The Ten-Minute Manager's Guide to...Maximizing Off-Peak Hours
By Virginia Gerst, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 1/1/2006
Whether the result of a post-holiday slump or after-lunch lull, down times are inescapable in foodservice. Faced with empty tables and overhead that continues 24/7, bottom-line-oriented operators look for creative ways to bolster customer traffic in traditionally slow times of the day, week or year.
“All day long there are people who have to eat,” says Craig Moore, president of Coppell, Texas-based CiCi’s Pizza.
“Besides trying to capture our normal meal periods, we have to figure out how to bring people in the door [throughout the day],” he says.
New Dayparts
Early in the morning, before competitors open their doors, CiCi’s Pizza operators welcome children from local daycare centers. Late at night, CiCi’s managers fire up the pizza ovens for business groups.
“Most chains have buildings that are unused 70% of the day,” says Craig Moore, president of the 560-unit Coppell, Texas-based concept. “We reduce that by drawing people during off hours.”
Daycare-group visits follow a routine outlined in franchise holders’ tool kits.
“We walk the kids through the restaurant, show them the big cooking equipment—which blows them away—then let them make their own little pizzas,” Moore says. Children leave with coupons for future visits, “so they can bring their moms to CiCi’s.”
The breakfasts cost $2 a child and are so popular they “sell themselves,” he adds. No advertising is necessary.
“We started out having to contact daycare centers. In most of our cities people now are clamoring for them, and they contact us,” says Moore. “It’s a solution for them: They need to feed their kids, and they can almost call it a field trip.”
Business gatherings also draw crowds, without the expense of advertising dollars. “It’s amazing how many of these groups have found us,” says Moore.
“In our business, after you get to a break-even point, incremental sales are so important,” he adds. “A simple program can net you $370 a week, and that’s substantial for an average franchise operation.”
Web Feat
Internet marketing means business for Zehnder’s Restaurant in Frankenmuth, Mich., population 4,000.
Catering largely to tourists who motor to town from Detroit and Lansing, Mich., and Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio, Zehnder’s serves 1 million meals a year. But forget consistent traffic: 70% of those sales take place between July 4 and Dec. 31, according to John Zehnder, food and marketing director and executive chef. Building customer counts during winter and spring is “very much a challenge,” he admits.
With eight dining rooms to fill, Zehnder turns to the Internet to boost midwinter sales. Promotions on the restaurant’s Web site offer coupons redeemable on dates management knows will be slow. Guests who buy one meal get the second at half price.
“In January, we can have as many as 1,500 people using Internet coupons,” says Zehnder. “I’m surprised at how well they work.”
Special events, including monthly cigar nights and staff-taught cooking classes also are promoted on the Web site. Cigar nights, at $75 a head, regularly sell out, and from 50 to 60 people attend the cooking classes, then stay on for lunch.
“Every little bit helps, especially in the off-season,” says Zehnder.
“A nice thing about Internet promotions is that you can put them up one day, and if they aren’t working well—or if they are working too well—you can take them down the next,” he adds. “They are instant marketing.”
Pie High
Sunday nights were once slow at Scoozi! Then the Chicago restaurant, part of the Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE) group, began letting kids make their own pizzas.
Now business is up 20%, according to Steve Hofferth, LEYE division supervisor. On a typical Sunday, from 30 to 50 young diners show up with parents in tow. When Monday is a holiday, that number can climb to 80.
Each Sunday from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., children are encouraged to create their own pizzas at a long table set with all the fixings. Management outfits the young chefs in aprons and provides tall chairs so they can watch their creations bake in the wood-burning oven.
Children eat free as long as they are accompanied by an adult who pays full price.
“We open our doors at 5:00 p.m., and we’re really busy for the first two hours,” said Hofferth, who credits word of mouth with drawing the crowds. “It gets us going, and the kids are a lot of fun.”
Meal Deals
Business declines severely one week in the middle of each month at Louise’s, a soul-food restaurant in the heart of Atlanta.
“Maybe it’s because people get paid once a month, and it’s the end of their pay period,” theorizes co-owner Tammie Holmes.
Whatever the reason, Holmes needed a way to bolster sales. She found it by marketing her restaurant’s products directly to local businesses.
During the slow weeks, Louise’s discounts house-baked cakes, banana pudding and peach cobbler and sells bundled meals for $6.99, sweet tea and delivery included. Without the discounts, meals are priced from $6.99 to $9.99, with no liquid refreshment.
Postcards mailed to human-resource departments advertise the seven-day specials, along with the dates they are offered. Nine out of 10 customers who order once return, Holmes says.
“We deliver as many as 350 meals a week, and one company will order six or seven cakes,” she says. “During slow weeks, we may be down $1,000 in the restaurant, but we average $2,000 to $4,000 in direct marketing.”
Local Calls
Catering to the tourist trade can mean big seasonal profits for restaurants in resort communities, but it also can lead to some hungry months when the crowds return home. To offset lean periods, smart operators focus on cultivating strong local followings.
R.J. Gator’s Florida Sea Grill & Bar, a 27-unit Jupiter, Fla.-based chain, builds its restaurants in neighborhoods in order to stay busy all year, according to Vice President of Marketing Jim Samuel.
“We do get a healthy customer increase in tourist season, but we don’t cater to the seasonal snowbird crowd,” he says.
R.J. Gator’s wins community loyalty by feeding the homeless at holidays and contributing to local charities 12 months a year. New units open with a fund-raising benefit for an area cause, and existing restaurants respond to requests for donations by setting aside a portion of an evening’s proceeds.
“A lot of people make dining-out decisions based on what the restaurant has done for the organizations they support,” explains Samuel. “We don’t say no to anybody.”
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