Monday, October 31, 2016
Today's Specials:
READ: Facebook Leaps Headfirst into the Restaurant Industry
Everyone is getting into the restaurant industry -- including Facebook. The social media giant has made two big changes that are getting their hands dirty with food delivery. Let us help you understand what’s coming and prepare your strategy with this important analysis.
READ: Cycle Managers Between Tasks Quarterly [Hack #073]
Thirteen weeks of any activity creates a routine. While routine does create efficiency, it also encourages complacency. Rotate the roles your assistants (and you too, for that matter) manage in the administration of your restaurant.
TIME IS (NOT) ON YOUR SIDE [Song]
Why it matters to you: Be better about how you schedule or face municipal wrath
Emeryville, California joins San Francisco and Seattle in putting real restrictions onto the scheduling process within the municipality. The ordinance requires that staff schedules be written two weeks in advance and if you make a change after the schedule is published the operator must pay a penalty directly to the impacted employee. It also essentially outlaws the close-open shift. Any staff member that closes must be afforded sufficient rest time before their next scheduled shift.
Primarily, Emeryville is focused on chain operators and exempts restaurants with fewer than 56 employees or 12 locations nationwide. Make no mistake, local municipalities in their zeal for fairness are painting full service, fast casual and quick service restaurants with the same brush. Given that similar legislation is pending in New York City and Oregon, this may be coming your community.
CHIPOTLE = TRAIN WRECK
Why it matters to you: We can’t avert our eyes from the disaster that is Chipotle!
While we know the beginnings of the saga that is Chipotle, but now it looks like we will know the end soon enough. What a week these guys had. To start, they pulled the plug on their Asian concept ShopHouse planning to close their 15 locations shortly. Then, they learned Tasty Burger was suing them for copyright infringement with their Tasty Made concept’s new branding. All in all, not great planning or managing, once again. But that just couldn’t end it with the laws of the universe dictate destruction in three’s.
The last turn was their third quarter results ran almost 22% behind same store sales from last year. We don’t mean to be too judgmental, but this all feels inevitable. Of course, the hard question is what should they do? We acknowledge how incredibly hard this challenge is, but this leadership needs to do more than dessert and discounts to regain the trust of the consumer. It’s tragic and who among us can really judge.
NOW THAT’S A PIVOT
Why it matters to you: Even Chili’s realizes craft beer is the future of attracting millennials.
Brinker International, much like most full-service chain operators, has had a rough go of the last couple of quarters. As owners of a celebrated brand like Chilli’s and Italian concept Maggiano’s, they do over $5 billion in annual sales. During their most recent quarterly investor call, they reported 1.4% sales declines over last year. However, CEO Wyman Roberts claimed that stores, where they had retrofitted, for more draft choices saw positive sales growth. It’s their feeling that this will pervade company-wide and make it more attractive to the newest power consumer generation: Millennials
So, away we go…and Chili’s is promising to have all of their locations retrofitted in just 3 months. That is change at light speed. It confirms the notion that when you see a trend, best to jump in with both feet. No, most of you can’t make that type of pivot because you lack the capital, but it does prove that independents aren’t the only ones who can be flexible. Well Done, Chili’s we hope it works for you.