Official Publication of the Employees of the Krystal Company

Krystal replaces BK in Knoxville

he Krystal that opened quietly in west ^ TKnoxville on the morning of April 5 has a hidden identity. Under the white porcelain tiles and red stripes is the shell of a restau­ rant, one of several recently closed in Knoxville. Located on the west expressway, it seemed to senior area manager Lee Mclntire an ideal spot for a Krystal. Lee said, "When I took over this district 20 months ago, I had 13 res­ taurants, but I The new seating could drive package makes the dining room through the city bright and spa­ and never know cious. that Krystal was here." It became his goal to build a Krystal on one of the expressways. The Burger King building and land were purchased inexpensively on February 22, and an hour later construction

Continued on page 3 Outside view of the new Krystal under construction. fr New staff Promotions Rick Murrell has been Joyce Gianato has jriji promoted to area manager in joined the franchise Memphis West. development depart­ : Rick joined Krystal in ment as franchise < - 1 January of 1991. As restaurant secretary. manager of Augusta 6, he Joyce comes to became a member of the 85 Krystal with experience club and attained training as a legal assistant and restaurant certification. Later, he was promoted to as an administrative e assistant and office rffl Jl I ^ ^ training manager. Before manager. She holds a degree in business from coming to Krystal, he was in Marshall University and has done graduate work in management at Church's Fried Chicken. business and management. Rick has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University In her spare time, Joyce enjoys photography. An of Arkansas, and he spent seven years as a communica­ accomplished photographer, she has received signifi­ tions officer in the U.S. Army. cant recognition for her works.

George Gordon has been promoted to field trainer in (district south VII). Formerly the manager of Jacksonville 5, George has been with the company for one year. After he became manager, theKrvstai•T* — Jyym JAX-5 was certified as a training restaurant. In addition to making more than a million dollars in sales last year, The Krystal Gazer is published by the Krystal Company for George achieved membership all employees of the Company. Please address all corre­ in the 85 Club. spondence to The Krystal Gazer, Training Department, The Krystal Building, One Union Square, Chattanooga, TN 37402. Albert Thomas has been Susan Thomas Editor promoted to field training Beth Hicks Typesetting manager in Jacksonville (district south III). Albert has been with the company since In This Issue ... 1991. As an assistant restaurant New company-owned Krystal in Knoxville 1 manager, he was part of the Summer fun bucks 4 management team that certi­ Learning a new way to cook Krystals 5 fied Macon 7. He was pro­ Around Krystal 6 moted to manager of that High-tech Krystal patty processing 8 restaurant last October. The Shoppers thank 10 Before coming to Krystal, Albert was an area manager Letters 11 with Wendy's, and was owner/operator of a Wendy's Health briefs 12 franchise in Tuskegee, . l|llill|lilSlPlilIlll}; •"''! ..• > i: ';»-•: '.•'>- h iiA-:- >y fisiplii

The old Burger King unit, before conver­ sion.

started. With crews working seven days a week, the conver­ of Knoxville. "With an 80-foot sign that we were able to put sion took 42 days from start to finish. up, people coming from all over the United States on the "We had to get through a tornado and the storm of the expressway will be able to discover the Krystal name and century, but the crew of Venture Construction did an our heritage product," Bill said. extremely good job and worked very closely with opera­ The giant Krystal has 40 percent more room in the kitchen tions," said Bill Chaff, director of construction. area than in other restaurants. With 82 seats in the dining Workers plowed through a four-foot snowdrift at one room and another 26 seats in a landscaped plaza outside, point to get inside the building. more than 110 people can eat there comfortably. "We built a new building around an old structure, and The old Burger King playground was turned into a made it new and fresh," he said. The restaurant received an courtyard with umbrella tables and plants, and Lee donated entirely new exterior and kitchen. the playground equipment to a local Presbyterian church. The new Krystal is located in Farragut, a small town west The restaurant is equipped with the new station, and everything is mobile for easy cleaning. Unlike most Krystals, which have an outside freezer or storage unit, there's room for everything inside. "Anybody who runs one of our Krystals won't want to come here," Lee says. "There is so much space, restaurant managers of other Krystals won't be satisfied with what they have." The trainees brushed up their cooking and serving skills on the Saturday before opening. "On Family Day, employ­ ees and their families were able to have a meal on us," Lee said, "It gave them a chance to practice on real customers." Knoxville 12 is the first company-owned full-service restaurant to open since January 1990.

Knoxville 12 employees get ready for their first customers. Couponbooks feature "Summer fun bucks //

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J_ n May, we will offer our customers Summer We will be handing out the coupon books from May 3 couponbooks containing "fun bucks" for savings at three until May 30, or as long as supplies last. hot summer attractions in — Sea World, Busch Gardens, and Cypress Gardens. "Bob" will promote the summer coupons on TV and radio with his friend, Shamu, the Killer Whale. Sea World is a popular marine life park, probably best known for its marine mammal shows, starring Shamu, the whale; dolphins and sea lions. Busch Gardens theme park has a variety of attractions, including one of the world's premier zoos, with 3,400 animals. The park re-creates turn of the century Africa with Shamu and friends the Myombe Reserve. This new attraction is the domain of play at Sea World. lowland gorillas and chimpanzees. And the southeast's largest and fastest steel roller coaster, "Kumba", opens this spring. Cypress Gardens is best-known for its botanical gardens, spectacular water-ski revues, and Old South flavor. Gar­ dens burst with 8,000 varieties of flowers and plants from 75 countries. The Summer couponbooks will also carry coupons for discounts at Turtles Records and Tapes, and for Krystal combo meals and chili pups. A new way to cook Krystals Q

\_ here's only one way to cook a Krystal, right? Not anymore. A new type of Krystal grill has been developed, which takes out the guesswork by timing all the steps electroni­ cally. "We changed the old grill because we wanted to speed the cooking process, improve the consistency and quality of the cooked Krystals, and make the training a little easier for new grill operators," said Jimmy Biddle, product development manager. "We've been cooking Krystals the same way for the last 30 years," he said. "The equipment had not changed. You turn on the heat, add , salt & pepper. Turn the patties, cap with buns, and so forth. We still follow those steps, but on this grill, a new opera­ tor can't make many errors," he said. Grill operators at four restaurants are trying out the new grills. With the flip of a switch, you turn on the grill to preheat. The display light tells you when it's ready to cook. The Darrell turns the patties when prompted by the beep. heat goes on automatically, and the grill beeps to tell the operator when to turn the patties, put on the lid, and start serving the Krystals. does a better job of keeping the Krystals at a constant "The new grill produces top-quality Krystals, which stay temperature. The holding time improves service and fresh for 45 minutes," says Peter Graham, manager of reduces discards. Chattanooga 7. "There's nothing I don't like about this grill," Peter said. One reason for the long holding time is a new steam lid "You don't have to turn the eggs when making Sunrisers, without holes, which fits more completely over the grill. It and the quality of the Sunrisers is perfect." Thanks to better temperature control, the eggs don't stick to the pockets, and they are always solid white. Being made of stainless steel, the new grills won't rust. There's no need to scrub off carbon deposits, so less clean­ ing and maintenance are needed. Peter thinks that Krystals cooked on the new grills taste better, too. "We should get the same quality of Krystal no matter who is doing the cooking— a veteran operator or a new person," he said. £s^rv^ Although they are some 15 pounds lighter than the old ones, the grills are solidly built— like Sherman tanks, according to Paul Frankenberg, VP of product development. "When archaeologists dig up Krystal restaurants thousands of years from now, they may still find these grills in perfect condition," he said. After the pilot test is completed, the new grills will be installed in about 20 more restaurants. A display light tells him when to lay patties on the grill. Kyle Petty delights autograph hounds

A pint-sized fan gets an autograph from Kyle Petty at Chattanooga #10. Kyle is a NASCAR race driver and spokesman for Mello Yello.

Holly Castle, from the #10 crew, didn't pass up the chance to get her picture taken with Kyle.

Top balloon sellers

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Macon 6 broke records for lunch on March 6, dinner on March 13, and the day on March Manager Betty Freeman, Murfreesboro 1, awarded $20 to Marilyn Kimbro and $25 to Daphne Ervin for selling 13. David Martin is the manager. a total of 525 balloons to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. Columbus 6 and Macon 4 broke dinner sales records on March 13.

Phenix City 1 broke its breakfast sales Heads to Krystal record on March 12 and March 27. Henry Kelley manages the restaurant. Pat Williams, who works Columbus 1 had a record-breaking break­ in the computer room, fast on March 27. George Williamson is the attended a church ban­ manager. quet recently, where the men were asked to wear hats related to their jobs. Columbus 4 had a record-breaking break­ Pat invented this Krys­ fast on April 2. Hazel Jolly is the manager. tal hat, topped with a burger and fringed with ketchup packs. (f =^\ Krystals warm up Crew corner: motorists stranded in Raymond Clark ^3 blizzard Because he (a letter from Chatt. News-Free Press) knows what it's like to struggle "Sharing Coffee and Krystals" with a handicap, Raymond Clark Unable to get to his own job site on Monday, David believes in helping Dwyer delivered his wife and her supervisor to work at the disabled the News-Free Press. Wishing to make good use of his children in his time, he made a pot of coffee, community- went to the Krystal restaurant Ray, a custodian on Brainerd Road and bought at Warner Robins 2, actively looks for ways to help $10 worth of , families with handicapped children. At Christmas, he asked for coffee cups (which donated gifts to a family who adopted children with the restaurant staff gladly Down's syndrome. donated) and headed to 1-24. Last month, he chipped in to purchase a school play­ He parked off South Terrace ground for handicapped children, and offered to help put and walked down into the sea up the playground equipment. of stranded motorists and He has been a volunteer for many causes, including the began to offer food and coffee Special Olympics, the Very Special Arts Summer Pro­ to those in need. People were very grateful and took only gram at the Cerebral Palsy Center in Macon, and the what they needed. He was asked to share one Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. "It made me feel so happy with a driver's pet dog, and dog-lover/owner that he is, to give something to these special children," he says. he was more than willing to feed the hungry fellow. Danny Traweek, area manager in Warner Robins, says Raymond "is an exceptional kid who tries to help out Heather Dwyer other people." Krystal Day at Six Flags [OVER "The World 01 Fun, Not A World *rayr The Krystal Home Office Employees Association is "SIX FLAGS DAY" ORDER FORM sponsoring a "Krystal Day" at Six Flags Over Georgia Saturday, July 17. Name A $20 ticket gets you free parking, admission to the park and a delicious all-you-can-eat meal of Grilled Chicken with Restaurant all of the trimmings. This day could cost as much as $50 if you paid regular price! # of tickets x $20.00 = All Krystal employees and friends are invited to attend. The deadline for purchasing tickets is June 30. Please send # of parking passes needed check or money orders to Debbie Hamilton in the Account­ ing Department. PLEASE RETURN WITH CHECK OR MONEY Tickets, meal passes and parking passes are only good for ORDER TO DEBBIE HAMILTON BY JUNE 30. July 17. Krystal patty line goes high-tech

rystal is investing over $750,000 in a new process to around the K manufacture its most important product— the Krystal world, the patty. We are testing and approving a new high-speed, automated automated processing line system at Design Foods in Ft. inspection and Worth, . stacking equip­ "We started thinking about creating a new processing line ment were back in '89, when we realized that the old system wouldn't designed, be able to keep up with our growing demand," said Frank fabricated, and Ferko, quality assurance manager. assembled. For every new restaurant that opens, the demand for The line is patties will grow by an additional 50,000 pounds a year. under final Patties are wrapped a little differently • in That, coupled with the fact that the wrapping equipment development and four flat stacks of six. and slicers were 20 to 30 years old and worn out, meant testing now. "It there was a need for new equipment. will be at least summer before all the kinks are out," Frank "Only a few plants in the United States are equipped to said, "but some restaurants may see the new packaging make the unique Krystal beef patty," Frank said. late in May." After a new sheer was chosen from dozens evaluated Instead of the wrapped log of 24 patties stacked on end,

Krystal People

Bobby Clowers, Cleveland-1 custodian, re­ Pearl Ford, assistant manager at Macon 3, Mary Sommers and Janice Ben recently ceives his five-year pin from Brent Whaley, accepts her five-year award from Richard received five-year service awards from Rob­ area manager. Azbell, area manager. ert Emberton, AM. They are both assistant managers at Nashville 13.

Florence Holley re­ Carla Hageman ceives a hospitality (right), property pin for her excellent supervisor, re­ score on a Pride ceives a silvertea Shop. With her are service from Ruth McKee, man­ manager Sammy ager at Millington-1, Smith for 10 and Andy Grierson, years of service. AM. the new machine stacks the patties in four flat stacks of six patties and then wraps them. "With an easy-open tear strip, you can take six or twelve patties out of the pack and then put the rest back in the freezer," he said. The patties are inspected, counted, stacked and packaged all by machine, instead of by hand, as previously. The new line moves at more than twice the current production rate, and only half as many people are needed to operate it. With the old system, workers inspected and counted the patties by hand. Now an electronic sensor does the in­ specting. But the main advantage of the new system is a guaranteed count of 24 patties in each package. "The company is investing a lot of money to support growth and find more efficient ways of doing things," Frank says. "After all, the Krystal is the most important product for us."

Paul Frankenb erg (center), inspects the new four-lane patty spreader, which transports 450 slices per minute in each lane. The assembly line is designed to produce 5,000 pounds of wrapped patties in an hour.

Krystal People

Ken Latta accepts his five- year award, a pen and pen­ cil set, from Dave Rusk, director of training and communications. Ken is the manager of manage­ ment development.

Judy Mullins, shift leader at Huntsville 5, celebrates 20 years with the Krystal Company. At a surprise party in her honor, she re­ ceived a cake and a watch from Tommy Hogue, area manager. Billie Nation, area manager in Tuscaloosa, receives her five-year award from Nicky Barbee, district manager. Pride Shoppers thank....

P? Augusta 2 staff for "a high Cora at Daytona 1: "Every aspect of the visit was out­ degree of teamwork. The line standing." moved at a steady clip." Sharon at Jacksonville 12: "Thank you for the nearly Tom at Daytona 2: "Just a perfect visit on Friday. The service was fast and friendly. note telling you how much I You showed great professionalism." appreciated your friendly, attentive service. You Karen at Atlanta 31: "You showed concern for guests and made me and the other custom­ appeared to be enjoying your work. Thank management ers feel at home. Thank you for a pleasant and production for the clean restaurant and excellent food." experience. James at Marietta 4 for "your extra effort and positive Atlanta 6 staff: "Your positive attitude and teamwork attitude that left me with a good impression of my Krystal made a difference." experience."

Columbia, TN staff: "Congratulations. Your hard work is Joniel at Orlando 4: "I was impressed by your profes­ really paying off." sional manner in spite of having to do so many tasks by yourself." Mike at Chattanooga 13: "Thank you for the excellent service you gave me on Feb. 11. Your professionalism and Ben at Chattanooga 7: "Your pleasant attitude made the friendliness were very impressive." difference. Keep up the great work."

Dalton 2 for "excellent service that keeps people coming back." Krystal People

Andy Grierson presents Sherry Blackal00% Atlanta 16 is awarded the Krystal Kreed hospitality pin for scor ing excellent on the plaque. From left: David Groves, DM; hospitality portion of a Pride Shop at Cassandra Hall, SL; Vernon Flynn, ARM; Millington. Ed Nugent, RM; Roni Holmes and Kanchan Sagar, SLs; and Jerry Scott, RVP. The McMinnville 1 team display their Pride Shop award. They've had 24 perfect scores over the past four years. Lisa Williams is the manager; Diania Basham, assistant manager.

10 Mailbag

On December 28, my fiancee and I were visiting Savannah. We went through the Savannah 3 drive- thru and placed our order. We paid with a 20-dollar bill and were due $12 in change. A few miles down the road, we realized we did not receive our change. We returned to the restau­ rant and were treated most courteously by the staff. Krystal manager, Ms. Julia Bourne, the manager, asked us to wait while she counted the register money. We were offered a snack, as our Krystals were cold by this I can never ride by your Krystal (Cordele 1) time. Ms. Bourne gave us our change and replaced without stopping. I am always so impressed by our order. the cleanliness of this facility and the attention We realize that mistakes do happen that occasion­ to every detail. ally inconvenience the customer. These problems I am most impressed with friendly, courte­ can become positive experiences with such efficient ous, and competent personnel. They look so and friendly service. We would like to commend nice and seem so well-trained. Being a business­ Ms. Bourne and her crew. They were polite and man, I know that things like this do not just eager to be of service. happen. Thanks for a job well done. Krystal is our favorite , and we'll fre­ quent Savannah 3 after we move to this town! Jere Underwood Macon, GA Sincerely,

Shelly Sikes Jacksonville

Krystal People

Tony Beech receives his five-year award from Edna Tipton, man­ Bruce Bloom (center), vice president of development, receives his ager of Fayetteville 1, and Tommy Hogue, AM. one-year service award from chairman Carl Long and president Rody Davenport IV.

11 40 rules for a successful and happy life

33. Smile more. 34. Pat people on the back. 35. Don't worry. 36. Be happy. 37. Giggle. 38. Don't sweat the small stuff. 39. It's all small stuff. 40. Just do it! Source: The Hope Heart Institute =\ Highest Pride Shops (first quarter averages) Full-service Krystals Be cheerful. Montgomery 1 97.0 Be loyal. Bowling Green 1 96.8 Be brave. Oak Ridge 1 96.0 Shine your shoes. Warner Robins 2 95.8 Count your blessings. Marietta 15 95.4 Don't be mean. Don't be rude. Kwiks Don't cut in line. Athens 1 100.8 Be happy for the success of others, even if they don't Murfreesboro 1 98.2 deserve it. McMinnville 1 97.8 Newport 1 96.6 10. Don't waste your time with complainers and whiners. Chattanooga 13 95.6 11. And if you're the one who's whining— please quit. You're driving the rest of us crazy. 12. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Highest area average: Bowling Green 92.9 13. Be smart. Highest district average: N-III (Knoxville) 87.6 14. Be strong. 15. Be nimble. 16. Be quick. Best speed of service 17. If somebody needs your help— help. 18. Don't be afraid to express your feelings. (first quarter averages) 19. Don't ever give up your dreams. Full service • Drive-Thru 20. Stop waiting for the right time. Ringgold 1 31 seconds 21. Go for it. Dalton 2 31 seconds 22. Be good to older people and kids. Dalton 1 32 seconds 23. Be good to dogs. 24. Be good to all living things. Full-service Inside 25. Tell the truth. Chattanooga 11 27 seconds 26. Be dependable. Tuscaloosa 2 33 seconds 27. Know that on a scale of one to ten— you're a 10. Nashville 13 37 seconds 28. Now act like one. 29. Remember that you're just as good as anybody else. Kwiks 30. And not one bit better than anybody else. Millington 1 35 seconds 31. Lighten up. Chattanooga 13 45 seconds 32. Things aren't that bad. Athens 1 47 seconds ^ J 12