Name Your Poisson

Date: May 1, 2013

B E N J AM I N E. H E R M A L I N

Name Your Poisson: A Case of Fishy Decision-making

Poisson’s, a chain of large fish restaurants, had a problem1. Too much fish seemed to be going to

waste. As the CEO of Poisson’s, Christina Gauss said: “The data points to our throwing away too

much fish.”

History

The first Poisson’s restaurant opened in 1931 in Cauchy, California, a small seaside town. From the

beginning, Poisson’s specialized in fish. Taking advantage of the local catch, Poisson’s promoted

itself as the place for fresh fish. In 1933, with the end of prohibition, Poisson’s started selling beer. As

the restaurant’s popularity grew, it moved into a former cannery and was soon serving hundreds of

customers a night in a lively and raucous atmosphere.

In 1946, Pascal Poisson, the founder, sold the restaurant to Eric Weibull, who quickly began to expand

the company into a chain of restaurants throughout California, Oregon, and Washington. Pretty soon

the catchphrase, “If your fish’s not Poisson, it might as well be poison,” began to be heard over the

radio, and later television from San Diego to Seattle. Today, Eric Weibull’s granddaughter, Christina

Gauss, runs the chain. Each Poisson’s outlet is still, however, a large restaurant full of people having a

good time.

Organization

Unlike other restaurateurs, that franchised their restaurants, Eric Weibull decided the chain should

own all the restaurants, which it still does. Traditionally, though, it has given the managers of each

restaurant a fair amount of autonomy.

1

This case is fictional. It is based, however, on a real business situation.

Dickson Louie prepared this case study under the supervision of Professor Benjamin E. Hermalin as the basis for class discussion rather than to

illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.

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