SPECIAL REPORT: CASUAL DINING
Dinnerhouses don’t wait around for the REBOUND
(Continued from page 39)
open March 22.
Steele Platt, chief executive and founder
of Yard House USA Inc., says the 22nd Yard
House’s first day of hiring drew more than
700 applicants for the 180 positions available at the new store. Job seekers were
lined up down the block to interview for the
positions, and the company is bracing for
similar numbers when it begins hiring for
its 23rd unit in Miami, which is scheduled
to open in April.
“We’re finding applicants with tremendous experience, maybe somewhat overqualified or coming from other industries,” says
Jennifer Weerheim, a spokeswoman for Yard
House Restaurants. “We’re seeing extremely
diverse applicants right now. You have to do
a few more interviews to find the right candidate. We are definitely, definitely seeing a
surge in qualified candidates.”
Retention is also better, Weerheim says.
“People are not shopping around the
jobs,” she said. “We’re trying to keep them
happier. We’re all in this together right now.”
The tumultuous economy is also providing casual-dining chains with the incentive
to innovate. Marketing consultant Hackbardt says restaurants have to put themselves under pressure to provide unique
products and experiences, especially in
tough times.
Hackbardt likens the need for innova-
tion in restaurants to other consumer products, such as razors.
Razors through the years keep
adding new blades and other functions that set them apart, with
the old standard one-blade razor
now heading toward five blades.
“They innovate their own
product,” Hackbardt says. “They
will add another blade to their
razor before the competition
does. They attack themselves
and innovate to beat themselves. You have to get that
mind-set. You have to get the
customer to say to themselves, ‘I have to get in there
because of some innovation.’”
Darden’s Red Lobster
division did that last fall
with the introduction of a
wood-fire grilling system.
The 680-unit chain announced in November
that it had rolled out the
grills systemwide at a
cost of $10.5 million as
part of its efforts to increase menu offerings,
especially those that
are lighter and more
healthful.
Andrew H. Mad-
Red Lobster decided that the downturn was
the right time to innovate, installing a
$10.5 million wood-fire grilling platform to
its system of 680 units and increasing its
slate of lighter, healthful seafood dishes.
sen, president and chief operating officer for
Orlando, Fla.-based Darden, said in analysts calls earlier this year that “wood-fire
grilling is a very important component of
their phased plan to refresh the brand,
building on prior brand enhancements, such
as the introduction of today’s fresh-fish
menus, new plateware, more culinary-for-ward menu items and seafood expert training for their servers.”
“Every restaurant now has a wood-fire
grill operated by grill masters who are certified experts in the art of wood-fire grilling,”
