Maplewood Pool Concession Announcement

skadave said:

It's unfortunate but I guess we can't complain too much when Freemans ended up underbidding by $7500.

 Agree 100%. The Freeman's concession was an integral part of the pool experience. when you could get into a wonderful vibe.

so disappointed!  Trading in lobster rolls and tilapia fingers for churros and funnel cakes? Now I'm going to have to actually pack food. Bummer.

$7500 would have to come out of something, whether it be patrons or services. 

I'm sure Freeman's will be grateful if those who feel strongly set up a gofundme or something similar and donate to close the gap.

Huge fan of Freeman's and not just the concession stand either but hoping for the best for the new folks.

Funnel cakes and tuna melts?  I haven't signed up yet and I'm very underwhelmed.

If the ketchup is hot and the crab cakes are frozen, there will be hell to pay.   Underwhelmed is an understatement. 

Can Freeman's park a food truck in the lot?

It was explained at last evening's TC meeting that the town was obligated to go with the highest bidder.  I suppose those who want lobster roll can stop at Freeman's before going to the pool, purchase their lunch to go, and then brown bag it.

joan_crystal said:

It was explained at last evening's TC meeting that the town was obligated to go with the highest bidder.  I suppose those who want lobster roll can stop at Freeman's before going to the pool, purchase their lunch to go, and then brown bag it.

Yes, the TC must go with the highest bidder by law, which was designed to combat the kind of nepotism NJ is famous for.  If many people must have their lobster rolls, perhaps they can ask Freeman to institute a delivery service to the pool just for July and Aug?

Seems we need to work on the guidelines of how we hire vendors. The members WANT Freeman's.  That's what matters.

I think the whole pool concession stand contracts need to be revised.  I think we should bid out a multiyear contract to give the vendors some incentive to improve their model as both SO and Maplewood have extremely slow server during busy times. 

While food trucks seem to be a no go in SO (except for the generic street fair trucks), I always thought that allowing vendors to effectively expand their kitchens via a truck would also be a good way to address some of the space/capacity issue at the cost of parking spot or two.

ictulips02 said:

"Some" members want Freeman's.   Not "the" members.

Perhaps some polling of members is in order - addressing cost (possible impact on membership fees if a lower bidder is selected), wait times (definitely a concern in recent years), menu choices and any other issues relevant to vendor selection.

sharon said:

Seems we need to work on the guidelines of how we hire vendors. The members WANT Freeman's.  That's what matters.

 Or freeman's could bid higher? 

One thing which might be interesting to compare is the respective menus of the two vendors.  One thing which I see on the RS Food menu is a fair number of pretty inexpensive items.  Yes, burgers and dogs aren't gourmet, but there are a lot of people who would be happy to be able to buy lunch for their kid(s) for under $5.  Did the Freeman's menu offer similar low-cost offerings?

Has anyone spoken to the owners of Freeman's about this?

My understanding of a public bidding process like this one is that you can't do anything to favor a particular vendor over another.  I don't know how the bidding works, if each vendor gets to bid and then change their offer if outbid.  Or do you turn in your bid and the highest one wins?

$7500 probably makes a big difference in the pool's operating budget.  Just for argument's sake, let's say your average teenager working at the pool makes $10/hr.  That's 750 hours of labor.  Spread that out over the roughly ten weeks the pool is open and you're talking about two full-time summer employees' salary.  So to expect the pool committee to just dismiss that money to favor a local business is not reasonable.

Freeman's and RS Food are both businesses which both had knowledge of and access to the legal bidding process.  RS Food won, and accepting their bid is required by statute.  The statute seems reasonable to me, since it's designed to prevent corruption. What if, for instance, a local business owner was elected to the township committee, or chose to volunteer on the pool committee?  What would prevent them from rigging the system to favor their business in dealings with the town?

It's not a simple situation.

Thank you Max for explaining to this group that the pool committee is made up of volunteers  I think some people here forget that  To Sharon, anytime you want to volunteer to join the pool committee please let me know  you seem to a lot to say .

To be perfectly honest with you how much did Freeman's want the concession  if minimum bid is $15,000 and they came in .99 over do you really think they want to be there?  I don't , in previous years they were the highest bid with it being over $20,000  so what changed?  Maybe go ask them  the Twp has rules set and as a committee we are obligated to follow them  we have to take the highest bidder.  

Let's not bash a company before we see what they are offering.  We can always tweak the menu.  For those of you who cannot live without your lobster roll, call Freeman's and ask them if they will deliver to the pool  otherwise give the pool committee a break  stop being so nasty in your comments just because you can voice an opinion here online.  We do the best we can without raising costs .  My offer stands to all of you, whoever would like to join the pool committee there is a meeting Tuesday, April 28th  at 7:30 pm, come to the meeting, voice your opinion face to face and sign up to volunteer so you can see how hard we try to give the patrons the best without raising fees every year  

JoAnn, Chairperson of the pool committee

JoAnn, thank you for adding the information about the previous years.  That makes it clear that Freeman's wasn't looking to secure the contract this time around.

There has been a lot of speculation on whether or not Freeman’s “really wanted” the Maplewood Pool concession business in 2015, based on the amount of their bid - $15,000.99.  Several posters have suggested it is clear they did not want this business due to the bid amount, even one member of the Maplewood Pool Committee.

As someone who owned the pool concession for several years when I owned Freeman's, and the father of a son who managed the pool concession for the last three years let me share a different, more accurate view.

Since Freeman’s has been involved in managing the Maplewood Pool Concession for many years, I would suggest they have the best understanding of the value of the concession from a financial perspective.  They have the best understanding of the delicate balance of providing value - quality and cost, and providing that occasional wow factor: lobster rolls for a very reasonable price at a community pool and even an occasional raw bar in the past.

So, maybe a $15,000 bid is the fairest number for the Maplewood Pool Concession to provide what members have become accustomed to at the Maplewood Community Pool in the past.  

+a concession manager, John who has lived in Maplewood his entire life and really cared about the service and the community.

+a variety of food items for kids and adults

+healthy food items that members enjoyed

+food cooked to order 

+a friendly staff of young people who lived in the community 

+food discounts for pool employees

+some items you would rarely find at a community pool - lobster rolls, crab cakes, blackened salmon sandwiches.  Please appreciate that some these menu items were offered with no/little profit margin.  For example, the lobster rolls were sold at almost cost. This was done to enhance the community pool experience.

In my opinion, Freeman’s could have bid $25,000, downgraded their menu, sold lower priced/higher margin items like funnel cakes, and made the same profit that they had earned in the past.  But this would also tarnish the brand Freeman's has worked since 1989 to earn.

There are also other factors that make a bidder with experience cautious.  

The first is weather. In the summer of 2013 the concession was impacted significantly by a greater than normal number of bad weather days. Then there is the occasional pool operations issues that would surface at the last minute: like closing the pool for events w/o advance notice to the concession, or approving the sale of breakfast items by other groups at the pool cutting into the concession business.

So, Freeman’s did want the business, they bid an amount that was mutually fair, and they lost the bid.  

One of my favorite comments on MOL some years back was a Mom who wrote that she and her family went to the Maplewood Pool last night.  Not to go swimming but for the family to have lobster rolls for dinner.  My second favorite was when a publication (barista?) in Montclair produced an “expose'” asking why the Maplewood Pool had lobster rolls while the Montclair Pool did not.

I hope the new vendor can generate this experience and these comments.  Have a great day and Summer - John

Condiments do not need to be chilled.  When you put ketchup on a hot burger patty or fries, it immediately becomes hot.  It's counterintuitive that it should start out cold. 

Mustard, of course, should not be chilled under any circumstances.  New vendor, please disregard comments regarding chilled condiments.

I'll miss Freeman's like everybody else, but I think we should give the new concessionaire a chance.  If it's not a high end gourmet experience, we will all survive.  It's a pool.  A decent burger, a tuna fish sandwich, hot dogs, some chicken strips, fries and sodas are all we really need.

We don't want the luxury lifestyle to invade our community pool experience.  I heard some people complaining that the pool doesn't have valet parking. They should move to Bedford Hills for that kind of stuff.  And we don't want the internet or computers at the pool, either.

Has Freeman's thought about offering some of the unique favorites for takeout and/or delivery (to the pool if not to other locations in the area)?  Lobster rolls, Tilapia fingers, etc.? Seems like there is a niche there worth considering.

ctrzaska said:

Blasphemy.

Why?

Sorry, crossed with your post...meant in response to ligeti.

ligeti said:

We don't want the internet or computers at the pool, either.

I thought I heard that there WAS WiFi at the pool now (but I haven't been a member for a few years, so it's hearsay in my case.) Is that an "urban myth"? 

What johnharvey wrote makes no sense. If Freeman's wanted to win the bid or at least be in contention for it, it wouldn't have bid merely .99 over the MINIMUM required bid. I don't think he's helping Freeman's out here with his answer, particularly since he is no longer the owner. 

Perhaps john Harvey's comments would make more sense after you took a basic economics course.

What a rude and unhelpful comment. Typical however.

Wendy Lauter

deleted

I have worked with John Harvey on other matters for a few years now.  Believe me when I say that John is maddeningly  logical and perceptive to the point where I now just listen to what he has to say and find myself agreeing virtually all the time.

He not only talks the talk he has for years walked the walk. Knowledge gained from experience is most valuable

wendy said:

What johnharvey wrote makes no sense. If Freeman's wanted to win the bid or at least be in contention for it, it wouldn't have bid merely .99 over the MINIMUM required bid. I don't think he's helping Freeman's out here with his answer, particularly since he is no longer the owner. 

 I agree.