KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff4/6/08 - Clean Restrooms

A couple of weeks ago two friends of mine who I regularly have lunch with decided to try a local family style restaurant.  Nothing like a home cooked meal!  The three of us usually hit the restroom first to wash our hands.  I might add that we all go separately after we order. My first friend came back and said the restroom was in terrible shape and told us not to go.  My second friend went anyway and came back shocked.  That's all I needed, I didn't make the trip. 

Usually, when I encounter a bad restroom before receiving any food I walk out.  We didn't this time but I wish we would have.   If you think about it, a dirty restroom says a lot about the kitchen and the way everything else in the place is handled.  It's a statement that says "I don't care about you as my customer."  

A lady by the name of Linda Wright has an interesting website and I encourage you to try it out.  It is called Skip To The Loo! She hones in on women's restrooms and went to extremes in her photo shop which she owns to make the restrooms a show place.  The customers loved her for it.  Ms. Wright believes restrooms are as important to business as anything else.  She has now published a book on the subject.  On her website she has such interesting subjects as stall talks, stalls of fame, stalls of shame, and potty talk.  Wright says a good bathroom is good for business.  It's as simple as that.  Yet too many merchants look at their "loo" only as an unrecoverable overhead expense.  Merchants need to listen up and not "sit down on the job."  What do you think?