Hey all this is my first post here. My business partner and I opened a pizza place last May and are still working to make ends meet. We have been discussing the upcoming Holidays and are trying to figure out hours and staffing. Figured I would throw this out to you guys in order to get some expert advice. The Holidays in question are below. Basically want to know what business will be like. Thanks in advance for any information that you can provide.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day - We will be Closed
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Day
None of these days are ‘fantastic’ days but they will be up on similar days of the week this year:
xmas eve (we close early 11.30am to 8pm) - expect to do about 20-30% more than a normal Monday
NY eve (we close early 11.30am to 8pm) - again on a Monday and expect 20-30 in addition to a normal Monday
NY day (we open late 4pm to 11pm) - would expect to do again about 50% more than a normal Tuesday.
Its so hard to tell though - this is only our second Xmas in business and its still guess work!!!
I think alot will have to do with your demo as well,
last year we were closed christmas day but my wife and I and a couple employees did a dinner for needy family and we had tons of calls that night…
that being said I am still not asking my employees to work christmas…
but christmas eve here is special, we give everyone that orders that night a stocking and cookies
new years eve is for bars anymore but we have a plan for a baby sitter special!
Hello hendo,as you must well know we all KILL ourselves all year long.I think you should be closed these couple of days a year to enjoy yourself and your family because it is defitely not busy enough to stay open
,everyone is out celebrating or home having their traditional Christmas eve dinner.
I have worked for 3 different pizzerias…I’ll list how each one ran these holidays, just to give you extra ideas.
Keep in mind, all of these locations were in a smaller town, about 18k with plenty of competition.
Pizza Hut:
Christmas Eve Close at midnight
Christmas Day Closed
New Year’s Eve Close at 2 a.m.
New Year’s Day Business as usual
Mazzios:
Christmas Eve Close 2 hours early (typically, 8 p.m.)
Christmas Day Closed
New Year’s Eve Close at midnight
New Year’s Day Open at 4 p.m.
Papa John’s:
Christmas Eve Business as usual
Christmas Day Closed
New Year’s Eve Business as usual
New Year’s Day Business as usual
All 3 places did the same format that I’ve posted for each on Thanksgiving “Eve” and Day, as well.
For our area, Mazzio’s had the best rushes and time off for our demographic. Pizza Hut was SLOW after the hours of Mazzios on those posted holidays…and Mazzios opening at 4 p.m. gave everyone a breather from the night before.
This will be Papa John’s first Christmas season, so these are his ideas for now…this could change in the next week or 2…but right now, this is what my boss (who is also co-owner) is shooting for.
I agree with goomba, we will close Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am glad Christmas Eve falls on Monday, typically a slow day for us, so I will not really be missing much. I am going to enjoy a couple days off and spend it with my wife and kids.
Christmas Eve - Closed Opened 3 and 4 years ago, very slow. 2 years ago, opened for lunch only, but not worth the work, labor $ and prep required. Last Year closed all day, with no regrets
Christmas Day - Closed
New Years Eve - Will close at 8, after babysitter orders are done. My rush will be from 4-7pm, 50% over a normal monday.
New Years Day - Normal hours…should be a good lunch with some families off work. Likely 20-30% over a normal tuesday.
New Year’s Eve 11-9:30pm----you will get a nice rush from 6 till close.
New Year’s Day-- 11-9 lunch should be great…dinner should be brisk…will drop off around 8pm.