I heard an ad on the radio today for Subway’s new app. It’s another app aimed at making the dining/user experience better at Subway. There are a ton of apps being developed in the industry right now in this space. Interacting with the customers in a digital way to make things quicker and easier thus …
Restaurant Industry
Total Number of US Restaurant Units Decline
Read an article today on Blue MauMau regarding the decline in the number of restaurant units over the past year. Independent restaurants are the culprit as chain restaurants saw growth in the number of units over the same period. It seems to be getting tougher and tougher on the independent restaurant operators to compete these …
What is the deal with GMO’s?
I would like to thank Chef Russell Furdell from Chef Resources for sending me this Slate.com article on GMO’s. We usually like to cut and paste these types of articles so you can just read them here, but this one is so long and has so many pictures that it wasn’t going to look good. …
The Value of Pre-Shift Meetings
I had the opportunity in 2002 to go through hospitality and customer service training similar to what the Ritz Carlton organization uses. This program was implemented at one of the premier shopping malls in the country, The Grove in Los Angeles. I was a Concierge Services Manager at the mall. Our concierge team was so …
CEOs Discuss $15/Hr Minimum Wage
This past week or so we have seen a lot in the news about Restaurant CEO’s speaking out on the $15 minimum wage push. The one that got the most press was Nigel Travis of Dunkin’ Brands, calling it “outrageous”. CNN Money posted an article today on the subject with thoughts from Sally Smith of …
FOH Readiness is Key
I’m sure you have experienced this a million times…. I’m going to share a story from my days bartending in a very busy mountain town. Spring break was one of the busiest times of the year. Two-hour waits for dinner and up to an hour wait for lunch. No real break between the …
Dunkin Brand CEO Blasts NY State
The NRA posted this article today where Dunkin’ Brands CEO Nigel Travis was critical of NY State lawmakers. Below are excerpts and you can view the entire article by clicking here. Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. CEO Nigel Travis criticized New York State lawmakers Thursday for “choosing to skirt the legislative process” by appointing a wage …
The Restaurant Industry Warned You – Look at What is Happening in Seattle
Fox news just published an article about some of the unintended consequences that are showing up in Seattle because of their new minimum wage law. To read the full article click here. Here are the points that I found most interesting: People are asking their bosses for fewer hours so they can make less and …
The Customer Experience & Mobile Apps
I saw an article on the Missouri Restaurant Association website where SmartBrief talked to Maya Mikhailov, chief marketing officer of GPShopper. She brings up some great points around restaurants and retailers using data and apps to interact with customers. Data is being used all over the business to help influence decisions and drive sales. Here are some …
How do you use your operations data?
So you are collecting operations data every day, probably every shift, but what are you doing with it? If you are like most operators you are filing it in a drawer in the GM’s office never to be seen again. But what a waste of time and data. Why go through the exercise if nobody …