LaLaLand

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the Corporate offices, where I met up with Brian Turpin, Regional Manager of Las Vegas. Brian and I teamed up to do several jobs, including meeting with vendor reps and training on how to use Resource to track inventory and place orders.
We also helped out at the Inglewood warehouse, assisting with a last minute corporate relocation job and shuttling a truck to a repair yard.
It was really great being able to spend time with Brian and talk through the differences and similarities between our two regions. We were able to resolve a lot of the communication issues we've had, and we both got first hand knowledge of how Inglewood operates.
The conclusion was that everyone has their own way of packaging, selling, setting up their stores, and dealing with clients. The important thing is that this is done in a way that is healthy for the employee, the product, and the customer, and that the job is done professionally and efficiently. As we learned that different methods will still yield the same results, we were able to gain a new respect for each location and understand that even though things are done differently, they are still done correctly. I feel that this was the single most important piece of knowledge I took from this trip. Everyone in our company has a broad range of experience and background. It is beneficial for each of us to see these new methods, and to learn how we can improve our methods while teaching others how to improve theirs. This creates a sort of Gestalt set of rules for packaging that, as the term implies, is greater than the sum of its parts.
I really enjoyed getting to meet everyone at Corporate, and the crew at Inglewood, as well as Geoff in Tarzana, who helped show us the Inventory system.
Thanks to Mark and Goody for a great visit, and I hope to make it down there again soon to sample some of Mark's favorite dive eateries. The man knows his food!
Cheers,
-Bill, Northern California