A bunch of drug sellers plan to muscle into restaurants' turf, so some heads are likely to get banged. Luckily, bandages and aspirin will be near at hand.
Gauze, pills, lotions, and trusses were how those interlopers formerly made their money. But now drugstore dons like Duane Reade, CVS and Walgreen's are ripping out aisles of stethoscopes and canes to showcase sandwiches, salads, muffins, coffees and a host of other lunchtime and breakfast staples. At one of the prototypes near our New York offices, you can grab some made-to-order sushi along with a tube of Preparation H.
The restaurant business has harumphed a little about the charge of discount retailers into foodservice. Walmart, Target and Kmart could all draw blood because of their traffic and sheer might, as any thinking chain-restaurant operator will tell you. But until that happens, how much hand-wringing can you do? There's next week's sales target to hit.
If that lukewarm concern has been voiced about drugstores, I've yet to hear it. The business seems to regard the phenomenon as more of a curiosity than a threat.
That's not the case in the c-store industry, which fears a distraction from its quest for more fast-food sales. At a recent conference for that business, drugstores were repeatedly cited as a looming threat, as were dollar stores, the super-discount retailers who've presumably been helped by the economic downturn. They, too, are experimenting with ready-to-eat foods, mindful that the big quick-service restaurant chains don't have a monopoly on 99-cent sandwiches and drinks.
The issue for all those challengers is quality. Can they match the caliber of what's offered in a downtown takeout shop where food is the focus, not the add-on sale to a prescription for suppositories.
Here's some food for thought on that question, a video shot by Angel Abcede from our sister publication, CSP. It's a look at Walgreen's new food-heavy prototype in Chicago. You'll get a good read on the quality of food that's being offered by that chain. Afterward, you might want to see what sort of deal you could get on ulcer remedies.
Showing posts with label retail products. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retail products. Show all posts
Friday, January 13, 2012
Friday, October 8, 2010
The food industry's future, in high def
In the course of covering the restaurant business, I routinely hear savants proclaim what sorts of places and foods will catch the industry’s fancy in the months and years ahead. The future they’re sketching bears little resemblance to the one young kitchen talents are already setting out to build.
I say that after listening for three days to the business plans of 21 would-be graduates from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. As a final exam of sorts, the students develop an idea for a business and pitch it to the class. Invited to attend are three industry veterans who act as if they’re prospective investors, asking questions, providing feedback and generally helping the students sharpen their presentations. I was one of the industry elders tapped to play constructive critic.
The students had spent the six-month semester developing their business concepts, and it showed. The lot were brilliant—creative, finely detailed to demonstrate their viability, and decidedly real world, reflecting what the students had learned in the field as well as the classroom.
I won’t divulge any of the ideas because this is an industry of thieves. Then again, most of the restaurateurs I know would have trouble copycatting concepts that pivot on marshmallow, faro, free shots, egg creams, cowgirls, German sailors, and broke hipsters. (If you want an explanation of those elements, contact me and I’ll either pass you along to the student or shed as much light as I can without giving away the idea.)
Indeed, if restaurateurs were looking for ideas to pinch, they’d have found few suitable for their world. The presentations left little doubt that tomorrow’s chefs are choosing food shops, not restaurants, as the galleries for their arts.
More than a third of the pitches I heard dealt with retailing in some way. Several of the concepts were out-and-out storefronts, selling everything from flasks and coffee to Romanian vintages for wine virgins.
Other students aired their intention to sell a retail product via food or specialty shops. One already had an operation lined up to carry her product. Another brought in a gift basket of her wares.
The class’ instructor, the former restaurateur Alan Someck, explained to me that the students had witnessed the rigors of running a restaurant or a high-volume kitchen during their internships and work in the industry. That lifestyle might not hold the appeal it once did for youngsters aspiring to earn lots of green in whites. They were clearly more open to alternative paths, like the food and restaurant-focused web site that one student planned to open.
But the students also seemed to lack the black-and-white attitude of yesterday’s restaurant industry, which saw itself as a world apart from food retailing. The ones who planned to open a restaurant after graduation almost to a person included a retail component in their brainchild. Those stations would sell everything from meat to customized gifts.
Along the same lines, a goodly number of the plans broke out sales projections for catering, even when their signature product wasn’t something you’d associate with that sort of service—drink flights, for example.
And quite a few presenters said they intended to use trucks, carts and stands to offer their products where would-be customers are likely to be, a further departure from the dining-room mindset of past generations.
I have absolutely no doubt that many of the students whose plans I evaluated will be extremely successful in their ventures. They’re going to be tomorrow’s stars, albeit in a much different industry than the one we see today.
I say that after listening for three days to the business plans of 21 would-be graduates from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. As a final exam of sorts, the students develop an idea for a business and pitch it to the class. Invited to attend are three industry veterans who act as if they’re prospective investors, asking questions, providing feedback and generally helping the students sharpen their presentations. I was one of the industry elders tapped to play constructive critic.
The students had spent the six-month semester developing their business concepts, and it showed. The lot were brilliant—creative, finely detailed to demonstrate their viability, and decidedly real world, reflecting what the students had learned in the field as well as the classroom.
I won’t divulge any of the ideas because this is an industry of thieves. Then again, most of the restaurateurs I know would have trouble copycatting concepts that pivot on marshmallow, faro, free shots, egg creams, cowgirls, German sailors, and broke hipsters. (If you want an explanation of those elements, contact me and I’ll either pass you along to the student or shed as much light as I can without giving away the idea.)
Indeed, if restaurateurs were looking for ideas to pinch, they’d have found few suitable for their world. The presentations left little doubt that tomorrow’s chefs are choosing food shops, not restaurants, as the galleries for their arts.
More than a third of the pitches I heard dealt with retailing in some way. Several of the concepts were out-and-out storefronts, selling everything from flasks and coffee to Romanian vintages for wine virgins.
Other students aired their intention to sell a retail product via food or specialty shops. One already had an operation lined up to carry her product. Another brought in a gift basket of her wares.
The class’ instructor, the former restaurateur Alan Someck, explained to me that the students had witnessed the rigors of running a restaurant or a high-volume kitchen during their internships and work in the industry. That lifestyle might not hold the appeal it once did for youngsters aspiring to earn lots of green in whites. They were clearly more open to alternative paths, like the food and restaurant-focused web site that one student planned to open.
But the students also seemed to lack the black-and-white attitude of yesterday’s restaurant industry, which saw itself as a world apart from food retailing. The ones who planned to open a restaurant after graduation almost to a person included a retail component in their brainchild. Those stations would sell everything from meat to customized gifts.
Along the same lines, a goodly number of the plans broke out sales projections for catering, even when their signature product wasn’t something you’d associate with that sort of service—drink flights, for example.
And quite a few presenters said they intended to use trucks, carts and stands to offer their products where would-be customers are likely to be, a further departure from the dining-room mindset of past generations.
I have absolutely no doubt that many of the students whose plans I evaluated will be extremely successful in their ventures. They’re going to be tomorrow’s stars, albeit in a much different industry than the one we see today.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
How Bob Evans almost wrecked my Christmas Eve
A pox on you, Bob Evans Farms.
On Christmas Eve, while I was ardently researching what adult refresher to leave Santa, word broke of a new venture by the venerable family chain. Keep in mind that NORAD, the nation's missile tracking service, maintains a Santa watch on that night, so it’s not as if the world is abuzz with important activity. Yet here was real industry news: The launch of a new restaurant format intended to blunt competition from supermarkets and food shops. For the sake of restaurant journalism and world peace, I was going to have to write about it.
Fortunately, my quest to nail the ideal eggnog-to-rum ratio pre-empted any blogging that night, as did the holiday festivities of the big day itself. But here, finally, is the rundown of Bob Evans’ notable restaurant experiment.
The test restaurant, near the chain’s Columbus, Ohio, headquarters, features a street-facing retail section called Taste of the Farm, according to news reports. Available for takeout are seven complete meals in family-sized portions, as well as Bob Evans-branded pantry items like muffin and pancake mixes. Also available are Bob Evans sausages and other port products.
The section is an adjunct to a sit-down Bob Evans restaurant. The idea, according to the ample coverage of the concept, is to offer consumers a choice of how they want to be fed. They can sit down for a meal, grab something pre-prepared to eat at home, or buy groceries for something they partially prepare.
Brainstorming a concept that gracefully bridges restaurants and the ready-to-eat sections of supermarkets and food shops has been a longtime (and long elusive) goal of the restaurant business.
The quest has assumed new importance in recent years because the brains working for the other side seem to be closer to finding the formula. It’s painfully obvious to restaurants that they’ve lost share of stomach during the recession to retailers. People are cooking more, buying more ready-to-eat meals, or pursuing the middle court of purchasing some pre-made elements and preparing the rest.
It remains to be seen if Bob Evans, one of the industry’s sleepier concepts, can synthesize a potent counterattack.
In the meantime, I’m just wondering if the Taste of the Farm sells eggnog.
On Christmas Eve, while I was ardently researching what adult refresher to leave Santa, word broke of a new venture by the venerable family chain. Keep in mind that NORAD, the nation's missile tracking service, maintains a Santa watch on that night, so it’s not as if the world is abuzz with important activity. Yet here was real industry news: The launch of a new restaurant format intended to blunt competition from supermarkets and food shops. For the sake of restaurant journalism and world peace, I was going to have to write about it.
Fortunately, my quest to nail the ideal eggnog-to-rum ratio pre-empted any blogging that night, as did the holiday festivities of the big day itself. But here, finally, is the rundown of Bob Evans’ notable restaurant experiment.
The test restaurant, near the chain’s Columbus, Ohio, headquarters, features a street-facing retail section called Taste of the Farm, according to news reports. Available for takeout are seven complete meals in family-sized portions, as well as Bob Evans-branded pantry items like muffin and pancake mixes. Also available are Bob Evans sausages and other port products.
The section is an adjunct to a sit-down Bob Evans restaurant. The idea, according to the ample coverage of the concept, is to offer consumers a choice of how they want to be fed. They can sit down for a meal, grab something pre-prepared to eat at home, or buy groceries for something they partially prepare.
Brainstorming a concept that gracefully bridges restaurants and the ready-to-eat sections of supermarkets and food shops has been a longtime (and long elusive) goal of the restaurant business.
The quest has assumed new importance in recent years because the brains working for the other side seem to be closer to finding the formula. It’s painfully obvious to restaurants that they’ve lost share of stomach during the recession to retailers. People are cooking more, buying more ready-to-eat meals, or pursuing the middle court of purchasing some pre-made elements and preparing the rest.
It remains to be seen if Bob Evans, one of the industry’s sleepier concepts, can synthesize a potent counterattack.
In the meantime, I’m just wondering if the Taste of the Farm sells eggnog.
Friday, March 6, 2009
More blurring of retail/restaurant line
The resilience of the fast-food market during these perilous times hasn’t gone unnoticed by BJ’s, the regional club store chain. Executives told investors the warehouse membership chain expects revenues to rise by 4 to 6% during 2009, driven by increased sales at in-store food courts. And that’s after a 4% rise in revenues during the last three months of ’08, which they attributed to only two factors: food courts and propane sales.
Understandably, the retailer cited food courts as a primary strategic focus for 2009, along with product demos, a signature of arch-rival Costco.
Costco, meanwhile, says its food court business is also going strong, though officials did not divulge figures during their conference call with investors. They did note, however, that sales of take-home items like pizza have soared "dramatically." Costco's signature deal is a quarter-pound hot dog and a 24-oz. soda, sold as a meal for $1.50.
BJ's execs attributed the improved performance of that chain’s food courts to an emphasis on quality and the addition of such brands as Uno’s, Ben & Jerry’s and Green Mountain Coffee. BJ’s currently has 180 stores in 15 states.
The officials noted that sales of prepared meals were strong during the fourth quarter of 2008, but did not break out figures.
Meanwhile, they said, stores’ frozen-food departments saw “very strong sales” of products affiliated with restaurant chains, including The Cheesecake Factory, the Fresh City fast-casual chain, Panera Bread Co., Legal Sea Foods and Boston Market. The retailer also now stocks products licensed by Todd English, the famed chef.
Another point likely of interest to restaurateurs: BJ’s sales of organic and natural foods soared 20%.
Understandably, the retailer cited food courts as a primary strategic focus for 2009, along with product demos, a signature of arch-rival Costco.
Costco, meanwhile, says its food court business is also going strong, though officials did not divulge figures during their conference call with investors. They did note, however, that sales of take-home items like pizza have soared "dramatically." Costco's signature deal is a quarter-pound hot dog and a 24-oz. soda, sold as a meal for $1.50.
BJ's execs attributed the improved performance of that chain’s food courts to an emphasis on quality and the addition of such brands as Uno’s, Ben & Jerry’s and Green Mountain Coffee. BJ’s currently has 180 stores in 15 states.
The officials noted that sales of prepared meals were strong during the fourth quarter of 2008, but did not break out figures.
Meanwhile, they said, stores’ frozen-food departments saw “very strong sales” of products affiliated with restaurant chains, including The Cheesecake Factory, the Fresh City fast-casual chain, Panera Bread Co., Legal Sea Foods and Boston Market. The retailer also now stocks products licensed by Todd English, the famed chef.
Another point likely of interest to restaurateurs: BJ’s sales of organic and natural foods soared 20%.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Smudging the line between restaurants, retailers
Once upon a time, restaurateurs and their investors questioned the wisdom of dabbling in retail. If consumers can eat your specialties at home, they reasoned, why bother visiting the restaurant?
But today, with supermarkets sporting all sorts of products emblazoned with restaurant logos, investors are asking a decidedly different question: Why aren’t you jumping on that (Bob Evans-brand) gravy train?
David Overton, CEO of The Cheesecake Factory, was grilled on that point by a financial analyst last week. “Well, we haven't decided to sell any of our actual dinner items or restaurant items yet,” danced Overton. “It's something that we could look at. We have been asked to do so…[but] the 70-something million people that came in the restaurant last year is where we're concentrating. I still think that's our greatest game at this point.”
Cheesecake, which just recently made concessions to such profound trends as discounting and offering mini-portions, may find the ranks of retail holdouts to be a lonely place. Panera Bread Co. ran through enough menu initiatives during an investment conference call on Thursday to suggest steroids testing for its R&D staff. One of the bigger ones, literally, mentioned by CEO Ron Shaich was a possible move into the retail sale of bulk baked goods.
He explained that units of the bakery-café chain have started retailing multipacks of muffins, scones and bagels. “You will see us focus on selling more seasonal breads at retail,” added Shaich. “We will regularly celebrate our gift worthy breads, things like Panettone, holiday bread, Irish soda bread, hot cross buns and a variety of sweet breakfast breads. We will also merchandise our breads to our guests for everyday use.”
Panera will be selling the baked goods through its own retail outlets rather than supermarkets, a twist that’s also being embraced by Starbucks. Its new retail push, the sale of Via instant coffees for home mixing, will be undertaken through the coffee giant’s own cafes, not a Piggly Wiggly or a King Kullen.
Other restaurants chains recently conferring with investors about retail initiatives include Bob Evans and California Pizza Kitchens, neither of which is a stranger to that alternative sales channel.
Indeed, Bob Evans is as much of a grocery-product supplier as it is a restaurant operator, a role it continues to expand by adding heat-and-eat products bearing the brand of its namesake restaurant chain. In its most recent quarter, for instance, the company added nine new retail choices, including “family-sized” portions of such comfort foods as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes.
But it also raised what should be a yellow light for restaurateurs branching into retail: During the most recent quarter, supermarket sales of Bob Evans-brand products decreased on a volume basis for the first time in more than seven years, executives noted.
But today, with supermarkets sporting all sorts of products emblazoned with restaurant logos, investors are asking a decidedly different question: Why aren’t you jumping on that (Bob Evans-brand) gravy train?
David Overton, CEO of The Cheesecake Factory, was grilled on that point by a financial analyst last week. “Well, we haven't decided to sell any of our actual dinner items or restaurant items yet,” danced Overton. “It's something that we could look at. We have been asked to do so…[but] the 70-something million people that came in the restaurant last year is where we're concentrating. I still think that's our greatest game at this point.”
Cheesecake, which just recently made concessions to such profound trends as discounting and offering mini-portions, may find the ranks of retail holdouts to be a lonely place. Panera Bread Co. ran through enough menu initiatives during an investment conference call on Thursday to suggest steroids testing for its R&D staff. One of the bigger ones, literally, mentioned by CEO Ron Shaich was a possible move into the retail sale of bulk baked goods.
He explained that units of the bakery-café chain have started retailing multipacks of muffins, scones and bagels. “You will see us focus on selling more seasonal breads at retail,” added Shaich. “We will regularly celebrate our gift worthy breads, things like Panettone, holiday bread, Irish soda bread, hot cross buns and a variety of sweet breakfast breads. We will also merchandise our breads to our guests for everyday use.”
Panera will be selling the baked goods through its own retail outlets rather than supermarkets, a twist that’s also being embraced by Starbucks. Its new retail push, the sale of Via instant coffees for home mixing, will be undertaken through the coffee giant’s own cafes, not a Piggly Wiggly or a King Kullen.
Other restaurants chains recently conferring with investors about retail initiatives include Bob Evans and California Pizza Kitchens, neither of which is a stranger to that alternative sales channel.
Indeed, Bob Evans is as much of a grocery-product supplier as it is a restaurant operator, a role it continues to expand by adding heat-and-eat products bearing the brand of its namesake restaurant chain. In its most recent quarter, for instance, the company added nine new retail choices, including “family-sized” portions of such comfort foods as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes.
But it also raised what should be a yellow light for restaurateurs branching into retail: During the most recent quarter, supermarket sales of Bob Evans-brand products decreased on a volume basis for the first time in more than seven years, executives noted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
