Stagnation Plagues Chain Restaurants

If success does leave clues so does chain restaurant stagnation.  Simply look at the symptoms causing restaurant stagnation including year over year (YOY) customer traffic declines,  YOY price increase’s & YOY copycat menus according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

Is it any wonder that Restaurants Unlimited restaurants is caught in a conundrum of their own making.  Today, they serve fresh food with flavor but they serve it just the way they did in 1980, 1990, 2,000. The food consumer’s have evolved and many full-service restaurants have not, Restaurants Unlimited is one of them forced to close stores last week.   Does your service model look like yesterday or tomorrow?

Ok, then there is Boston Market.  Yes, recently Boston Market once again was forced to close restaurants this time 10% of the remaining stores that means 45 units were closed last week.  All the while Boston Market once the poster child for the high growth grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food trend capitulated the space to everyone else including grocery stores. 

Boston Market hired a salesman as a consultant that took them BACKWARDS adding table service?  After spending million’s on backward looking consultants and replacing CEO’s they have nothing but the shell of a viable concept left. Is Boston Market lost in mediocrity or worse on the way to no stores at all?

Rotisserie Chicken is still hot.  The fact is grocery stores, club stores, c-stores and other retailers have done what Boston Market refused to do.  That is evolve the rotisserie chicken space.  The result are clear growing a brand today means evolving with consumers not trying to go backwards.  If success does leave clues and it does one thing is clear Scott Beck had the concept right, financing wrong.  A’ but times they evolve and Boston Market did not.  Does your concept look more like Boston Market than Chipotle who with a new CEO is moving the brand forward?

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Battle for Share of Stomach