Operations
Boston Market CEO talks Covid-19 strategy
Although Boston Market has been able to keep the majority of its restaurants open for delivery and curbside orders, CEO Eric Wyatt said he's had to make several adjustments in order to serve customers.
May 1, 2020 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
Boston Market has been through some major changes over the past couple of months. COO Eric Wyatt took over as CEO in February, and the Golden, Colorado-based chain announced this week that it was acquired by Engage Brands. Combine those developments with a pandemic, and it's enough to rock any brand. Boston Market, which has about 375 locations, is holding steady, however, but has made a few adjustments to its operations strategy.
"Currently, about 300 locations are open all day, every day," Wyatt said during a Q and A interview with FastCasual. "Half of those locations also have drive-thru available. We made a slight adjustment to our operating hours to ensure we were open during the busiest times of the lunch and dinner dayparts. A small percentage of our restaurants did close, as we analyzed what made sense geographically and financially for us and decided to close those locations as a result."
Q. Are sales down? Specifically, by how much compared to last year?
A. Most restaurant companies are reporting sales are down up to 80%, and many are closing. For Boston Market, business declines have varied around the country. However, because our brand was founded on the idea of offering quality homestyle meals that are available to-go and because we were able to pivot early on to truly meet the needs of our customers through our off-premise options, we have not seen as dramatic a decline as others in the Fast Casual space. Again, we have half our locations with drive-thrus and our delivery business was already in full swing and has only increased during this time. A positive sign was that last week we had the best Easter sales in our brand's history.
Q. Has anyone had to take pay cuts?
A.No paycuts were made in our restaurants, field leadership and Support Center roles.
Q. How many in-restaurant workers have been laid off?
A. Unfortunately, we have had to reduce our staff in the restaurant and in our support center to offset the initial sales declines. But our teams in the restaurant are doing a tremendous job, and we have received many compliments from guests around the country about the dedication of our teams and their focus on safety and cleanliness. I am so proud to lead a team that has handled this difficult situation with such a positive attitude and desire to help make a difference in their communities. As a small thank you, we are providing complimentary meals to all our employees while on duty.
Q. Do you think the government stimulus packages will be enough to help you keep the business open?
A. We know that any help that consumers can get in providing money in their bank accounts will be a benefit in creating opportunities for these individuals, and eventually allowing more discretionary spending. So we look forward to seeing the impact of stimulus checks as they are being distributed this week.
Q. Anything else you'd like to comment on regarding what you guys are doing to stay afloat during this?
A. Building on our brand's heritage and expertise in providing customers with quality home-style meals-to-go, we have added several larger family meals to our current offerings and are seeing strong sales there. We have also expanded the availability of our XL Heat & Serve side dishes that are usually only available at holidays to every day, as guests look to have convenient meal solutions ready when needed. Additionally, to meet customers changing needs in how they get their meals, we began offering Free Delivery through Bostonmarket.com and our app in March and have continued it.
We are available for delivery on all the major 3rd parties and have curbside pickup available in almost all of our restaurants. Lastly, we are doing everything we can to provide a safe working environment for our employees as well as our customers. We continue to have daily calls, 7 days a week, with the Executive Teams as well as each level in the organization. We also conduct organization-wide conference calls/live meetings to stay connected and answer any questions that our teams have.
Read more COVID-19 coverage here.
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