thinking of closing on sundays for the summer? what ya think?
Chick Fil A does it- doesn’t seem to hurt them- I’ve never taken the plunge.
I think you have to look at your market. We were closed on Sundays last summer when we first opened, then we opened in the fall and did great business on Sundays.
We decided to stay open, alot of it due to the fact I quit my job and we needed the extra income…
But we are located in a park with a wave pool, and across from a golf course, so we get alot of Sunday traffic.
Take into consideration your own income needs and the market.
Hope that helped 
there is an old biz philosophy - your store will only garner XXX$'s sales/yr - so you can spread it out over 5, 6, or 7 days…
by closing on Sunday, you’ll not have the associated expenses and the sales will eventually even out…so the theory goes…
I plan on not opening on Sundays - did it once b4…we’ll see…
no, you need 2 read the entire post & then think b4 you speak - this biz philosophy is from Harvard Biz School…
no, being open 2 days only is not an option…
if your location warrants “extra” business on Sunday, then fine, go 4 it…my 1st store didn’t so I always got a day off & made scheduling the crew easier…
Other stores since then have been hit or miss…but the biz principle remains the same…
Grocery store loved the “blue” laws, as it reduced variable expenses…store open 7 days/week do not make any more money than those still open only 6…thats a fact…
Actually, I only pay rent once a month. The other days are rent-free.
what an utter load of tosh - a grocery store that opens 7 days does not make any more than those open 6…that is a fact… - is it really??? maybe a long long time ago but we’re not talking about a long long time ago are we?
This whole philosophy works only on the principle that EVERY store of the same type is open/closed at the same type i.e. the demand and supply remain constant - only then do you get the same level of business. If you want to get your grocery’s and ALL the grocery stores are shut then yes you get the same business in in 6 days as you would 7.
In your case - you carry on closing on Sunday because the rest of us who do open on Sunday will carry on taking that business from you. Unless of course there is a local law that every pizza shop has to close when you do or that your local population can’t have pizza when your shut!
I suggest you understand and read the philosophy before you start telling people to re-read your post!
In one of my previous pizza places it did not seem to matter whether or not we were open 5, 6 or 7 days a week our average weekly sales were constant…We started at 6 days (closed Mon), went to 7 and then cut back to 5 (closed Sun & Mon)and we did okay…RCS…
thought that would get both sides of the fence. oh well, i’ve been reading this site for a while now & i have learned alot from most of you. I just opened in april (13th) ha. and am trying to adjust, but not to much, so not to let everyone be confused when i’m opened. thought i would finally post something here and learn a little more…thanks!
jay
I’m not telling anyone how to run their own business - if you choose to open 5 days a week then good for you. BUT if someone wants to eat and your shop isn’t open then they will go somewhere else if this wasn’t the case why would 99% of restaurants be open 7 days a week?
When I purchased my first location, the previous owner was closed Monday and Tuesday. Many people told me that they never knew when the place was opened so they just ordered somewhere else. After hearing this from many customers I decided to open 7 days a week. The goal is to turn all of your customers into “regular customers” and keep them from ordering from your competition. If you’re not open when they are ready to order, they will go elsewhere and who is to say that they will come back to your store. I once missed out on a $300 order by not being opened. Run some Sunday specials to boost sales. If it’s slow have your staff clean the place inside and out.
Roger - surely you must be wrong? our ‘I’ve heard the word Harvard so it must be true’ friend tells us this is wrong! Surely you can;t be operating a business against a ‘so called’ Harvard theory?
Patriot - I’m not disagreeing with Harvard at all - having a studied economics at college I do know however a little more about that theory though than you obviously do.
You have obviously taken half a theory, twisted it a little and are now telling it as gospel. If you can produce any substance/reference to this ‘Harvard’ theory I’ll apologise in public.
roger, you are right for sure! I guess I let the heat & slow days make me lazy & we all know you cant get like that . gotta push push push! i have good specials all week. guess i’ll make a sunday special offer you cant refuse. lol have a great day!!
I see the point you make, and we struggle with that reality every couple of quarters as we review our days of operation policy. We are open dinner only Tues through Sat. We have a very ,very small market, and the principal above would make some sense in our town.
We concluded every time so far that the 2 to 5 people in town who would eat at our place on Sunday would not make it worth our expense and personal loss of hours. The costs of utilities, labor and marketing for opening Monday and/or Tuesday simply will not be supported by sales on those days. Same thing with opening for lunch.
That is in our market. Metropolitan areas, or any place bigger than 2500 people for that matter, could have different experiences. One restaurant several years ago tried to save their business by opening for Sunday after-church buffet and menu. They just did not get many patrons. It’s a numbers game here.
That said, we are paying rent for only one day a month like Registered Guest and are brainstorming ways to generate more ‘different’ revenue streams with the same property and equipment. Lots of ideas that will eventually work when we get them on line. We may even use Mondays and Sundays to do some of the background work on the projects. We just won’t be open for dinner those nights as well.
Hi Nick
thanks for the reply - I agree that not 100% of business can be open 7 days a week 24 hours a day hence why I put 99%.
The same is true for central city locations where there is little residential, areas where church has an impact on Sunday trade and as you say small communities etc etc. Also there are the people who just want a day off. We have a very successful high end restaurant (not pizza) which closes on Tuesday - The owner and his wife (or one of them) is there every day they are open but they want a day off together once a week - up to them. BUT if they were open. As a high end business (the only one in town) they can do 7 days sales in 6 coz if you want that type of food there is no where else in Town to go.
Nice to have a sensible exchange rather than a silly ‘I heard Harvard’ so it must be true.
actually, my former partner (ex-wife) was working in the Demand Managemet/Category Management in the grocery field, for several large southern chains…but I reckon that doesn’t mean anything either…
ummm… if I read it right (I’ll read it two or three times so you won’t need to tell me to read it post again) I think it means she used to do have a job in the grocery field and and she used to be your wife? did I get that right?
yep it does mean something!
good job well done!
It was my experience that Sundays took the longest to kick in while establishing my business. I opened 3-8 and after the first year, we were busy on Sundays, non-stop.
It took around 6 months before I stopped saying this town dies after eight - my later hours and regulars really kicked in on weekdays.
It depends on location and what you can do but Sundays can be really good!
Guest if you have a good product then it will not hurt if they go elsewhere on a day you are closed…They will realize you have the “best pizza in town” and never crave pizza on a day you are closed again…In the closest town to me there is only 1 pizza place and they close for a few days every long weekend…Now maybe they could sell more if they were open all the time but they seem to be doing okay and they have a life too…RCS…
I have a good product, excellent delivery times and despite this I still chase every order, and market to get new customers - that’s how I grow my business and make more money.
I’m open all day every day - Sunday is my 3rd best day of the week.
When my customer crave pizza they know they can call me and get a great pizza delivered quickly every day!
I’ve lots (20+) of other pizza/take away shops in my town so if I wasn’t open then people would go else where. If I were shut we all know people will always try elsewhere - if people are hungry and there is no food in the house they ain’t gonna a) go to the grocery store or b) go hungry until i open the next day!
And I also have good managers so I can also have time off as well.
I don’t suppose anyone would like to try and convince J-r0kk to shut one day a week?