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‘Irate’ restaurant worker pulls gun on employees

Posted on29/12/202508/08/2023Author

An Upstate restaurant worker who found out his schedule had changed got rate Monday morning and pulled a gun on the other employees, sparking a school lockdown, police said. Anderson Police Chief Jim Stewart released the police report showing Gary Lamar Brown, 44, of Anderson , was charged with simple assault, second-degree assault and battery, three counts of pointing a firearm at another person and unlawful carry of a weapon. The report said police responded about 9:45 am to a call about a hostile employee who had pulled a gun on other employees at Mission Grill on Greenville Street. The report said Brown was mad because his work hours had been cut, according to employees. Employees told police Brown started scaring and threatening other employees before he left the store. Brown came back to the store 20 minutes later and was told, because of his behavior earlier in the morning, he was fired, the general manager said. That’s when Brown became angry, pulled a pistol from his waist and started ed threatened everyone, the report said. The general manager told police he had just come out of the restroom when he heard a loud argument in the dining room and saw Brown pointing a gun at other employees. Brown hit one of the employees in the back of the head with the pistol, according to the report. Brown also threw a laptop at them as well as damaging a light above the counter the employees were standing behind, according to the report. The general manager said he went to his car and got his concealed carry handgun and that he and another employee blocked Brown from the rest of the employees. The hurt employee continued talking to Brown while the general manager helped get the other employees to the back freezer , according to the report. Brown left the restaurant on a bicycle and was later arrested at his home on Babb Street, according to the report. McCants Middle School was put on lockdown, according to the report. According to Kyle Newton, with Anderson School District 5, several other schools were put on into a “holding pattern” during the incident. The employee hit with the gun was checked out by emergency medical services but was not taken to the hospital, the report said. Investigators said the whole incident inside the restaurant was captured on security video.

ANDERSON, SC —

An Upstate restaurant worker who found out his schedule had changed got rate Monday morning and pulled a gun on the other employees, sparking a school lockdown, police said.

Anderson Police Chief Jim Stewart released the police report showing Gary Lamar Brown, 44, of Anderson, was charged with simple assault, second-degree assault and battery, three counts of pointing a firearm at another person and unlawful carry of a weapon.

The report said police respondents about 9:45 am to a call about a hostile employee who had pulled a gun on other employees at Mission Grill on Greenville Street.

The report said Brown was mad because his work hours had been cut, according to employees.

Employees told police Brown started scaring and threatening other employees before he left the store.

Brown came back to the store 20 minutes later and was told, because of his behavior earlier in the morning, he was fired, the general manager said.

That’s when Brown became angry, pulled a pistol from his waist and started threatening everyone, the report said.

The general manager told police he had just come out of the restroom when he heard a loud argument in the dining room and saw Brown pointing a gun at other employees.

Brown hit one of the employees in the back of the head with the gun, according to the report.

Brown also threw a laptop at them as well as damaging a light above the counter the employees were standing behind, according to the report.

The general manager said he went to his car and got his concealed carry handgun and that he and another employee blocked Brown from the rest of the employees.

The hurt employee continued talking to Brown while the general manager helped get the other employees to the back freezer, according to the report.

Brown left the restaurant on a bicycle and was later arrested at his home on Babb Street, according to the report.

McCants Middle School was put on lockdown, according to the report.

According to Kyle Newton, with Anderson School District 5, several other schools were put on into a “holding pattern” during the incident.

The employee hit with the gun was checked out by emergency medical services but was not taken to the hospital, the report said.

Investigators said the whole incident inside the restaurant was captured on security video.

Makers of Kitch’n Cook’d chips to close up shop | News, Sports, Jobs

Posted on07/09/202508/08/2023Author

Mark and Diane Kobayashi pose with a few of the last bags of their family’s iconic Maui Kitch’n Cook’d potato chips Friday afternoon in Kahului. The familiar clear plastic bags with distinctive red-and-yellow prints are soon to be things of the past as the longtime family business closes down Dec. 15. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

For the past 66 years, customers have known that you can’t stop after just one of Maui Potato Chip Factory’s signature “Kitch’n Cook’d” chips.

As the family-owned and operated Kahului business closes on Dec. 15, the next generation may not get to experience this iconic salty snack, but the local company’s legacy is steadfast.

Third-generation owner, operator and potato chip maker Mark Kobayashi said the Maui Potato Chip Factory would not stay in business as long as it has without its regular customers and support from its employees, family, friends and neighbors.

“For us to have survived 66 years is more a triumph of community to take care of the local people here, the local companies,” Kobayashi said Wednesday afternoon. “A lot of times we were lucky because we were a small business and all these people who really didn’t have to step up, they stepped up and helped us out to survive and keep our name in the limelight.”

The original Maui Potato Chip Factory was established in January 1956 when Kobayashi’s late grandfather, Yoshio Kobayashi, took over the business for just $500. Yoshio was already familiar with the art of cooking potatoes, having worked at the factory, and also from his time as a chef at military camps located in “country potato,” like Montana, during World War II.

Founder Yoshio Kobayashi poses with sons Dewey Kobayashi (left) and Takayuki “Joe” Kobayashi in a family photo on display in the sales room of Maui Potato Chip Factory. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

He would ride with the sergeant and distribute meals to the workers in the field, Mark said.

His grandfather tweaked the recipe and produced handmade potato chips with no preservatives. As the business grew, Mark’s father, Dewey Kobayashi, and Uncle Takayuki “joes” Kobayashi stepped in to help. After school in the evenings, Mark and his brother, Edwin Kobayashi, would also assist with backstage operations, such as cleaning and bagging potatoes, in between homework assignments.

“My early memories were of my grandfather, grandmother, mother and my father, they would sit around in a circle and hand-peel bags of potatoes,” Mark said.

Then, while his parents were at work at Maui Pineapple Company, his grandparents would stay back to make the chips, bag them and wheelbarrow the goods across the street to the once-buzzing Kahului Shopping Center to sell their products to the different markets.

Their original idea was to make potato chips for when residents would go to the movie theater in the shopping complex, so that they would have salty snacks to bring in, he recalled.

Under the headline, “Business is Too Good — No More Orders Please,” Dewey Kobayashi graces the cover of Parade Magazine in 1976, which is on display in the sales room of Maui Potato Chip Factory. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Edwin was eventually supposed to take over the family business, but sadly passed away at 21 years old from cancer, a shock to the family. Mark was going to drop out of the University of Hawaii at Manoa to help with operations, but friends Michael Sueda and Claro Capili Jr. stepped in for one year to allow him to finish his degree in electrical engineering.

“It just blew all of our minds when he passed away and my two friends just stepped up to the plate,” he said. “My father folks really appreciate it.”

The building is currently in its third and final location at 295 Lalo St., where it has stood for 50 years. The original building located near the old Kahului Shopping Center was destroyed by a tidal wave.

Shortly after the second move to Happy Valley, The Wall Street Journal put his dad and his Kitch’n Cook’d Potato Chips on its front page in October 1975. From that point on, the business boomed. Customers started to learn the exact day and time that potato chip deliveries would take place so that they could get in line first.

His father quickly became the face and voice of the company, Mark said.

“Basically we were just the little guy, just trying to survive,” he said. “Then, it got crazy.”

Over the years, the see-through bags with red-and-yellow labels have become a nostalgic childhood memory for the Maui community and are nationally recognized.

At the company’s peak, there were 40 employees, Mark said, but recently he’s been the sole potato chip maker using a long-standing family

What a record-breaking Black Friday means for restaurants

Posted on31/07/202508/08/2023Author

Sales results from Black Friday and its younger sibling Cyber Monday may have surprised a few folks this year given the stubbornly high inflationary environment we’re navigating. To recap, a record $9.12 billion was spent online on the Friday after Thanksgiving – known as “Black Friday” since the 1950s – while Cyber Monday sales also hit a record $11.3 billion.

Notably, much of those sales were driven by the aforementioned inflation. That said, traffic metrics were also nominally positive, providing a fuller picture of consumer confidence in this strange moment. For Black Friday, in-store retail traffic rose by 7% versus last year, according to RetailNext. Placer.ai data shows some shopping malls, outlet malls and open-air lifestyle centers experiencing triple-digit traffic growth versus the daily average for Q1 through Q3. All told, the National Retail Federation reports that a record 196.7 million Americans shopped over Thanksgiving weekend – exceeding expectations by more than 30 million people. The total number of shoppers grew by nearly 17 million from 2021 and is the highest figure since NRF started tracking this data in 2017.

Doesn’t seem like inflation is slowing us down much this holiday season. But what does that mean for restaurants? Like everything the industry has endured this year, it’s complicated.

According to Fair Betting Sites, which analyzed data from Mastercard SpendingPulse and Adobe Digital, US consumers who were out shopping during Black Friday weekend spent 23% more at restaurants than they did last year. That number is likely driven by both inflation and the high demand for restaurant gift cards this time of year. According to Credit Suisse, the restaurant industry sells the majority of its gift cards from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. This period can account for more than half of the annual gift card sales for the average casual restaurant.

Good news, right? Well, simultaneously consumer confidence continues to dwindle, and November marked the fourth straight month of declines on this metric. So, maybe not “good” news as much as “mixed” news, which seems to be a theme this year in general.

That said, there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful, despite growing predictions of a recession. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index cited higher gas prices as a reason for November’s decline, for example. Since that report was released, gas prices have fallen and are now at their lowest level since February. Earlier this week, GasBuddy projected gas prices could drop below $3 by Christmas. Lower gas prices tend to correlate with higher restaurant sales as consumers balance their spending wants and needs.

Consumers also have plenty of cash on hand to better manage inflation than they have at some time. According to the Wall Street Journal, US households still have about $1.7 trillion in savings they built up during the pandemic, perhaps explaining why they’re not shunning restaurants despite double-digit menu increases. The National Restaurant Association reported that consumer spending in restaurants increased in October, the last month reported, while traffic also ticked up slightly versus the previous four months.

The association notes, “Looking ahead, restaurant operators are slightly more optimistic about business conditions in the month ahead.” Sticking with the “mixed” theme, however, those operators, while bullish about their sales prospects in the near term, remain pessimistic about the direction of the economy overall.

Friday’s jobs report may also provide more reasons for optimism, at least right now. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, restaurants and bars added over 62,000 jobs in November, nearly doubling the industry’s gains from October. Granted, the industry remains nearly 400,000 positions short of pre-pandemic levels, but progress is hard to come by these days, so we’ll take it.

Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]