Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Today's Specials:
MARKETING: Wings, Beer & March Madness... a Match Made in Sports Bars
If there is any staple in sports bars, it’s the happy marriage between wings, beer, and sports. But it never gets the proper attention it deserves. Until now. Here are some great March Madness promos for your sports bar.
WATCH: The Top Five Grimiest Places in a Restaurant
We know as well as you how dirty our restaurants can get. We did some research on what places in our establishments get the dirtiest, and we can’t say we’re too surprised. However what we did find was relatively shocking.
DID YOU KNOWS…
I Can’t Believe Butter Isn’t Bad for You
A new study indicates that butter isn’t as bad for you as once thought. It’s better than sugar but worse than olive oil. But specifically, the study says there’s no link between consuming butter and having a higher risk of heart disease.
Should These Dead Beers Come Back?
Vinepair had a fun listicle, demanding the reemergence of these discontinued beers. Among the list? Michelob Ultra Dragon Fruit Peach. Yum.
You Dirty Rat!
A California restaurant gave a customer a “seen rat” discount. Unfortunately for the diners, the discount was worth just 25% of their total bill. Also, there was no convo with the manager. Ouch!
Were you able to find all the rats in our gallery yesterday?
BIRTHING BARISTAS
Why it matters to you: do you have a parental leave policy for your staff?
The U.S has always been quite far behind many other counties. Starbucks is on the path to change this. Last Thursday, the world’s largest coffee chain informed its employee base that they are expanding their current parental leave policy. According to the company website, birth mothers employed at Starbucks stores (baristas, et al) will now be eligible for six weeks of paid leave at 100 percent pay, plus an additional 12 weeks of unpaid leave; non-birth parents ( adoptive and foster parents) will be able to take 12 weeks unpaid leave.
The new parental leave policy shows that Starbucks is making a large leap forward in terms of improving their overall brand. Not only are they taking care of their employees but also providing a friendlier atmosphere for their staff members to work. It also may start a trend among the other large corporate chains considering very few are offering anything similar.
LUNCH FOR CANNIBALS
Why it matters to you: Your menu mix is a recipe like no other. Any changes can lead to unintended consequences.
When McDonald’s announced breakfast all day, it was like they reinvented themselves. They saw same store sales skyrocket and a brand that seemed in trouble was suddenly relevant again. Fast forward one year and the story has changed dramatically. No longer enjoying the honeymoon period that breakfast all day delivered, the world’s largest burger chain is now seeing guests trade down at lunch for a cheaper breakfast option. This is classic product cannibalization, where a new product does less to drive sales than exchange them.
The newness of breakfast any time certainly drove some trial at the end of Q4 2015, but in Q4 2016 the chain saw same store sales declines of 1.3%. When calculated against the billions of sales McDonald’s does annually, that’s a huge amount of money. It’s a great lesson for any operator to consider when updating their menu.
HOW TO TELL IF YOU’RE MOB RUN
Why it matters to you: Shady business is bad for business.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, but would you ever accept a loan from the mob? Thanks to Munchies Vice we have a restaurant confessional that outlines the bad that comes along with a deal with the devil. Owing the mob is as bad as you think.
According to the anonymous author, it’s pretty much what you see in movies. Sketchy guys come in and ask for the borrower repeatedly. Then the break-ins first at the restaurant then at their private residence. Finally, violent customers come in and refuse to pay their bills. It should go without saying, closing up shop and starting fresh is better than taking a loan from a shark.
