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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: service industry

service industry stories: 8 news summaries
TRAVEL

 How to Tip Like a Local 

Rules vary by country, region, scenario

Jul 30, 09 1:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sure, you’ve mastered tipping etiquette in the good old US of A. But what happens when you go abroad? Not only do tipping rules vary by country, they also vary by region and scenario. Condé Nast Traveler has you covered with a new tipping guide. Highlights:
  • Dubai:
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
travel • tipping • service industry • etiquette • Jay-ZTV

 'Insourcing' Is 
 Recession's 
 DIY Buzzword 

From hairdressing to gardening, 'insourcing' is hot

Feb 26, 09 11:00 AM CST
(Newser) - The recession is prompting Americans to forgo luxuries—and that means doing for themselves what they would once have paid someone else to do, the Washington Post reports. Starter sewing-kit sales have soared 30%; landscapers are losing business; customers are forsaking salons to dye their own hair. The trend is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
home improvement • recession • Target • Wal-Mart • service industry • economy • financial crisis • do-it-yourself • insourcing

Slowdown Scraps
Busboy Jobs

Dishes pile up as servers are forced
to do double duty

Jan 27, 09 2:53 AM CST
(Newser) - Plates are piling up on restaurant tables across America as full-service eateries seek to save cash by axing busboys, reports the Wall Street Journal. Servers take food orders, then scramble to clear tables, fill bread baskets, scrape plates and perform all the other tasks once done by bussers. The change... More »

MORE ABOUT:
restaurant • service industry • restaurant industry • waitress • waiter

BOOK REVIEW

 Waiter Serves It Up in Tell-All

Behind the scenes at a New York bistro

Aug 26, 08 12:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - A waiter known for grumbling about his work online has now recounted his misadventures in a book, Waiter Rant. Steve Dublanica tells Bloomberg about its highlights: runaway rodents, crazed customers, and his background in the mental health field. "Dealing with rabidly insane psychopaths is perfect training for dealing with... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • New York • restaurant • autobiography • book reviews • service industry

Service Sector Sees First-Hand the Economy's Tipping Point

Tough times making for less generous patrons

Apr 29, 08 3:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Restaurants across the country have been dealing with shrinking dinner rushes as the economy slows, a trend that's hit their waitstaffs flush in the wallet. Though exact figures are tough to come by, anecdotal evidence suggests tips are falling, the Los Angeles Times reports—a big problem for the third-largest... More »

MORE ABOUT:
restaurant • recession • service industry • tips

Guests Want It All at Lux Hotels

Rising prices, competition, encourage heroic feats of service

Feb 13, 08 1:57 PM CST
(Newser) - Luxury hotels don't bat an eye at charging $500 a night, and guests are responding with increasingly zany requests, W reports. Concierges, once downright neglected by the average customer, are now routinely tasked with the impossible: Deliver an unspecified amount of breast milk, or procure a rub-down for a dog.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
hotel • luxury travel • luxury hotels • resorts • One and Only Palmilla • service industry • Barbados • concierge

Soaring Costs Force Workers Out of Key West

Few remain to service the island's tourists
and millionaires

Feb 10, 08 5:58 PM CST
(Newser) - High Key West housing costs are sparking an exodus of residents and leaving the island's tourists with too few people to serve them, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some 2,000 workers have fled in the past 7 years, a crushing blow to a county that houses 75,000 residents... More »

MORE ABOUT:
workers • US economy • housing industry • Key West • service industry • Florida Keys

Service Sector Records Shocking Contraction

January stats fan recession fears

Feb 5, 08 11:35 AM CST
(Newser) - US service industries took a staggering and unexpected plunge in January, contracting at a pace not seen since the last recession. In today’s non-manufacturing report, which leaked nearly an hour early, the index plummeted from 54.4 to 41.9, far more than the 53 analysts forecast. Stocks fell... More »

MORE ABOUT:
economic indicators • recession • European Central Bank • service industry

8 Stories


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