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I shook with Snyderman. “A pleasure. How can I help you, Mr. Snyderman?” I recognized the name as the CFO at Josh’s family’s company, and I guessed Wenzel had introduced him as his boss to smooth the way back into the big company later.
“Wenzel and I have a few suggestions on how to consolidate vendors between Rossi’s and Smith’s that I’d like to go over with you.”
This sort of thing repeated like a broken record. Wenzel would bring me a difference between how we handled things and the way it had been done at Smith’s, always with the implication that the Smith’s way had to be better.
“Wenzel, we’ve been through this. The vendors don’t overlap well.”
The reception that response got from Snyderman took the temperature in the room down several degrees.
“You’re not being very cooperative,” he said.
I sat up straight. “Yes, I am. We looked at it. There isn’t much overlap outside of canned goods.”
“I disagree,” Snyderman said. “Both divisions buy significant produce and dairy, for instance. Isn’t that right, Wenzel?”
Wenzel nodded. “Yes, but using different suppliers in pretty much all cases, and paying more than Smith’s for equivalent items. At least the ones I checked.”
“That’s where your misunderstanding is,” I scolded. “The items are not equivalent.”
Snyderman scoffed. “An egg is an egg; an apple is an apple.”
“And the store space is significantly underutilized,” Wenzel added. “Over at Smiths, Andy Neufelt has dramatically increased salable shelf space with optimized store layouts that would benefit Rossi’s as well.”
I couldn’t believe how out of touch these two were with the Rossi’s customer base and their expectations. “Spaciousness is a part of our customer experience.”
“So, I take it you’re not interested in Mr. Neufelt’s help?” Snyderman asked.
I shook my head. “No, thank you. The concepts are different.”
“What about taking advantage of Smith’s buying clout to lower your produce and dairy costs?” Snyderman asked.
“Thank you again,” I told him. “But, no.”
He clapped his hands on his knees. “Then I guess that’s it for today.” He stood, and Wenzel followed his lead. “Thank you for your time, Miss Rossi.”
“Nice meeting you,” I told him as he walked to the door. I’d have to ask Josh later who had shoved the stick so far up Snyderman’s ass.
Snyderman stopped at the door and turned. “This is not over.” His tone conveyed more threat than prediction. “We’ll revisit this in two weeks.”
Wenzel followed him out.
I had only just met the man, and already I didn’t like him.
Getting up, I strode toward Josh’s office to get this fixed.
“He’s in a meeting at the Benson building,” Dee told me as I checked his office. “His father called.” She waved me closer and whispered. “What’s going on?”
I took the visitor’s chair next to her desk. “What do you mean?”
“That Mr. Snyderman and Mr. Bremmer were in Mr. B’s office, and when they came out, Mr. Bremmer told Mr. Snyderman he wanted to replace the furniture. Mr. Snyder agreed. What is that about?”
It sounded odd, but Dee didn’t make many mistakes. “I’ll check into it,” I assured her.
First I checked with our receptionist, Cynthia, and yes, Snyderman had left the building. Then I found Wenzel in his office.
I closed the door behind me.
He looked up. “It’s nothing personal about the supplier consolidation. I’m just trying to do my job on the cost-reduction front.”
