ENTERTAINMENT: Surf & Turf Wars and Insanely Awesome Fire Display [Presented by CHIVE TV]
CHIVE TV is a great way of giving your guests some hilarious and epic alternative content to the usual TV grind. This week's sample shows why you shouldn’t trespass on a dolphin’s turf, plus you haven’t seen a theatrical fire display until you’ve seen this one. Holy smokes! (no pun intended) Check it out now!
DID YOU KNOWS…
Alcohol > Exercise?
According to a new study, alcohol is more important than exercise for living into your ‘90s. The study researched 1,700 subjects. Participants who drank two glasses of wine or beer daily were 18% more likely to live past 90 while people who exercised for 15-45 minutes per day were 11% more likely to hit 90+. Slante!
America's Has Over 50,000 Dangerous Bridges
Back in August 2007, the dangerous and decaying state of America's infrastructure became a shocking reality when the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, sending vehicles crashing into the river below. Thirteen people were killed while another 145 were injured. Today, U.S. drivers cross the country's decaying bridges 174 million times a day and on average, a structurally deficient bridge is 67 years old. If things continue at their current pace, it would take 37 years to repair all of the bridges that need attention. With a total of 5,067 of them, Iowa has the most structurally deficient bridges, followed by Pennsylvania (4,174) and Oklahoma (3,234).
Women in Government
While the results two weeks ago were historic for the US, many countries are light-years ahead of the U.S. when it comes to women holding seats in the legislature. Rwanda, where most legislators are women, has 3x as many women in government as the US. Over the past two decades, women have entered government at increasing rates, with this uptick partially fueled by legislative or voluntary gender quotas for political parties and parliaments.
1%’ERS
Why it matters to you: The number of U.S. restaurants has fallen.
We know U.S. diners are spending more than ever, so we were shocked to read that the number of U.S. restaurant numbers has fallen by 1% since spring. On top of that, of the 1% of restaurants that shutdown ALL were independent establishments. Chains stayed flat. This makes some sense. Chain restaurants have more money behind them and can weather the storm significantly easier than indie restaurants. As for the independent restaurant, we’d guess the decline is based on a combination of factors -- rising labor costs like the Fight for $15, market oversaturation, etc.
We’d say the Fight for $15 will prove itself to be a huge turning point for our industry. Will it lead to layoffs en masse and running skeleton crews for many of us? That is absolutely one way to deal with it. Will it result in many restaurants deciding between raising prices, cutting staff, or closing doors? We’re sure some of that will happen. The issue lies deep within our industry though. The reason many of us have been able to operate as we all have for so long (with any profit) is because of the lower staff. If the Fight for $15 wins (and it feels like only a matter of time), then we expect an industry shake-up to happen. The good news is we are a rugged industry and we will bounce back. What it’ll look like is still TBD.
[Source: Restaurant-Hospitality]
PUTTING THE ‘PRO’ BACK IN PROMOTION
Why it matters to you: Most restaurants run promotions but are they doing enough with them?
As an industry, we often miss the mark when we’re creating promotions for one hugereason: we forget to have fun and be unique. A unique promotion can be an excellent marketing and PR play, reaching far beyond the happy guests & increased traffic. Let’s look at some fun ones…
LongHorn Steakhouse had an excellent idea this past month for International Left Handers Day. They began marketing a limited-edition left-handed steak knife to rewards club members. What a great idea! It’s quirky, unique, functional, and probably made some southpaws dining out very happy.
Another promotion we like is one by a fast-casual Mexican chain called Dos Toros. They have an app not for online ordering or checking the menu, but to inform diners that it is “Burrito Time.” The Burrito Time app’s goal is to give back to their customers. Guests receive a push notification to open the app and the first 10 people who do get a free burrito. Awesome! As an industry, we should look at places like this for inspiration and step it up as a whole. The public can see through our crappier promos, so why not give some interesting and unique ones a shot?
[Source: Restaurant Business Online]
