I was closed on Mondays at my previous location & now that I am pretty much on my own with my business, I would really like to keep it this way at my new location. At my previous location, Tuesday lunch was my 4th busiest time of the week; I attribute it to having been closed on Monday. My thought was to let the other businesses have it and I made up for it on Tuesday, while allowing myself Mondays to attend to all other business related matters.
Now that I am opening at a new location moving from a location with a population of axp 1400 within a 7 mile radius, to 20k+, I am confident sales will double, possibly triple,(this is scary as to how I will keep up with the volume) I am struggling with opening Monday from 4pm-9pm manily for Monday night football. This being said, I am asking how many independents providing a NY Style made from scratch & baked in a deck oven see a boost for Monday night football vs the rest of the year being opened on Monday? How much of a boost is it? How cost effective is it? Do you profit from it after all overhead is considered & is this profit worth the effort?
Thanks everyone
The questions you need to ask yourself are:
1 - Can you get enough sales during the hours you plan to be open (shorter hours) to make as much profit as you require?..If the answer is no, then you either have to open longer hours, increase sales during the shorter hours or reduce expenses…In my pizzeria days, I was able to buy a place and reduce hours from 7 days a week (open to midnight most nights) to 5 days a week and close by 10pm…I worked to increase Tue Wed Thurs nights…And also catering orders…At the end of the time I had the place the profits had increased substantially and I took 2 days a week off and closed a couple weeks a year for vacation…
2 - Are leaving money on the table by closing Mondays?..Some folks can not stand the thought of leaving money on the table so they sacrifice their lives, their families, their sanity, etc by working too many hours in the week…
Good luck…
Thanks Royster13, you summed this up real quick for me…New location - CLOSED MONDAY 
we get great colume an o monay night football specials…BUT we are in a city with a football team an I really think that matters if I was you I would close on mondays an enjoy the game, I only get to see glimpses of it.
A short post script on Monday night football.
I have a friend who had a pizzeria nearby, and to fluff-up business on Monday nights he got a large, reverse projection TV and put it in his party room, he then sold Monday night game passes which entitled the holder to a pitcher of beer or soft drink, a make shift pizza buffet (a couple heat lamps and a table), an order of hot wings, chips and salsa. I was there only once, but when I was there it was a lively party and he did quite well with it. Later, he expanded it to include all of the broadcast KC Royals and Chiefs games too. This was in addition to his regular business.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor