Article

How Cousins Subs is delaying layoffs as long as possible

Like many restaurant concepts trying to survive COVID-19, sales are down at Cousins Subs, a Wisconsin-based chain with more than 100 locations. CEO Christine Specht, however, is doing everything she can to keep the business alive.

March 24, 2020 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Editor's note: This is part 1 in a series called "Navigating COVID-19," where FastCasual describes what restaurant brands are doing to keep their businesses alive. If you'd like to hare your story or tips, please send email to Editor@FastCasual.com

Like many restaurant concepts trying to survive COVID-19, sales are down at Cousins Subs, a Wisconsin-based chain with more than 100 locations. CEO Christine Specht, however, is doing everything she can to keep the business alive.

"Our emphasis is more on trying to slow the decline and stabilize sales throughout this crisis rather than raise sales or meet our annual plan," Specht said during an interview with FastCasual.

Since March 13, sales are down 30%.

"As the curve is flattened, we will re-evaluate where we are for the year and work to bring us back to plan," she said. 

Changing the business model
Since most states have banned dine-in eating, brands have had to quickly find other ways to get food to customers. Cousins, which has always had drive-thru and carry-out options,  made the change quickly, adding curbside pickup in Wisconsin and Indiana and also rolling it out in Chicago before the city made the decision to close all restaurants locations until March 31.

To entice customers to choose Cousins, the chain is also offering free delivery on all orders through April 30, and guests enrolled in its app-based loyalty program receive 1 point for every $1 spent on their orders. Members also receive freebies by referring friends to join the club, and when guests sign up, they receive a free 7.5-inch sub or Sub in a Bowl. 

To keep customers and workers safe, Specht said the stores have increased the frequency of sanitation procedures, suspended the sales of self-service fountain beverages, serve condiments only upon request and ask guests to maintain a social distance of 6 feet from one another.

So far, Cousins has not yet had to lay off workers.

"We are taking measures to preserve cash and are watching our overhead expenses very carefully," said Specht, who admitted that some restaurant employees, as well as a few at the corporate level, have opted out of work. "Many of these are parents who need to stay home with their children or they are just not comfortable coming into work, even with the protective measures we are taking."

Employees are at the heart of the business, she said, so she understands that not all their situations are the same.

"We are working with each of our employees during this difficult time," she said.

Milwaukee-based Toro Toro Restaurant Group, which owns BelAir, HIYA Taco, The Garage, Finks, Balzac, Comet Café, Fuel Café, HIYA Taco, hasn't fared as well. The company had to lay off more than 500 employees when it moved to a take-out model at its BelAir restaurants, but owner Kristyn Eitel is helping her teams as much as possible.

"We're reacting to a rapidly changing environment we've never encountered before and adjusting quickly in ways that impact the lives of our employees," she said during an interview with FastCasual. "These are very difficult decisions, but we always put our team's health and safety above everything else."

In addition to helping employees apply for unemployment benefits, Eitel is offering a free daily meal to every unemployed worker and connecting those who want to find other work with companies providing essential services. She's also checking in regularly to see if there is anything the company can do to help. 

"No one can predict what is going to happen, how long this will last or how things are going to change as a result of this pandemic," she said. "Our goal is to come back stronger than before, and in order to do that, we all have to be healthy and well."
 

About Cherryh Cansler

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Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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