Status Report

J

j_r0kk

New member
Hey guys,

Sorry I haven’t been as active in the forum as usual. We’re in the homestretch of opening store #2 and store #1 has been demanding lately with the additional sales and events so my time is very limited. I still check in every other day or so but haven’t posted often because the advice in here has been outstanding.

To catch you up on the “Sundown Salute” 4th of July festival put on by the city, sales were better than expected. I projected a modest $400/day in sales from our vendor’s tent and would’ve been happy with $300/day. As it turned out we brought in over $4,000 over the 6 days and it spurred a record week on week ending 7/1/07. This week has been just as good, though we’ll fall short of a new record by a few hundred dollars.

Next week we’ll be installing the remaining flooring at the new store and running the plumbing for the 3 compartment sink and handwashing sinks. The following week we’re having the signage delivered. Our projected opening date was slated for this week, but due to increased demand at the first store I was forced to push it back another month. I just don’t want to leave store #1 hanging while I open another, so eating the rent for a month jabs me a little in the short term, but should pay dividends in the long term.

I’ll keep you posted.

-J_r0kk
 
Last edited:
Have you replaced the manager yet at store 1? You said you had problems and were getting rid of him.

If so how did you go about it? (i.e. promote assistant manager, or new one).

Dave
 
Last edited:
good stuff…i enjoyed watching your vids on youtube. keep us posted on the new store
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the update brother. Opening store number 2 is no joke. We understand that you’re busy. Just as long as you don’t forget about us it’s cool.

Good Luck and keep us up-to-date.
 
Last edited:
Dave,

Here’s how it went down…

I sat down with my former manager and had a discussion on where the store was and where it’s going. We both agreed it would be in the store’s best interest if he were to step down. It was almost like he was relieved I was doing this. He’s a good man and means well. It was an experience I hope he learned from so he can apply it to his next job.

Meanwhile, I took over the store for the next couple weeks, freaking out the entire time because I had no manager for store number one while I’m building and about to open store number two. Of course, we started pushing the local store advertising again and sales started to shoot way up to levels before I left my post… causing me to freak out even more because now I’ve got a high volume store with no manager for store number one while I’m building and about to open store number two.

I put feelers out everywhere and picked up a manager from Little Ceasars. This manager hated the product and the direction of the company, but had been there for quite a few years and felt obligated to stay… until she had a disagreement with a supervisor. About that same time I got into contact with her. She now works for me. She’s good and she loves to clean and stay organized. Right now her biggest challenge is to hand toss pizzas and to learn our menu because it’s a little more advanced than what she’s used to.

I’ll be sticking around store number one for a few more weeks to make sure she’s good to go. After that, I’ve GOT to get store number two going.

-J_r0kk
 
Last edited:
60.png
j_r0kk:
I’ll be sticking around store number one for a few more weeks to make sure she’s good to go. After that, I’ve GOT to get store number two going.

-J_r0kk
Click to expand...
you have my sympathy and understanding, there brother. There is no pain in our business like the stress of working night and day to get a store open after blowing past the second or third projected date . . . .and not having a lot of control over how soon it gets open.

Cool videos. I’ll put one together in a week or two after we get our dining room finished. It will look much more like a pizzeria at that point. If I scare up time, I may do a little footage now and then the full tour when done.
 
Last edited:
60.png
NicksPizza:
60.png
j_r0kk:
I’ll be sticking around store number one for a few more weeks to make sure she’s good to go. After that, I’ve GOT to get store number two going.

-J_r0kk
Click to expand...
you have my sympathy and understanding, there brother. There is no pain in our business like the stress of working night and day to get a store open after blowing past the second or third projected date . . . .and not having a lot of control over how soon it gets open.

Cool videos. I’ll put one together in a week or two after we get our dining room finished. It will look much more like a pizzeria at that point. If I scare up time, I may do a little footage now and then the full tour when done.
Click to expand...
And don’t forget the vacant rooms out the back. 😛

Looking forward to seeing the results of the “greatest pizza store ever built”.

Dave
 
Last edited:
While we were trying to open our second location seemed like everything under the sun happened and kept pushing the opening date. Store #1 which felt like it could run itself seemed to collapse the more I needed it to stand.

You will eventually get it open, so hang tough!
 
60.png
Dough:
You will eventually get it open, so hang tough!
Click to expand...
60.png
Dough:
You will eventually get it open, so hang tough!
Click to expand...
NO!! Give up now and quit. Pizza business sucks anyway, and you’re just gonna end up selling $5 pizzas in the end just to pay your mortgage :twisted:

<blink . . . blink> I think I just channeled a “guest” with no sense of decorum :shock:

go get 'em J baby. When the doors do open, I wish you the best and that they don’t slap you in the @ss when they swing back closed.
 
Last edited:
LOL, thanks for the bit of encouragement Nick. I just found out last week from a very high ranking Papa John’s official (and an old bud) that the town in which store number 2 is located produced a national opening week sales record for Papa John’s: over $50k the first week. Of course they also set another record the following week for the largest decline from opening week sales when they dropped over $30k and finished with around $20k. They’re now putting along at $13k-$14k, which is pretty decent in my book.

So yes, I’m eager to get it open. I’ve got 80 ten second “teasers” set up on the radio stations to start the week prior to opening. I’ve also got a direct mail ready to drop, announcing “Now open”. We’re going to try to set a record ourselves in this town. Just got to get it going. -J_r0kk
 
Last edited:
I’m new and came accross this thread. I saw your youtube videos, I like how you set up your store; it is cool. I got some questions though.

Did you hire out all the work on the store or did you do it yourself? Are you going to run the store or have a manager? What do you plan to do for staffing the store for opening especially if you do $50,000? What offers do you have for the opening?

I noticed from the videos that you said you wanted to be open in June. What happened and do you have an opening date in mind? Also what else set back your date?
 
Last edited:
60.png
j_r0kk:
The following week we’re having the signage delivered.
Click to expand...
If the ball ever gets rolling on our next location, I’m going to schedule the signage as one of the 1st things to get done. Then we’ll have a “countdown” going in the window for the grand opening or some such. In the past, it was always a race to get the sign up before we opened. I’m starting to think that we missed out on a good opportunity to build awareness.

Has anyone tried “branding their build out” before?
 
Last edited:
brad randall:
60.png
j_r0kk:
Has anyone tried “branding their build out” before?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
That was actually part of our build up to 1st night for us. Brief background on my place: we closed Oct31 due to lost lease . . . built out an old place completely and re-opened 7 months later.

We did anything and everything to let people know we were still in the fight and still making progress. We saw a couple of news articles done since we were rehabilitating a building vacant 18 years, we had a flashing sign as part of the property, so used that a bit. We put paper over all the windows while we were building to create a sense of mystery kinda like “Willy Wonka”. We bought signage for the last couple months with our logo and slogans on it to cover the windows with “What’s Your Craving” and our logo. We even put a few flyer/posters out prior to reopening.

I recommend it if you are getting close and have a good hard date (yeah, right). We had to bump our opening a couple times due to construction delays and my back/knees being just too tired to work 10 hour days building at the end of it.
 
Last edited:
J_rOkk, Seriously, how would you handle a 50k opening week? How do you plan to recruit a staff for that? What offers are on your direct mail piece?

I may be looking at aquiring a store and am curious to what I may need to do. ANY help would be appreciated
 
Last edited:
Sorry it took so long to get back to you guys…

duggy1983 wrote:
J_rOkk, Seriously, how would you handle a 50k opening week? How do you plan to recruit a staff for that? What offers are on your direct mail piece?
Click to expand...
Actually, I think I confused you. I said we were going to try to set record ourselves in this town, meaning we were going to try to break the “Wheat State Pizza” opening week sales record… not the Papa John’s opening week sales record. My goal is to open between $16k - $20k… and yes, I’ve got staff that I’m pulling in from other stores to help.

brad randall writes:
In the past, it was always a race to get the sign up before we opened.
Click to expand...
I’ve got the same race going on here. The good news is the banner announcing us coming to town has been up for a month. My signs were actually supposed to be up about 3 weeks ago but I had to stop everything because store #1 was in a bad way and I had no idea how long I’d be there.

-J_r0kk
 
Last edited:
Duggy, it’s come to my attention that some people (competitors) close to me and my stores have discovered this site and my postings. So, I’ll tell you when we open the day we open, fair enough?

-J_r0kk
 
Last edited:
60.png
j_r0kk:
Duggy, it’s come to my attention that some people close to me and my stores have discovered this site and my postings. So, I’ll tell you when we open the day we open, fair enough?

-J_r0kk
Click to expand...
That would be fair. I guess that’s the price of fame. I hope you get it open soon as I look forward to an update!

Duggy
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top