When I returned to Galesburg I had a great feeling of success and I was about to have that feeling compounded when I was offered a new branch. This branch was to be one that I started from scratch. The company wanted me to go to Memphis and start a new branch. They sent Darlene and I there to check out the area. This was going to be easy as I had a sister that lived there. Angela was thrilled that there might be a chance to have family close by. When we arrived I had a meeting at the hotel with the powers that be. We discussed my new pay raise and a special incentive program that no other branch manager would have. I excepted after talking to Darlene and we spent a couple days getting wined and dined as well as checking out the town.
Things were going to move along rather quickly. Darlene, Melissa and I headed back down to Memphis to find a place to live. we had to find storage and an apartment. We signed the leases. I met with some more supervisors and we canvased the area for a building to place the branch. We found a place suitable for our needs. In the next couple days we had construction underway for the new branch. Then back to Galesburg to get ready for the move.
Things were not going to be ready for a while in Memphis and the company had promoted a young supervisor to take my place after the move. I showed him all around the territory and I braced him for the snow and cold, he was from Texas. This cowboy was going to have a rude awakening when winter came.
After about a couple of months we thought we were getting close to moving when one day I got a call from the vice president of the company telling me that a deal had fell through in Memphis with a big grocery supplier. We had it all set up that we would be able to sell to there customers our line of packaged meats and deli products. The supplier changed their minds and without their help we would not have enough business in that territory to support a payroll let alone the cost of the construction and running the branch. Just like that my dreams of starting a business and a new life fell through.
The company now had two branch managers running one facility, however after a few weeks I was offered another branch in Louisville, Kentucky. I excepted and the move was on. Louisville about a seven hour move to the southeast. Warmer climate but not quite as warm as Memphis. My sister Angela was let down by the companies change of plans. I felt let down too, to make things worse I knew the manager that I was replacing. The company was not happy with the way things were being run In Louisville and that’s why they wanted me. I needed to fix things again.
The manager was still there and would be for two weeks. I had known him for several years, he was a good person. His problem was that he was a good old boy with an attitude to go along with his down home charm. This charm he shared with his customers made him a well liked fellow. His employees loved him too and that was to become a problem for me.
In the next few weeks after he left half of my route salesmen quit. My administrator though seemingly nice didn’t really care for me. To make things worse my route supervisor thought that he should have been promoted to my position and there was friction between us too.
