Hey all - I got a question to poll from all of you TT dwellers.
My buddy who owns his own shop in the same regional franchise I am with has hit some hard times.
He is in a small market (Erie, CO) with about 9,000 addresses. It does have growth happening but with the current housing market that slowed considerably. He is located in “Old Town” and has a good reputation with the locals. Unfortunatley the “Old Town” is not big enough to support him fully. Recentlty a new sit down/take out joint called “Slices” opened and they did such a poor job during their first few weeks it truly had zero effect on his sales.
Recent news in the front range was that Papa Johns had filed for some kind of bankruptcy [A Minnesota franchisee had purchased all the Corporate PJ in the Denver Metro Area about a year ago] and this means they are on shaky ground through the whole area (my markets they are a non factor and probably will close). 10 weeks ago however it was discovered that a NEW PJ was going to open in his area with a NEW franchisee.
My friend (and former GM of one of my shops) Mitchell tried to amp up his operations providing even better sevrice than he had been (which was already pretty good). He concentrated on his food and service and even put an emphasis on his image (where he might not have had folks tucking in shirts, etc now he was).
He did a pretty agressive offer (knowing our chain is in direct competition with Dominos) and mailed his entire area over a 2 week span right prior to their grand opening. His sales were steady at 9,000 to 9,500 a week.
PJ came in with door hanging and has done some small mailings. We learned PJ did 9,000 it’s first week open. Mitchell did 7,500 each week since they opened. Losing only 1,500 sounds great as he should be able to build that back up once the luster of the shiny new store wears off. Only problem is he is broke. He did make some mistakes (dont we all) and thought the agressive offer would have given him some staying power.
Anyway - thats the back story. His store is listed on our corporate website along with my own http://odbj.com We have way more to offer than most other shops in our chain (he does just come along for the ride I provide him) and we are proven in many taste tests to beat the Big 4 all the time.
So back to the question - what are some of the best things he might try to stimulate some sales or cash flow that dont take a lot of money. I printed him about 1000 “Neighbourhood Of The Week” flyers with a set of offers only for them and a limited time. He will go door hang those in the areas closer to him and farthest from them.
Oh and there is a Dominos and an Abo’s Pizza (higher priced “NY Pizza”) along with the PJ and Slices I mentioned before.
Any ideas will be passed along (he is soooo low tech that even a bb is too much for him) and maybe I can get him to register over here. I know 10 years ago when I first became an owner I found a ton of help. Then I became one of the helpers.
Thanks
Dale
My buddy who owns his own shop in the same regional franchise I am with has hit some hard times.
He is in a small market (Erie, CO) with about 9,000 addresses. It does have growth happening but with the current housing market that slowed considerably. He is located in “Old Town” and has a good reputation with the locals. Unfortunatley the “Old Town” is not big enough to support him fully. Recentlty a new sit down/take out joint called “Slices” opened and they did such a poor job during their first few weeks it truly had zero effect on his sales.
Recent news in the front range was that Papa Johns had filed for some kind of bankruptcy [A Minnesota franchisee had purchased all the Corporate PJ in the Denver Metro Area about a year ago] and this means they are on shaky ground through the whole area (my markets they are a non factor and probably will close). 10 weeks ago however it was discovered that a NEW PJ was going to open in his area with a NEW franchisee.
My friend (and former GM of one of my shops) Mitchell tried to amp up his operations providing even better sevrice than he had been (which was already pretty good). He concentrated on his food and service and even put an emphasis on his image (where he might not have had folks tucking in shirts, etc now he was).
He did a pretty agressive offer (knowing our chain is in direct competition with Dominos) and mailed his entire area over a 2 week span right prior to their grand opening. His sales were steady at 9,000 to 9,500 a week.
PJ came in with door hanging and has done some small mailings. We learned PJ did 9,000 it’s first week open. Mitchell did 7,500 each week since they opened. Losing only 1,500 sounds great as he should be able to build that back up once the luster of the shiny new store wears off. Only problem is he is broke. He did make some mistakes (dont we all) and thought the agressive offer would have given him some staying power.
Anyway - thats the back story. His store is listed on our corporate website along with my own http://odbj.com We have way more to offer than most other shops in our chain (he does just come along for the ride I provide him) and we are proven in many taste tests to beat the Big 4 all the time.
So back to the question - what are some of the best things he might try to stimulate some sales or cash flow that dont take a lot of money. I printed him about 1000 “Neighbourhood Of The Week” flyers with a set of offers only for them and a limited time. He will go door hang those in the areas closer to him and farthest from them.
Oh and there is a Dominos and an Abo’s Pizza (higher priced “NY Pizza”) along with the PJ and Slices I mentioned before.
Any ideas will be passed along (he is soooo low tech that even a bb is too much for him) and maybe I can get him to register over here. I know 10 years ago when I first became an owner I found a ton of help. Then I became one of the helpers.
Thanks
Dale
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