Braum’s explains why things have been so chaotic in its stores for the past week
In Wichita, people rely on their neighborhood Braum’s stores for a variety of needs: a quick gallon of milk on the way home from work, a breakfast burrito on the way in, a celebratory ice cream cone when the kids’ report cards arrives.
But for at least a week, the Wichita area’s 13 Braum’s stores have been a bit chaotic. Customers report that their neighborhood stores have shut down their drive-throughs and that inside, cashiers are able to accept cash only.
On Tuesday, Braum’s public relations director Amanda Beuchaw said that the issues were affecting more than just Wichita: Each of the more than 300 stores that the Oklahoma City-based chain has in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and Arkansas have faced similar issues.
The problem, Beuchaw said, is that one of the company’s servers went down, causing the chain’s stores to go offline.
“We have a team of technicians going to the stores to get them back up and running, but it is taking time, and we apologize for the inconvenience,” she said.
Though Braum’s has not issued a public statement on the incident, people who live in cities and towns the chain serves have been posting about it on social media. Many customers report scenes of chaos as younger employees try to add up orders and figure sales tax using phones and calculators. Some said that employees were parking their cars backward in the drive-through lanes to stop people from pulling in.
Some on social media commended Braum’s for remaining open through the issue.
Locally, the problems seem to vary from store to store. On Sunday, the Braum’s at Douglas and Seneca was able to accept credit cards but only at the ice cream counter checkout. People who wanted items from the grocery section checked out alongside people buying burgers and banana splits. Also, the drive-through lanes were closed.
On Friday, an Eagle employee stopped at the Braum’s at Central and Edgemoor for a bag of burgers and found a sign on the drive-through speaker indicating that, because of technical issues, people would need to go inside to order and pay with cash. She left, burgerless.
Beuchaw said that the issue has created an “all hands on deck” situation for the chain. She expressed gratitude for people who were sticking with Braum’s.
“Thank you for being so patient while our teams work to get all stores back online,” she said.
.jpg)