WEBVTT - Twin Peaks’ Conversion Lifts Average Unit Volume 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:14.680 Welcome to Chopping It Up. 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.400 I'm your host, Mike Allen, Senior Restaurant and food Service 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:21.000 analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Our research and that of bi's 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.600 five hundred analysts around the globe can be found exclusively 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.800 on the Bloomberg terminal. Today, we're joined by Joe Hummel, 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:30.720 the CEO of Twin Peaks Restaurants. Hey, Joe, sorry we 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:32.600 didn't have a chance to catch up at ICR, but 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:33.440 this will have to do. 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:36.000 This works, This works just fine. 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.120 Yeah, and I'm sure you've been a very busy man. 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:42.120 Fat brand spin off of Twin Peaks and Smoky Bones 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:43.400 is less than a week away. 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.839 That's right. Our record date is the twenty seventh of January. 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:50.320 So and shares will start trading on twenty ninth. I 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:54.000 think I saw, yeah, twenty ninth. Yeah, NASDA TWNP is 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.680 their symbol. All right, good stuff. So what initially you've 0:00:57.680 --> 0:00:59.279 been there for a little while, But what initially drew 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:00.000 you to Twin Peaks. 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.400 Well, I had about a two decade career at Hooters. 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:09.360 I worked for Hooters of America and this new brand 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:12.960 came up and was stealing some share, and they're a 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:16.720 pretty cool brand, and I was intrigued by him, and 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.240 so twenty eleven, myself and a couple of my partners 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:24.520 at Hooters left and bought a six state development agreement 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.520 in twenty eleven and there was fourteen stores, So we 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.560 did take a leap of faith. We felt in our 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:33.319 gut it was a great brand that could really grow, 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:36.960 and we left Hooters. It was probably four hundred and 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:41.600 thirty units, just under a billion in sales, and so 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.040 we jumped in and so we I think our first 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:47.960 door we be in July of twenty twelve, which was 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:52.200 number twenty two in buck Ed, Georgia. So we've been 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:55.240 blessed to see the brand from twenty eleven till today. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.000 So I've been a part of some former fashion of 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:00.800 hotter At units being opened and look forward to the 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:02.320 next hundred. It's going to be great. 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:05.040 Yeah, you made a could bet back then. 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.559 I did. I should have been in Vegas that day. 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.519 Right, throw the dice right early retirement. I would know 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:15.280 what to do with myself as retired. For you couldn't 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.359 retire you're way too young. What's the day parts split? 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.600 And what percentage of your sales are from alcohol? 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.839 Food? Is fifty two percent liquor, beer, wines, forty eight 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:30.760 day part, approximately thirty eight percent lunch the rest of 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:33.120 the week dinner. Now that dinner portion eleven of it's 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:36.799 late night. So nice, nice spread of the three segments. 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:39.040 But you know we're running about a sixty forty dinner 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.560 to lunch, but dinner carries further out. 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:43.959 One hundred and seventy two restaurants at the end of 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:48.600 three Q seventy four US franchise, seven international franchise, thirty 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:52.160 three US company owned, and there's fifty eight company owned 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:57.160 Smoky Bones. Per your release, you expect to convert about 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.800 half of the Smoky Bones restaurants. A twin peaks how 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:02.880 much well the conversion's costs versus building a new unit 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:03.440 from scratch. 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.480 Yeah, you know, when I look at our units, out 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:10.120 of one hundred and fourteen, twin peaks, ninety of them 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:14.160 or second generation. So myself, our corporate development, and our 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.720 franchise partners are used to doing second generation. We have 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:21.079 some great ground ups. So we you know, we saw 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.720 that as an opportunity when Fat Brands bought Smokey Bones 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.280 is a real estate play. We ran it through our 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:30.440 real estate platform and about thirty of them made very 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:33.360 scored very well for Twin Peaks. So we did our 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:35.840 first one in Lakeland, Florida. It was doing about three 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:40.160 million for Smokey Bones. We opened it in late September. 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.320 The sales are run rate and at about eight point 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.400 three million, so quite a bit of a difference. We 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.200 put about four point two million in it between leasehold 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:51.480 improvements in FF and E some good syentergies we were 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:52.800 able to pull out of the building. You know, you 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:54.600 get a lot of good things out of second generation. 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.880 Every second generation building gives you something different. But the 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:03.760 store itself is great footprint, really doing well, great addition 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:07.800 to the central Florida market. And we're finalizing our second 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.160 conversion in brandon be sometime in mid February. Okay, cool, Yeah, 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.840 that was a great strategy for Cava. How big are 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.760 the restaurants They average about seven thousand to eight thousand 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.760 square feet. I have units anywhere from sixty five hundred 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.760 to fourteen thousand in the in our Twin Peaks portfolio, 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.440 so seven you know, our sweet Spot prototypes about eighty 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.640 two hundred, so it works just fine. It's a nice 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:35.640 thing about second generation. You can have all kinds of 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:40.200 different footprints and floor plans. They all have the same DNA, 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:42.920 but they have different you know, lodge effects. So it's 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.280 pretty cool. You get your own local lodge. Lakeland will 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:48.640 be different than Brandon, and Brandon will be different than Cassemi, 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.120 and you know, they all have their own special you know, 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.720 local lips about it. That's cool. 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:57.120 Is it changed strong in Florida? And are there any 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:59.680 other states where it's strong geographically? 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:05.400 Virginia for Smoking Bones, that is, for twin Peaks, Well, 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:09.960 we're in Dallas for starters. Dallas is quite strong. Texas 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.000 we have about thirty four stores. Florida we have fifteen, 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:15.880 and we're still growing quite a bit. Those are probably 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.880 the most concentrated. Arizona does really well. You know, the 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:26.480 brand's so portable. We see the fanfare whether it's Dallas, Miami, Lakeland, Florida, Columbus, Columbus, Ohio, 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:31.120 Louisville still has that same fact, same volume. We don't 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:34.920 see a volume letof because of different regions warm weather, 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:38.960 cold weather. And we have seven down of Mexico. Okay, Cole, 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.520 what's the right number of company owned restaurants for you? 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.120 We're in a seventy thirty mix between franchise and corporate. 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:48.640 We think our sweet spot seventy five to twenty five, 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.599 which is very doable. We have a lot of good 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:57.040 franchise partners. We have about one hundred development franchise commitments 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:59.640 from our franchise partners already, so very doable. 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:03.960 Number okay cool, excluding excluding the Smokey Bones conversions. How 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.080 many units do you expect to open in twenty five 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:09.200 and are you having any issues finding new sites? 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:11.479 Well, that was one of the reasons we picked up 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.680 the Smoky Bones. Control in those sites gave a nice 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:19.000 short term path. So with the Smoky Bones because we'll 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:24.000 do probably five or six this year conversions between ourselves 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:26.159 and our franchisees. We looked to do two to four 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.240 corporate stores ten to twelve franchise stores for this year. 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.200 Last year we got nine open total. For me, it 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:34.839 was a little slow last year, so we looked for 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:37.400 hopefully things picked up a little bit with that. You know, 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.920 a lot of staffing issues and with the perameters and 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.039 inspectors and just being short staffed. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.760 Gosha, what percentage of new units are opened by existing 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.080 franchisees coming up? 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:48.560 Uh? 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.680 Yeah, Well, ten to twelve will be franchisees. Two to 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.760 four will be corporate existing or from out of the system. 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:58.880 That's that'll be existing, that's in the existing system. So 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:00.839 we still you know, we have a friend development team 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.240 that's selling new territories. They're actually out in California doing 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.400 our real estate tour right now with us some prospects. 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.400 We just signed somebody out up for the Fargo, South Dakota, 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:14.280 Montana market. We have another group looking out of Canada. 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:18.960 So franchise development side active on finding new groups and 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.240 then the existing groups are actively built. 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:26.160 Okay, great new stores. Do they have big honeymoon periods 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:26.960 or they tend. 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.440 To build to your target AUV? You know, it depends. 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:32.760 It depends on if you're in a mature market. I've 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:35.400 had stores even here in Dallas that start out at 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:40.520 five five six, they're at nine million now. So we 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.440 have dural MP in last year it's run rating at 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:47.240 fourteen million. And then you have some newer markets where 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.160 the development's coming and so you get there before the 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:52.000 development and the mature markets just sell right into their 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:56.040 average AUV quickly. So all depends on the market. We 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.360 see a big fanfare when we open a new store 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.320 in the DMA by itself, because it's just they haven't 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:02.080 seen anything like it. 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.200 Okay, And I noticed in the in your disclosures, current 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:09.200 AAV is about five two to five three million versus 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.360 the target of six point five for new builds. So 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:15.240 what's the difference there? Are you building bigger units, are 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:17.680 you modeling strong same sort of sales growth from the 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:21.400 existing sore base and that we'll get to that six ' 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:23.480 five or is there something else that kind of explained 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:23.960 that gap? 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.240 Yeah, the difference is you have some legacy stores. They 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:28.600 are lower avs. You know, they started off in the 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.920 early day Z five six oh seven. When we started 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:37.440 building eleven, we started exploring with some bigger buildings, bigger footprints, 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:42.080 two bars, patios. In sixteen seventeen we really started finding 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.760 tuning what we thought our guests needed and wanted. With 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:50.280 our design team, we employed our real estate strategy platform 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.040 E Site and that really helped us take our consumer 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.960 demographics and map out where we should be putting our 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.680 stores based off the white space available. So it really 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.080 helped us in our targeting. You know, the early days, 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:02.920 you're not targeting because you don't have you don't have 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:04.679 a base to target off of. You kind of going 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.720 with your gut, and as you build that demographic up, 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.440 you really know what your user is. So when you 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:13.640 go to new space, as you find that user and 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:16.480 that platform really helps you do that. So as we 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.320 continue to fine tune that from sixteen seventeen, we really 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:23.000 fine tune the brand, the model, the offering, and then 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:26.000 the real estate strategy too. And then we just all 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:30.080 the new openings have been very strong. So it's actually 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:32.400 the new all the new openings I say new openings. 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:34.520 You know, from twenty twenty one twenty two, I have 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.520 been dragging that AUV up and you know some of 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.920 those early legacy stores as those leases expire, will shift 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:42.600 markets and go for a different sized building. 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:47.200 Yeah, six point five millions a strong AUV. Is there 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:49.440 any other unit economic data that you'd like to share? 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.240 You know, we target sixteen percent four while margin. The 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:56.320 biggest thing is, you know, we we want to concentrate 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:00.520 on the unit economics. So conversions give you about a 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.960 twenty eight percent cash on cash return, and then if 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:04.560 you do a new build where you're buying the dirt 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.120 and doing a sale lease back, you can get upboards 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:09.160 to thirty seven percent cash on cash return because you 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:12.120 can get to take those sale lease back proceeds. So 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:16.319 the boat strategies were great. Those are great unit economics 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:20.240 for US. Six ' five we think is a reasonable number. 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:22.920 You know, as I said, Lakeland's trailing at eight point 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:27.360 three million Lakeland, Florida. That's not a huge metropolis. And 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:29.360 even like the you know, the Derials of the world 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.520 that opened last year, like I said, we're thirteen fourteen million. 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:34.720 So we think six five is a modest number to 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.360 go for because our AUV has been driving up with 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:38.280 every new opening. 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:43.240 Yeah, so same store sales are strong versus your peers 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.760 versus twenty nineteen, but there were down a little more 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.640 than the casual index in twenty three. Why do you 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.040 think Twin Peaks was hit harder than other chains last year? 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.360 Well, if you look at our same store sales, double 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.520 digit stacked. Eventually you stop stacking and it's time to 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:03.040 open new I mean, And so it doesn't what doesn't 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.320 take an account if you're doing a market and I 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.080 have a market in San Antonio three stores for the 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:11.160 longest time, and we added a fourth, you pick up 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:14.720 six million in total sales, but you lose five hundred 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:18.560 thousand out of one of the other stores. So the 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.840 six million you don't get accounted for in same stores 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:23.120 because it's in you know, it's not in that eighteen 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:26.360 month period where you start comping, but that the guy 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:29.880 you lost five hundred, he loses the comp So, you know, 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:33.920 we look at overall market share. Same sources is certainly 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.280 an effective tool to make sure the brand's still relevant. 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:38.360 It's one of the reasons we use black Box to 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:40.360 make sure we're keeping our ear to the wall with 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:42.839 what our guests are saying about every store. We like 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.640 to see what the stores are doing per their zip code, 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:48.600 and that's black Box is able to give us that. 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:51.439 You know, if if our stores are trending high or 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:53.520 lower than zip code, we were able to take action 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.920 either way. The social sentiment's big to us because it 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.160 really truly says what our guests are talking about with us. So, 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:02.440 you know, I think that's one of the reasons you 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:04.880 just you get double digit same store, same store, same store, 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.520 Eventually you stop comping, and as I said, you have 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:08.280 to build no store. 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.040 Yeah, you know, and let's let's stick to that black 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:15.199 Box intelligence point. When we did a panel together back 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.040 in twenty three. I was impressed by how data driven 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.440 you are from people I know in the industry. You know, 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:24.080 they say you're very dialed into the numbers and run 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:27.960 your business accordingly. Can you talk about how you're using 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:31.880 that data, particularly to analyze store performance, bonus out your 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:33.160 employees and stuff like that. 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.439 Yeah, you know, we use black Box for a lot 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:40.320 of different reasons, whether it's sales traffic, even from an 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.280 employee standpoint, making sure we're in the right pay categories 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.360 by position. That social sentiment side helps tell the rest 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.280 of the story. And even like I said earlier, tracking 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.719 your sales by zip code which really helpful because you 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.600 look at your sales versus DFW. Well, DFW is quite 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.200 large or Chicago quite large, so I can track my 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.439 store in I'll go by a zip code. Then I'm 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.920 kind of in the game because obviously for geographic region 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.120 and so having the sales, the traffic, and the social 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.520 side of it gives the full story. You could be 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:15.000 up in sales, but your zip codes up even higher, 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.480 so maybe you're not exceeding what you should be. You 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.640 could be down in sales, but the zip codes tremendously down, 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:23.360 and so you're you're battling and you're knocking it out 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.439 based off whatever reasons causing that and the other reason. 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.280 You look at sales and traffic and then you compare 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:31.040 it to the social side of it, and we get 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:35.560 a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly feed. We do a quarterly 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.120 recap with black Box, kind of going over the whole 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:41.640 analytics of of everything they're seeing with us and out there. 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:45.080 But the social side tells a story too. And you 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.120 could be doing really well in sales because the traffic's 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:52.040 just so high, so dense, but your but your guests 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.920 are given negative comments. So let's let's us focus even 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:57.720 to the point of it might not be affecting your sales, 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.760 but somebody could be saying, your frieser cols, your frier coal. Hey, 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:02.640 this month, we need to focus on fries. Let's make 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.320 sure we're serving hot, fresh fries and we're not dragging fries. 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.080 So it does dial us into certain elements of the 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:11.320 brand or the business or the community if we're doing 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:13.720 better than the other side. So it just gives us 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:18.600 a better parallel platform. And we use data word data junkies. 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:21.960 We try not to do paralysis by analysis, but we 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:23.960 do take that data with us to the field to 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.400 help us understand what's being said. No matter where it's at, 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.240 whether it's black Box or the east Site platform we 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.000 use for our real estate, we have a lot of 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:33.119 different data elements. 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.200 Yeah, it sounds like you're leaning on it basically as 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:39.160 a leading indicator, right that it could show moves and 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:39.960 seam sourselves. 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:41.600 But before they still have to be in the field, 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.200 whether it's looking for sites or being in a restaurant. 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:46.160 You can't just look at the data and say, oh, 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:49.600 this is what's happened. You still need to go. And 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.320 my emphasis to our team is you've got to be 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:56.520 in the field. Four walls are where it's happened. This 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.880 office we're sitting in today, it does not make any money. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:04.120 It costs money. The fuss make the money, and my 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.960 whole support team and executive team has to be driven 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:09.800 to the field. We want them part of the field 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:11.120 for sure. 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:13.320 How are you looking to drive same star sales growth 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:14.240 in twenty five. 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:19.200 Well, we have a built in marketing calendar called Sports 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:22.640 which is really helpful and we're able to take that 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.280 experience with the Twin Peaks Girl our kitchen and our bar, 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.160 and that is our mechanism driven same shot sales, just 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:34.920 the overall memorable experience event that happens in our stores. 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:37.720 We want to stay really dialed in on food. We 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.040 want to keep a pricing structure that's in bar belt strategy. 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:44.320 We want to be able to something on an affordable level. 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.520 If you're working off a lower budget, you want to 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.040 splurge on yourself. There's a higher end. We don't want 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.960 to take big, big price jumps. That's not that's not 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.600 how we're going to go. I think the consumer's tired 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.280 of price jumps, and we've been fortunate enough not to 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.800 do them. We've done small two to three percent over 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:02.640 the you know, over traarly twelve months, keeping up with 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:05.320 some minimum wage increases. But we try not to take 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.640 those big five six percent jumps, which some people do. 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:12.680 So we just execute executing, understanding the sports calendar and 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:16.200 making sure that sports day is so overwhelming to you 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.200 in a good way you come back just for lunch 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:20.520 on Monday. 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.520 Yeah, I'm sure the expanding sports calendar is helping, right, 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:28.440 the bigger college football playoff, right, and then we're seeing 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:30.800 new sports Formula one, right, yeah. 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:34.520 I mean the seasonality of sports used to you know, 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.120 you're really in season, you're out of season or in 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:39.960 the season. It's really stretched. And even NFL they started 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:45.400 dabbling into some Friday games, some different day games that 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:49.520 you weren't used to. Heavy. We're heavy into soccer Champions League, 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:53.560 Gold Cups, South America Cups, World Cup obviously is coming 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.240 to town. We lean in the Premier League, La Liga, 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.000 all the different and those are nice time zones too, 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.440 because a lot of those games are you know, two 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:06.080 three o'clock afternoons, so it really plays well with stretching 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:10.680 the calendar out. NBA is just big, you know, we 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.680 really you know, it's a long season, and then from 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.560 April to June, it's just playoff mania. You know, you're 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:22.639 you get rid of you go college NFL College playoffs, 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:27.520 NFL Playoffs, Super Bowl, roll into the February and you're 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:35.440 into conference basketball, March madness, playoff implication, NBA, NBA playoffs, 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:40.000 NHL playoffs. Through June, there's probably a little lull, but 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:42.560 then there's always a lot of summer, a lot of 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.159 summer soccer that happens, and those those cups are happening 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.920 during then the you know, European Cups, South American Cups, 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.239 all those are happening a lot of the summertimes. Then 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:52.280 you roll in Fantasy Draft and you're back in football, 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:56.359 so it stretches. Yeah, I hope the college playoffs go 0:17:56.359 --> 0:18:00.920 to thirty two teams. Just keep adding game. I'm sure 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:04.639 that was big business man with UFC, big partner of ours, 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.720 and you know they're they have great material as pay 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:09.800 per view, but then they have a material that's on 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:11.640 ESPN Plus that we're playing, and they have a lot 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:15.280 of different elements there. There's always boxing that lay in there, 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:20.000 so there's there's always In marketing, one of marketing's jobs 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:21.680 are really to keep up the calendar and all right, 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.440 we have this big event coming on Friday. What are 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.320 we gonna do to accent that event besides just have 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.000 it off. What's the beer special or the drink special 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.040 or what you know, what what element are we gonna 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.800 put in there to make that just a notch above 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.600 everybody else. It gives our operators a chance to plan 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.639 because you see the calendar, so it's not like a 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.560 bus is pulling in and you're unprepared. You know they're 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:45.280 gonna you know, you're gonna be crowded, so let's overstaff 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:48.359 and make sure that experience is incredible. Great. 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:51.680 Are there any changes to the marketing planning making the 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:55.399 share now? We're staying We're staying focused on you know, 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.880 local store marketing. We like that one three five mile radius. 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:01.520 We think it's important to be a part of the 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:05.800 local lodge versus some national commercial that maybe doesn't have 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.399 the impact. And you know, our footprint doesn't allow for 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:10.360 a national commercial, so it'd be kind of a waste, 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.560 and we just think our money's better spent at the 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:15.639 local DMA for sure. So we're going to continue to 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:19.439 push that one three five mile radius. Local sports talks, 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:25.720 local businesses, festivals, local teams, you know, sponsorships that way, 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:29.560 really just driving that traffic in. You know, everybody's like 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.240 when you do a commercial, Well, when everybody in your 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.520 one three five mile radius has tried you and wants 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:36.400 to come back to you, we'll start thinking about commercial 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:38.359 because there's a lot of bodies between one three and 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:42.480 five and our building should be a marketing tactic. You're 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:45.440 picking good sites with a lot of good traffic driving 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.639 by you, and your building is beautiful. That's going to 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:52.360 drive people in. That's a billboard itself for sure. If 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:57.080 you need a billboard, you probably pick the wrong site. Sometimes, 0:19:57.119 --> 0:19:59.720 no doubt you touched on it a little bit. 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:01.680 It's like you're not taking too much pricing. I think 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:05.800 that's the smart play in twenty twenty five. You know 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:08.840 how much inflation do you expect, and how much price 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:09.720 are you willing to share? 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:14.119 How much creature between two and three percent, and really 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:15.920 just to keep up at the minimum wage. We've locked 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:18.560 a lot of our proteins in so we know what 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:22.320 our cost effects are there. We ate some margin last 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:25.600 year and we went after the margin in other categories, 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:28.199 but we ate some margin. And the poultry. Poultry is 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:31.080 extremely high last year, five year high. But we know 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:34.040 it's sick. It moves, you know. We track in month 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.560 to month, year to year, and if you took price 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:38.800 every time we went to an all time high, you 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:42.680 would outprice yourself. So you just have to be cost 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:45.280 effective in other areas and eat some of that costs. 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:48.760 So yeah, our in our research, some of the chains 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:50.440 like Texas road Has and wing Stuff that have the 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:53.560