Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Well, Tony Romas is
Speaker 1: getting a refresh.
Speaker 2: The fifty two year old restaurant change is undergoing a
Speaker 2: transformation under its first female CEO. I am thrilled to
Speaker 2: say she joins us on set now, Mina Hawk, Tony
Speaker 2: Roma's CEO.
Speaker 1: Great to see you in person.
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you for having me here today.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 2: The teas for this block was that you want to
Speaker 2: be a fifty two year old startup, walk us through
Speaker 2: what that means.
Speaker 3: So Tony Romas has been around for a long time,
Speaker 3: since nineteen seventy two it opened its door in Miami, Florida.
Speaker 3: The company went through what I like to say is
Speaker 3: all types of challenges, but nevertheless it has been a
Speaker 3: resilient brand. And now what I'm doing is reimagining the
Speaker 3: brand to see how we can make it resilient and adaptable.
Speaker 3: And the core focus is on our product on our menu.
Speaker 3: Food industry is the fastest evolving industry with consumer demands
Speaker 3: always changing. Therefore, you need to keep up with the technology.
Speaker 3: You need to see how you can do like you know,
Speaker 3: co creation of partnership, and that's what I'm doing and
Speaker 3: most importantly internally focusing on my talent development.
Speaker 4: We're going to want to talk more about that menu
Speaker 4: and of course the technology, but also want to know
Speaker 4: about locations because you sat down and you said you're
Speaker 4: going to change that. When we asked you about the locations,
Speaker 4: the closest one to New York City, you said is Durham,
Speaker 4: North Carolina. How are you going to expand in different
Speaker 4: areas in the United States.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, it's about, you know, creating the value for consumers.
Speaker 3: At this point, we have about ten locations in the
Speaker 3: United States, all dispersed. We have the nearest location is
Speaker 3: North Carolina from here, but we have two locations in
Speaker 3: California in Vegas and Iowa and Florida. I see that
Speaker 3: we will be able to change once the consumers will
Speaker 3: be able to see the value that we offer. And
Speaker 3: most importantly, our primary business model is franchising. What I'm
Speaker 3: trying to do is reducing the franchising cost, making it
Speaker 3: easier for potential franchises to enter into the market. Otherwise,
Speaker 3: in any type of franchising industry, it's very difficult because
Speaker 3: it's so cost heavy. Therefore, if you can reduce the
Speaker 3: operating cost. In addition, to that. The menu use items
Speaker 3: were very saturated. Back in the days we used to
Speaker 3: offer a lot of items. I'm streamlining that as well,
Speaker 3: making sure it's cost effective.
Speaker 5: I mean, the food obviously is first and foremost in
Speaker 5: a restaurant, but I feel like talent comes in a
Speaker 5: close second. And you said, you know, talent development is
Speaker 5: one of your biggest focuses.
Speaker 1: How difficult is.
Speaker 5: It in today's labor market because you've got to pay
Speaker 5: people a lot.
Speaker 3: That is a great question. We are working remotely at
Speaker 3: this point, which is attractive for the talent poop because
Speaker 3: everyone wants flexibility, and that is one of my core focus.
Speaker 3: How can we strike a balance by being flexible yet
Speaker 3: ensure that the performance is there and that requires boosting
Speaker 3: the moral of your team. And part of the reason,
Speaker 3: I believe is because of the advent of technology, people
Speaker 3: no longer want to come and work in the industry anymore.
Speaker 3: People embrace entrepreneurial spirit, you know, especially young folks thinking, okay,
Speaker 3: we can go to TikTok or Instagram and create our
Speaker 3: own career, which is absolutely fine. But I want Tony
Speaker 3: Romas to be a stepping stone, a place where people
Speaker 3: can come learn and.
Speaker 2: Thrive interesting of course, so using that remote work as
Speaker 2: a recruiting tool. Basically, I do want to talk a
Speaker 2: little bit about pricing because you mentioned creating value for
Speaker 2: customers and we were just talking about high labor expenses.
Speaker 2: I mean, you think about the consumer, the people who
Speaker 2: are spending money at your restaurant definitely feeling the pinch there.
Speaker 1: So how are you handling pricing right now? Have you
Speaker 1: had to cut costs of course as things get more competitive.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the review for pricing it's, you know, based on
Speaker 3: a three sixty degree review. What we have figured out
Speaker 3: is you focus on the stars of your menu and
Speaker 3: then the items that are doing well offer that back
Speaker 3: to your consumers. Because the food price is skyrocketing right now,
Speaker 3: and it also depends like how many location you have,
Speaker 3: and we definitely don't have as many locations as our competitors,
Speaker 3: so we don't have that many buying power. Nevertheless, our
Speaker 3: core focus is to make sure that it is a
Speaker 3: price friendly because traditionally Tony Romas has served families and
Speaker 3: there are so many you know, memories that are associated
Speaker 3: with the brand. Right now, we are in control of
Speaker 3: pricing for our corporate unit location, which is bones and
Speaker 3: Burgers in Tampa, Florida, and then the rest of the
Speaker 3: location we have. The pricing is determined by the local
Speaker 3: market condition by our franchise partners.
Speaker 5: I mean a great having it in the studio. Thanks
Speaker 5: so much for visiting us here in New York. Mohammedy
Speaker 5: the Hawk is the CEO of Tony Romas.