A&W Renewed Success Clue

Legacy brands don’t become legacy brands by doing nothing.  In fact one success clues that Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® reminds regular readers of this blog is “consumers are dynamic not static and brands must be as well”.

A&W restaurants have been around since 1919. That’s right 1919. You cannot survive over 101 years if you do not evolve.  Well guess what.  Rethinking its growth strategy, A&W entered the C-store sector and guess what happened?

Same-store sales at A&W Restaurants’ franchised gas and convenience store locations jumped by double digits in June, although Americans were driving fewer miles and buying less gas than usual. Sales at A&W’s more than 90 C-store locations were up 10.5 percent, following an 8.3 percent increase in May. They were an average of 11 percent higher during the January-February period before falling off in March and April, the result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The strong performance comes as the iconic brand prepares to expand its convenience store and travel center presence from coast to coast with eight new franchised locations. 

“At a time when Americans were staying off the road, it’s remarkable that sales at A&W convenience store locations were so strong,” says CEO Kevin Bazner. “This shows the tremendous value that A&W brings to C-stores and travel centers.”

“A&W truly is an all-American business opportunity that performs very well in all areas of the country,” Bazner added. He noted that in a recent national poll of 15,000 respondents, 74% had eaten at an A&W.

To help new C-store owners succeed, A&W is lowering royalties in the first year of all new franchise agreements from the standard 5% to 3%. Second-year royalties are 4%. Initial fees on multi-unit agreements also are being discounted.

System-wide, A&W experienced double-digit comp-store sales growth in May and June, despite nearly all dining rooms being closed due to coronavirus. Average unit sales have increased by 38 percent since franchisees acquired the company from YUM! Brands in 2011.

“The pandemic is sadly forcing many stores, as well as independent and other chain restaurants, to close permanently,” Bazner says. “We expect more new franchisees will capitalize on these real estate opportunities and convert facilities that once housed other restaurant brands or businesses to A&Ws.” How are you evolving?

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Wawa Much More than a Fast-Casual C-Store

With close to $4.621 Billion in annual sales there is no doubt that Wawa continues to drive customer interaction with a leave of branded service, fresh food, and fresh beverages that few can mimic according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Wawa intends to offer drive-thru service for the first time at a new store.  So just what does that mean.  Well according to Johnson it is the next level of service that Wawa is exploring extending to its customer based in an effort to expand fresh food and beverage sales while garnering new customers.

The new drive-thru location  have three parking spaces reserved for curbside pickup as well. While the drive-thru hours would run from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. for a limited menu of food and beverage items, including hoagies, Sizzli breakfast sandwiches, soup, coffee and smoothies to start.

Wawa said the new unit should be open by the end of this year. Its reported that the current planned model for the drive-thru will allow up to 19 vehicles to line up at an 88-square-foot drive-thru window.

Terri Micklin, Wawa's head of construction stated "We are hoping to learn from the layout, workflow and traffic flow at this location, as we continue to explore alternatives for longer term application to our stores post-COVID-19,".  Note to accommodate the drive-thru, the site will have a smaller number of standard parking spaces and fuel islands.

Wawa predicts that 30 to 50 percent of the store's customers will utilize the drive-thru. Who are you selling what and how?  What can you learn from Wawa?  What is your AUV’s? Can you compete with Wawa?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Fine Fast Food BRYN+DANE's Grocerant Growth

Filled with contemporary customer relevance DRYN+DANE clearly has the ‘halo’ of grocerant niche ‘better-for-you’ fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food as an asset according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®.

DRYN+DANE has cultivated point of differentiation platform consisting of an “innovative environment, serving healthy and delicious meals of the finest basic ingredients in customer driven creative combinations”.  Clearly that is working for them as this week the company is announced a 100-store expansion. 

The platform of ‘better-for-you’ has proven to be a successful invitation for “busy moms and school kids in for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner take-out, to sales men and women, looking for a smarter road food alternative,  according to the staff at BRYN+DANE.

Bryn Davis Founder and CEO of BRYN+DANE's "We are very consciously challenging the conventional fast food industry," The ability to garner new customer adoption with customer relevance is important BRYN+DANE ability to leverage technology a “touch screen ordering system which opens up, rather than restricts the variety of offerings available to patrons, and local sourcing of foods from traditional farms and industrial scale urban indoor grow houses” expands its customer relevance according to our own Grocerant

Retail foodservice continues to evolve and companies the ilk of BRYN+DANE, Snap Kitchen, New Season’s Market, and Green Zebra Grocery that simultaneously offer ‘better-for-you’ fresh prepared grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and or Heat-N-Eat food that is portable in a contemporized setting with technology will continue to find incremental success.

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us