GUESTS: Preparing for Your Fan Club’s Offseason [Sponsored by FanWide]
Once the season ends for your fan club, you’ll want to keep them engaged and, with any lucky, still coming to your bar to check out other games and events you host. You’ll also want to calculate your viewing party and events ROI. This post helps you do both so you can prep your business and fan clubs for next year.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Boba Beer?
Boba, or bubble tea, has been growing in rapid popularity through the US the past few years. And now the “bubbles” might be heading into brews. The Beer Factory, a Malaysia-based brewery, has merged boba and beer to create a Boba Beer Series. They currently have four flavors available – Butter Beer, Guinness Milkshake, Strawberry Lime Cider, and Watermelon Beer – each made with a different beer or cider. It’s a limited-time offer, however… or so The Beer Factory claims.
The Most Admired Men & Women in the US
Bill Gates may be the most admired man globally, but he isn't the most admired man in America. That honor goes to former President Barack Obama while his wife was also named the most admired woman in the country. President Trump came second on the men's list, followed by Clint Eastwood. On the women's list, Michelle Obama was followed by lawyer and jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg with First Lady Melania Trump rounding off the top-three.
OpenTable Launches Delivery
A new challenger approaches! OpenTable, best known as a reservation platform, has entered the delivery market. It’s partnered with Caviar, Grubhub, and UberEats to offer delivery and pick-up options. Delivery options will only show in metro areas where OpenTable and the third-party delivery services overlap.
DOORDASH DOESN’T DELIVER FOR ITS DRIVERS
Why it matters to you: Should delivery driver tips supplement the cost of their labor?
It’s not often that the outrage machine actually matches up with the outrage it’s responding to, but this story about DoorDash theft wage from their drivers is just so. If you’re not familiar with DoorDash, they are a third-party delivery service that utilizes gig employees as their drivers. This is the model of a few delivery services from UberEats to InstaCart. The driver accepts deliveries and is paid a set amount for that delivery. For DoorDash, they aren’t investing in the expenses associated with staff, and their drivers have the flexibility to work when they want. So you can imagine the surprise of a New York Times writer that worked as a driver for DoorDash, when he learned that the service was counting their tips against the wage they were owned. In other words, if the driver was paid $7 to deliver the product and received a $3 tip, DoorDash would still only give them $7 for their effort. In what universe did this, or any company (InstaCart was doing the same until Feb of this year), believe that a tip offered for delivery was intended for their profit?
It appears this wasn’t hidden from drivers, but the NY Times article has spurred some action. Tony Xu wrote in a Twitter thread on Tuesday night, “Going forward, we’re changing our model - the new model will ensure that Dashers’ earnings will increase by the exact amount a customer tips on every order” He went on to say, “(We) built a pay model to prioritize transparency, consistency of earnings... But it’s clear from recent feedback that we didn’t strike the right balance.” Got that right! Can you imagine the mutiny if you suddenly took 100% of server/bartender tips and told them they were getting paid nothing more than their base wage? It’s specifically why the ‘no tipping’ model has failed so miserably. So good on those delivery drivers that are not actually earning the tips they are offered by satisfied customers.
[Source: Huffington Post]
SPORTS-THEMED OPERATORS SAY ‘BYE FELICIA’ TO THE STATUS QUO
Why it matters to you: See how the best chains are using sports to differentiate themselves.
Sports-themed operators know about competition. Everything from home theatre to Internet streaming has been attacking our industry’s traffic for years. Yet with all these options and distractions, thematically, sports restaurants are among the most successful segments in the restaurant industry. It is also among the most scalable and repeatable themes which is why there are so many chain operators that leverage sports on TV to attract guests. There is a lot our audience can learn from the innovative approaches being taken by sports bar operators. This slide show gives you 14 examples of sports-themed chains that are shattering the status quo.
Several of them are subscribers to our service and we are proud to support their trailblazing efforts to reinvent the genre. Whether it’s partnering with a great regional franchisee like Glory Days Grill has done in the Carolinas or The Ainsworth expanding their chic Manhattan concept outside the big city, these operators understand that sports-themed restaurants can provide both the passion of sports fans and the appeal of a great food, beverage, and service. If you think your brand is ready to grow then we strongly encourage you to check out these folks that are already there. Let their experience and success inform your own. It’s a cheap education and might actually point you in the right directly.
[Source: FSR Magazine]
