bakery better than I ever could. Thanks for sharing.
Really like the Hem version, glad they didn’t change the gender as it would have lessened the impact. I’m also gonna check out the Sodamen, that was a good one. I couldn’t get through the rest, though. Phil Collins will be with me the rest of the day now, and I never did and still don’t like that (or any other) Fray song. Will I have the courage to listen to the Dylan song? Maybe he’ll KO Genesis.
This is wild. I’ve been reading this blog for years, but I’ve never commented before. I’m pretty sure you’re talking about the bakery that did my wedding cake for me roughly a month before they closed. It was such a hit, decided to browse the website for the phone number and was shocked to see they were closed one day. I just had to share how strange it is that of all the places I would find someone else talking about this, it was here. What a small world.
I’m disappointed to hear the owner was so… callous for lack of a better word.
I’ve long loved your song selections and the way you frame the posts around them.
Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words Ariel. It is amazing how small the world can be sometimes. I didn’t expect any of my readers to be customers of the bakery.
And I think “callous” is a perfect word to describe the owner’s attitude and actions. I wish I had thought of it myself.