Cinemark Movies 8

The dollar theater is one of the few industries that fortunately has not kept up with inflation. I went on my first date with my wife back in 1989 to Cinemark Movies 8 in Provo and we paid $1 to see The Dream Team. 

Today it still only cost between $1.50-$2.00 to see a movie there depending on the time of the showing and the day. You can't complain about that. I wish food and fuel prices would follow the lead that the dollar theater has set.

I also appreciate the dollar theater when it comes to movies that only got okay ratings. I hate shelling out good money for new release movies that don't end up being that great, but I don't mind it as much if I'm only parting with a couple bucks. 

I love going to movies and love the theater ambiance, but I'm afraid going to the movies is a dying trend. I think technology and streaming movies will soon replace the public theater experience. Until that happens, I will continue to enjoy the movies at the dollar theater along with all the other movie enthusiasts, frugal people, and poor BYU students.

You can see what is currently playing at the Cinemark Site.

When Fast Food Isn't Fast

A couple weeks ago I stopped by Arbys with my boys to get something to eat. We would have preferred to eat out somewhere a little more formal but we only had half an hour until we had to be at a meeting. I placed our order and after the two ladies in front of us. Usually a fast food order is delivered in under 5 minutes but this was taking longer.

A couple people came in after us and ordered their food after us as well as several drive through orders. They all got their orders after a few minutes of waiting. There were only 3 employees working and they were working hard but I was confused because we had been waiting 10 minutes and even more customers had come in after us they all got their food pretty quick. I've seen jerks give fast food employees a hard time and I'm a nice guy so I just waited patiently. I was still standing in the lobby in view of the girl who took our order so it's not like she forgot about me. 15 minutes later I was still waiting but now my arms were crossed. She just smiled and assured me they were working on the order. I did not put in a special order for Baked Alaska so I was baffled why it would take so long. At the 20 minute mark I asked her why nearly 15 orders for people who came in after us had been filled but not ours.

She asked my name again and it turns out another customer had the same first name so when they filled his order someone swiped our order from the computer as being completed. I was still baffled how she could watch me standing there for 20 minutes and not realize something was wrong. She apologized and threw in a free order of french fries when she finally got us our food. We inhaled our meal in under two minutes and ran out the door since we were late to a meeting at that point. It was one of the few times I didn't ring the bell on the way out.

I am not trying to bash Arbys. It is one of my favorite fast food places and they usually have great service. I was even hesitant to mention their name in this post since it is not like them to be so slow. What I really wanted to point out with this is the fact that you will always get served faster and avoid a problem like that if you go to the drive through instead.

Drive through customers are served much quicker than those who go in a fast food place for a face to face order. If they don't service the drive through quickly they have a traffic jam and can't take any new orders, but once you are inside and have ordered they can continue to take more orders so there is not the same urgency which is a little ironic since you are face to face with the customer instead of speaking to them over a speaker.

So the moral of the story is if you are in a hurry and are going to get fast food somewhere, use the drive through! Just make sure and check your order before you drive off.

Forge Jewelry Works

Forge Jewelry Works officially opened their business in June of 2014. The staff at Forge consists of
Shawn Mikkelson, Rischelle Mikkelson, Darrell Mauerman, and Richard Beach. Despite this being a new venture, they have a combined total of 84 years experience behind them.

Shawn is the founder and CEO. He earned his graduate gemologist degree from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and has 20 years in the jewelry business. Rischelle is the CFO and has 16 years of experience developing and running businesses. Darrell is the store director and has 15 years experience in the jewelry industry. Richard is the goldsmith and has 33 years experience making and repairing jewelry.

Forge sells and repairs all kinds of jewelry, but engagement rings are their biggest market. Of those engagement rings, over 80% of them are custom rings. Many jewelry stores want to to sell you what they have in their inventory and Forge has some very nice rings in the store to choose from, but they also allow you to create your own ring instead of being limited to what a store has in stock. With changes in technology and the ability to do so much shopping online, people these days have a pretty good idea of what they want by the time they go to a jeweler.

Forge Jewelers have invested in CAD (computer aided design) technology to help them create almost any imaginable design. A customer can come in with an idea, picture, or sketch and they can help them create a unique ring made to their specifications. When they showed me how this software works I was blown away. It is a game changer when it comes to helping people design their own jewelry.

Three areas of emphasis have made Forge Jewelry Works successful. They are:

1) They put the customer at the center of the process. Unlike the car salesman who wants to sell you what he has on his lot, they want to make sure the customer gets exactly what they are after. If they don't have it in their store then they will help you create it.

2) They have over 84 years of combined experience. They are knowledgeable and experienced and have helped thousands of customers with their jewelry needs over the years and understand the ever changing industry.

3) They offer custom work at non custom prices. Traditionally custom work could be cost prohibitive, but due to technology and being a store that specialized in custom work, they are able to offer custom work at regular prices.

Their store design is unique in layout and refreshing and is different from the typical jewelry boutique you may have been to in the past. Even the bathrooms are decorated with a cool theme that any guy will like.

Forge Jewelry Works is located at 2255 North University Parkway, Suite #1 in Provo between Pizza Pie Cafe and 24 Hour Fitness. Their hours are Mon-Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays they are open until 8:00 pm. Their phone number is 801-704-7020. You can visit their website at forgejewelryworks.com.