I live in a small town in Connecticut. When I moved here there was an old diner called Orem’s that hailed its beginnings from 1921. You can visit the website – http://www.oremsdiner.com. And inside the place it looked like it. The food was kind of greasy. The place was dingy and there was not much parking. Still it was prominently located on a busy (and getting busier) stretch of a two line ‘highway’ that goes starts near the Connecticut coast and goes all the way up to Canada. Even then Orem’s was a meeting place or destination.

But it got better. In and around 2005 the state decided to widen the highway which necessitated that the Orem’s original location was in the right of way for the new highway. So the Papanikalou family took a big leap and decided to build a new Orem’s south on Route 7 of the old location. The ‘new’ Orem’s Diner is seemingly 3 times the size of the old one with 6 times the parking. The family was nervous that they would not be able to fill the new venue. They had no reason to worry.

Today Orem’s is even more of a destination than ever before. People from out of state know Orem’s and many meetings take place at this now new landmark. The place is clean, the food is better, the wait staff seems happy to be there and the service is attentive. Kids from 5 – 90 are in Orem’s all day and all night and frequently there are lines of people waiting to sit down. At a diner. And Orem’s is open later (for a town that rolls up many eateries at 9PM) than just about any place around town.

There are other places to eat in our town. But Orem’s remains a go-to location for so many people that it has no doubt impacted other quick service type restaurants. And not for the better.

So when we work with our clients our aim is to help make their business a destination place. Whether it is retail, direct response, or internet based business. Or even a business to business company.

It’s hard not to like a business that understands what customers want, continually makes efforts to maintain product quality and service, while listening to their customers.

Orem’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s a destination place. Is your business?