Chad hangs out at the garbage bins at the front of the Granville Island Market in Vancouver. There’s a half-a-dozen binners who meet regularly here for free coffee and dumpster diving. Perhaps diving is a little too athletic a word for their calling.
The evening starts at JJ Beans coffee shop when they empty the urns at the end of the day. Chad’s easy to pick out in his Indiana Jones fedora. Tall, limp and slim like a #3 spaghetti.
At JJ Bean he’s the one making small talk with the cute Asian clerk and holding the milk pitcher to offer cream to the others. Before leaving he offers to tote the heavy bag of coffee grounds.
Then he grabs his spot in front of the bins. He’s got a smile or a nod for everyone who drop by to drop off a bag. A lady hands him a bag of focaccua. Another drops by with a watermelon that fallen and split open so it can’t be sold. Cherry tomatoes and a plastic container with a dozen perfect organic strawberries disappear into his cart. She starts to leave and he says, “No good-bye?” She smiles back waves and he says, “See you tomorrow.”
He’s reliable Rain or shine he’s standing there from 7 p.m. to 8 checking the bags.
He knows how to protect his turf. Elbows flying fighting over a fresh garbage bag. He doesn’t back down even when another guy wipes his hands on the back of his jacket or flings a clump of gooey broccoli.
He shares – grabbing a clean cardboard box and filling it with anything he doesn’t want. When another binner grabs a roll he switches into trader mode. “If you see some of those half-baked potato artisan loaves in the bread bin can you pick them up for me – my lady loves them.”
He’s aware of business cycles. “Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best days of the week. That’s when the deli cleans out their freezer. Once I got a couple of black forest hams.”
Chad is a survivor in a competitive market. What can you learn about business from him?
