Today, 19:13 • 4 minutes reading time
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The year 2021 was still very young, four days to be exact, when Stadskanaal was rocked by a devastating fire in McDonald’s last January. The event had a major impact; both on those directly involved and the rest of the region. Now, less than a year later, there is already a new restaurant, with even a second floor. How did McDonald’s Stadskanaal experience this year, in which they moved from a fire to a new building, and how do they look back on it?
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We talk about it with restaurant manager Hajo Bruins Slot and supervisor Scott Berendsen, on the second floor of the brand new building.
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‘It was like a movie’
‘When I arrived that night, the building was already lost,’ says Scott Berendsen. That night he was called by colleague Hajo: there was a fire in the restaurant of Stadskanaal. Berendsen immediately jumped into the car. On the way, the NL-alert of the fire already popped through the speakers.
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“The fire spread extremely quickly. The speed of everything also sucked you into a kind of rollercoaster. The next day just went like a movie, a really bad movie.’
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For them that day lay the heavy task of informing everyone. The employees were stunned when they heard the news that morning. With dismay they came to look at what was once their workplace.
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All generations came by and found support in each other
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‘Even former employees came by,’ says restaurant manager Bruins Slot. ‘Of course these people have been through so much here, their careers often started here. All generations, from beginning to end, came along and found support in each other. It’s really just one big family.’
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Crisis management
While the last remnants of the former building were still smoldering, it was a matter of crisis management for Berendsen and Bruins Slot. The adjacent company made space available from which to work. For example, the logistics operation to accommodate employees at the other branches. Berendsen: ‘That was the most important thing for us at that time. The rest was point two, but that had to be arranged properly first.’
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But in addition, the question also had to be considered: what next?
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Collaboration with the municipality
That is why McDonald’s quickly sat down with the Municipality of Stadskanaal. The main thing was that they wanted to stay in the same location. The municipality proposed to put together a construction team to work as efficiently as possible. ‘That proposal formed the basis of the rapid reconstruction,’ explains Berendsen. ‘The municipality has provided us with tremendous assistance and has helped us to work as quickly and efficiently as possible.’
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He continues: ‘The municipality and we also realized how important this restaurant is to Stadskanaal. The Knoalsters really see this as ‘their Mac’ and it is. This also distinguishes the local McDonald’s from a fast food restaurant in the big city.’
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‘Actually, we should be grateful to the Knoalsters’, adds Bruins Slot. ‘Not only for the fact that they like coming here, but also for the involvement and all the support we received this year. Then we also knew: we want to come back.’
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World first
And it happened; After a quick construction process, a brand new building was erected within a year. Not only with a second floor, but also a special first. ‘Look at the parking lot’, says Berendsen. He stands up and points down through the large window. ‘We have so-called ‘park & dine’ places. This gives Stadskanaal a world first. It even had to go to the Chicago headquarters for approval.’
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The intention of these places is that travelers can eat the food there in their car. ‘That way they still eat on our property and we can easily clean up any waste left behind.’
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Open again after months
When the restaurant opened its (drive) doors again last week, the involvement of its guests was once again apparent. A long line of cars lined up for the drive to return to their trusty old Mac after months of waiting.
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People who were not scheduled called me. They wanted to work, they wanted to be there.
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Bruin Slot: ‘Despite the fact that you are a bit insecure by nature, crowds were in line with expectations. We have therefore not made any major advertising for our opening. You want people to come, but you don’t want huge traffic jams.’
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‘Come on’ mood
Just before the opening, there was an elated and enthusiastic atmosphere among the employees. ‘There was a mood among the people of ‘come on’, says manager Bruins Slot. ‘People who were not scheduled just called me. They wanted to work, they wanted to be there. I can sum that up in five letters: pride.’
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Both men are therefore looking forward to 2022. ‘Of course we hope that we can open completely again inside as soon as possible. So that we can really be a restaurant again.’
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‘Double dramatic’
There are doubts about how to summarize this year. ‘I thought long and hard about this last night’, says Berendsen. “It was doubly dramatic. Dramatically bad, but also dramatically good.’
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