Brogs
| This page (or section) is a work in progress by its author(s) and should not be considered final. |
| Industry |
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|---|---|
| Founded | 02/23/1991 |
| Founder | Øyvind Bjørn |
| Headquarters | Vakkerhavfruebukt, Vakrestrender |
Number of locations | 15,000 |
Area served | Borea, Concord and Aurora |
Key people |
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Production output |
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| Owner | Bjørn Trust |
Number of employees | 32,000 |
| Subsidiaries | Cafeïtroon |
| Website | Brogs.VAK |
Brogs, is a Valkyr, Borean inspired maid café chain that nearly exclusively only hires kemonomimi staff. It is operates in Nystatiszna, Gusanaszna, Lapliszna, Blaskog, Norgsveldet, Eyjaria, Neo-Fantrøm, Vorpest, Federation of the Southern Coast, Vistaraland and Vakrestrender. It's subsidiary companies operate in Vorpest and Vistaraland by the name Cafeïtroon. It's headquarters was founded in Vakkerhavfruebukt, Vakrestrender and its CEO is Lina Lovland.
Brogs, serves hot and cold drinks, whole-bean coffee, micro-ground instant coffee, espresso, caffe latte, full and loose-leaf teas, juices and other beverages. It also serves pastries, baked goods, sandwiches, candy and snacks. Several stores offer seasonal or specific to the locality of the store specialty drinks.
Founding Story
Allegedly, the company was started by Øyvind Bjørn primary as a joke against his father, Kristoffer Bjørn. Øyvind Bjørn was approached by Lina Lovland and several others about starting a Borean-Anime inspired wholesome maid café, originally believing it as a joke he bought and invested million UKR into company. Later forgetting about it until he was called by Lovland about opening a second location due to the café success. His father, Kristoffer was reportedly, extremely disappointed in his son for tying the family name into a maid café chain. Though he did not force Øyvind to sell the company, he required the café chain to never directly or indirectly include the Bjørn family in any form of advertisements, investors info and only allowed the family to be named in necessary legal documents.
Their was several times the Bjørn Trust to sell the company but failed to find any buyers willing buy the café chain at its worth due to the company's and subsidiaries companies (Cafeïtroon) reputation. Allegedly the Bjørn family even considered shutting down after the Ljótsson harassment scandal however didn't go through with it due to unknown reasons.
Costumes and Appearance
The costumes for the maids or service staff is unisex, young and it common practice in the restaurants to hire a gendered balance staff. The maid costumes, are based upon a fictionalized view of maids coming mostly from various anime sources. The costume is often composed of a long dress, a petticoat pinafora, a hair bow and stockings. Service staff in Brogs are often chosen on the basis of their appearance and ability to maintain the personality of fictional character. Service staff members are contractually obligated to not reveal personal information, to slip out of character or to allow patrons to see them out of costume both to up keep the theme of the restaurant and to insure personal safety of the staff members.
Etiquette and Additional Services
While it differs from location to location, Brogs often has series of additional services and rituals. Examples including service staff greeting customers with "Welcome Home, Jarl/Jarlyia!" or "Welcome Home, Master!" and several other greetings depending on the location. It is custom for service staff to offer grooming services, such as hair brushing, fingernail painting and other activities for a additional fee. Customers can play rock-paper-scissors, card games, board games and video games with the service staff. Additionally on weekends, service staff prepare arts and crafts and sing karaoke. Despite these services, service staff maintain a degree of distance between them and their customers by doing things such as sitting across from them and never alongside them.
Company maintains series of company policies and etiquette requirements to assure safety and distance from service staff and customers. Additionally the company offers legal teams and funds for service staff to pay for legal cases involving stalking of employees.
Controversy and Lawsuits
Lawsuit for Speciest Hiring Practices
Brogs came under fire within the first few months of operation by Species Rights organizations, accusing Brog for patronizing and objectivation of Kemonomimi. Later coming into a lawsuit at the end of 1991 in Vakrestrender, later ending in court case with a out-of-court settlement for a undisclosed amount and promised by the company to change it's hiring practices. It later had several other court cases with in Norgsveldet and the Federation for similar issues resulting in out-of-court settlement agreements.
Labor Violations
Brogs has been a frequent charged with labor violations, primary coming from Federation and Eyjaria for frequent and systematic having service staff work unpaid overtime. The class action lawsuit in 2011, was settled out-of-court in Eyjaria for a undisclosed amount and in Federation the company was forced to pay 5 million UKR to the employees ending with several closing locations.
Margrethe Stokke
Margrethe Stokke was a 20 year old kemonomimi service staff member in a Norgsveltian in a Brog café. Margrethe was stalked by Øystein Langland a 44 year old Norgsveltian businessman who stalked and later murdered Margrethe in her home. According to police records, Margrethe repeatedly reported the man to her manager who brushed her off. Later Margrethe reported the man to the police. After which Øystein was served by a officer and flew in a rage, later following Margrethe to her home and murdering her. The shock of the murder sparked outrage and forced the company to change or update several of it's policies to ensure safety of the service staff.