I just returned from a marketing consultation trip to Nashville where I met with two restaurant owners. One restaurant is a Chinese Buffet that opened about three months ago and is having trouble gaining customers. The other is a Mexican store and restaurant with a long history of great food, however they have seen sales slump due to the economy. Wiregrass Advertising, Inc. was requested to provide marketing consultations with each establishment and provide some ideas for improving business.
The Chinese restaurant is managed by a young man in his early to mid twenties. He had managed a different Chinese restaurant before being tapped for this position. Currently the eatery’s income is about 1/3 of their budget. The evening I spent with him I only saw 6 customers eating. As we sat down, the manager expressed his concern about the cost of any ideas I brought to the table. I assured him that I had some ideas that would not cost him any money, but that he should be open to all ideas. During the discussion he made many excuses, and, unfortunately, seemed very unwilling to make any changes. I expect the business to close next month.
Mr. Andreas, the owner of LaCabana Mexican Restaurant in LaVergne, Tennessee, was much more receptive to my visit. He had already made some improvements to the building prior to my arrival. We talked more about changes he could make to the store to improve sales. On entering the store I looked around and wandered the small aisles and then watched as customers came in and purchased. The typical customer entered the front door, walked to their right and picked up tortillas, then crossed to the cash register, paid and exited. Few customers went beyond mid-point of the store.
The store was too small for shopping carts, but he had shopping baskets for his customers. The baskets were to the left as customers walked in and out of the way. My first suggestion was to move the baskets to a location immediately in front of customers as they walked through the door; a location where they could not be over looked which would encourage people to pick them up which, in turn, would encourage them to buy more products. Next, since tortillas are his biggest seller, I recommended he move them to the very back corner of the store to force people to walk the aisles so other products would be viewed and purchases encouraged. In addition he needed signs hanging from the roof pointing to specials and items on the shelves throughout the store. Mr. Andreas listened intently to these and other recommendations. He was excited to have some help and anxious to start putting the suggestions into action. I believe Mr. Andreas will survive this downturn.
By the way, If you ever want a great, authentic Mexican burrito at a great price, visit LaCabana in LaVergne. Be sure to to tell Mr. Andreas, “Hi” for me.
