Since the announcement of Conoco’s decision to locate its alternative energy HQ to Louisville Colorado, both start-up and veteran players in this space have been scrambling to occupy space in the surrounding business parks along the 36 corridor. While clean energy companies are landing the big investments, the top deals remain very diverse, including Lijit [...]
I applaud California Pizza Kitchen’s press release concerning 3rd quarter performance. In a very difficult environment, CPK provided indication that they’ve hit their per share earnings target. Despite providing earlier guidance that same store sales would drop by 2% in the 3rd quarter, CPK cited “operational efficiencies” as one of the main drives to hitting their per [...]
Across the country, municipalities ranging in size from Pompano Beach, FL. to Dallas, TX. are passing ordinances requiring the installation of surveillance cameras in certain retail environments. This growing movement lends credibility to our industry’s ability to not only deter crime, but assist law enforcement in the prosecution of criminals. This has a direct impact [...]
I’m a huge fan of the weekly publication Nation’s Restaurant News. This week’s edition had a great article in the Opinion section titled “Stopping employee theft a fast, cheap way to boost profit” by Kevin Lynch.
The article does a wonderful job detailing how a reduction in shrink of just 1% (as a percent of sales) can lead to [...]
Great post by the “CEO Strategist”, Dr. Rick Johnson. Good straight talk about selling in today’s environment.
The Pygmalion Effect
I recently had the opportunity to tap our service using a Mac laptop and I’m happy to say, it worked very well. The application necessary to support access from the Mac OS is called Parallels. Once installed with Windows XP and IE, it’s a simple as an extra double-click from the desktop.
While over 90% of [...]
The past decade has seen unprecedented growth and investment in the restaurant space. Today, most of the industry is seeing top line revenue flatten while food and labor costs rise, putting a tight squeeze on profitability. As the credit markets continue to tighten, owners must find creative alternatives to increase earnings outside of revenue growth from new [...]
As our discussion continued, my friend let me know about another employee who was terminated for behavior that would never have happened had he been on site. He informed me that he and his wife just found out they’re having a boy. With his wife 5 1/2 months pregnant, he’s trying to spend a bit [...]
I sat across the table from my friend as he stated “I had to let go of three people this past month based on what I’m seeing with your video. It’s heartbreaking to see what goes on on despite the generosity and training I put towards my staff”. He used the video to watch employee behavior quickly [...]
This certainly comes as no surprise. Technomic’s revised economic forecast for full service restaurants in 2008 is a mere 1%, adjusted for inflation. This is down from nearly 3% just last year.
I own an SUV and wouldn’t dream of selling it in today’s market. What does one do until the market comes back? You make [...]
