Thursday, May 18, 2017

Today's Specials:

CUSTOMERS: Is Your Restaurant Raising These Red Flags?

No one knows better than you, it can be tough to operate in the restaurant industry. From razor-thin profit margins, an oversaturated market, and near constant staff turnover, business is tough. So, it’s important not to scare away guests. Here are four red flags restaurants often send, scaring away repeat guests.

DID YOU KNOWs…

“The Rosemary Just Fell Right Through!”

An “herb grinder” has received a wealth of bad reviews on Amazon from people that seem to not realize that it was actually meant for... weed. The grinder had an overall 4.5 rating based on 790 reviews which probably mean people aren’t buying it season their meat.

Cookie Thief

A former Girl Scout troop leader in Kentucky has been indicted on charges of theft after police discovered she fled with over $15,000 of girl scout cookies. Authorities have yet to find her and the precious supply of thin mints. Cookies can make you do craaaaazy things.

Mickey D’s Delivering

McDonald’s announced yesterday that they have entered an agreement with UberEats, offering delivery service to over 1,000 more of their locations. Now you can have your Big Mac brought to you if you live in Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Columbus.

DOMINO’S DOMINATES

Why it matters to you: Domino’s stock has increased 5,000 percent since 2008.

Domino’s has done an 180 over the past years with regard to their business. Over the past nine years, Domino’s stock has increased by over 5000% and as of Friday, their stocks were selling for $195.28 a share (50 times more than they were selling for in 2008). The turnaround seemed to begin in 2010 when they released a TV ad where Domino’s executives and employees read harsh customer comments. Since 2010, the company has managed to close all its failing franchises, rework their pizza recipe, and even introduce new technology to innovate ways of ordering your pizza. On top of their evolution, they’ve also systematically remodeled a majority of their locations to better represent their current brand.

Surprisingly, Domino’s stock has consistently outperformed Apple, Facebook, and Google in the past decade. The company’s transformation has helped revenue and profits continuously increase for the past 24 consecutive quarters with global sales totaling $10.9 billion last year. There are multiple aspects of their rebrand that Domino’s has done exceptionally well with including assessing the problem and systematically working through a solution. One noteworthy concept that Domino’s excels in relates to their business decisions that focus on their brand, before chasing current trends. Many top chains have been racing to keep up with what consumers want while letting their other company problems such as work environment and declining sales take a back seat.

CALIFONIA COAST CHAOS

Why it matters to you: restaurants in Big Sur are fighting to staying open.

Restaurants experience a range of challenges many that depend on their location. Eater recently featured an article describing the difficulties of running a restaurant in Big Sur California varying from natural disasters including droughts, to mudslides during winter rains. California restaurants also experienced a difficult 2016 as nearby fires ravaged the state leaving a negative impact on tourism during their busiest season. In Big Sur in particular, a main road was demolished after supporting pillars sank into the mountainside, causing the structure to crack. This has opened a world of problems impacting guests, deliveries, and supplies.

In the wake of the problems faced by the Big Sur restaurant scene, many establishments have actually taken support from other restaurants offing to support one another. Some places have turned to GoFundMe campaigns to help raise money to help pay for logistical problems as well as damage repairs. Often times restaurants are seen as rather resilient, but when there are multiple factors working against them, success can be very difficult. “Everything is a logistical challenge. Every day we are having to MacGyver new solutions,” according to a Big Sur restaurant owner.