October 4, 2016
Today's Specials:
[DOWNLOAD]MLB PLAYOFFS 2016: Schedule and Primer
October baseball still boasts the interest of millions of fans, especially in cities where the teams remain in the World Series hunt. This year see’s the continuation of the 1 game Wildcard playoff for admittance to the playoff club. Tonight will see intra-divisional rivals Baltimore and Toronto square off for the pleasure of facing the best team in the American League, the Texas Rangers. On then on Wednesday, the San Francisco Giants travel cross-country to take on the New York Mets to see who will battle the Chicago Cubs in the Divisional Playoffs. The remainder of the matchups are listed on the downloadable guide you can access below.
Click Here to View the Full Schedule
Unlike other leagues with a multi-series playoff structure, MLB sets their dates and doesn’t alter them for the various series. That means the schedule you download today will be the exact dates that the various series run, even if they are shortened by a sweep. We won’t know times for sure until the matchups are set for the 4 Divisional Series, but you can count on all the League Championship and World Series games to be on in Primetime viewing slots.
[Look]Best Happy Hour Promotions on Social Media
Social media is a great way to engage with your guests and develop a unique character associated with your brand. Our Citizens of the Rail, have been releasing some great content on their social media feeds to promote their deals and events. We've highlighted a few creative posts that creatively promote Happy Hour.
[INFOGRAPHIC] Bars/Restaurants Lagging in Mobile Payment
The mobile payment market is expected to grow by 210% in 2016, but it remains an elusive technology in bars & restaurants. There's still hope, however, for mobile wallet solutions.
DID YOU KNOW...
Gaming the System
Londoners are abusing UberEats to get hundreds of pounds (aka dollars) worth of food for free. Any sort of order screw up or late delivery can be filed to get free food vouchers. One person has only bought one “unsubsidized meal” but has gotten £200+ worth of free food.
Girl’s Rule!
France’s Jennifer Le Nechet is the first woman to win Diageo’s World Class Bartending Competition. Jennifer defeated 10,000 other bartenders over four days in her march to World Class Bartender of the Year. Congrats, Jennifer. Girls rule!
That’s A Lot of Burritos
As we reported this summer, Chipotle launched a temporary loyalty program called Chiptopia. It seems to have worked (from a popularity standpoint, anyways). At least 85,000 people took part in the program and reached “Hot” status, meaning they’re awarded free catering for 20 people. The total bill for Chipotle, if everyone cashes in, is $20+ million. Yikes!
THE SCORE REMAINS TIED
Why it matters to you: SCOTUS leaves an injunction in place that exposes millions of families to being split by deportation.
In the first announcement of action (or inaction in this case) taken by the Supreme Court this session, the Justices have declined to rehear the case surrounding the successful challenge to President Obama’s executive orders surrounding immigration. This decision comes in the wake of a June decision that found the court tied 4-4 on whether to uphold or overturn the lower courts scrubbing of the aforementioned executive orders. Consequently, this tie vote leaves in place an injunction that stopped the President’s immigration reforms in their tracks in February 2015.
The injunction was placed when Texas and 25 other states claimed Obama lacked the authority to circumvent congress and institute immigration reform via executive order. The real outcome is that over 4 million undocumented parents whose children were born in the United States continue to be exposed to deportation. These are the same folks that work for you in your kitchens and cleaning your dining rooms. Therefore, depending on who is President this January, their lives…and yours…could be very different. One more reason your vote matters in November and you should be paying close attention to what these candidates have to say on the issues.
WHY DO WE FOCUS ON MILLENNIALS?
Why it matters to you: Who we market to as operators is important. Are you attracting the right guests?
Restaurant news is full of tips and tricks to attract millennials and we’re no exception. One article from On The Margin Blog asks the question, “Are we focusing on millennials too much?” When you actually look at the numbers, millennials are still underemployed, have massive undergraduate debt and are struggling financially. So why cater to this one group? For one thing, they have a huge population, 75.4 million to be exact.
To be fair, baby boomers do have more money. They’re working, their kids are out of the house and they tend to have more disposable income. Millennials, on the other hand are cooking more at home to save money. Millennial trends actually benefit everyone, however. Menu changes to remove additives, as well as more fresh ingredients, can improve everyone’s health. Focusing on experience? That’s the foundation of a quality guest service program. That being said, maybe you should turn down the music though, that seems to really annoy the old folks…