Article
Tech, menu innovation breathing new life into KC sandwich shop
Goodcents President Mike O'Toole discusses how the 30-year-old brand is experiencing double-digit sales growth.
February 21, 2020 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
Goodcents Deli Fresh Subs President Mike O'Toole may be new to the top role, but he's been with the Kansas City-based sandwich for nearly two decades. He spent 10 years as a franchise owner in Tucson before moving to Kansas City in 2013 to oversee training at the corporate and has held various operations roles over the past seven years before replacing Scott Ford as president in January.
No matter his role, O'Toole said he's always been focused on leveraging technology to provide franchisees with the tools needed to drive operational success.
"As our founder likes to say, 'Information is key,'" he said in an interview with FastCasual. "We have more information now than we have ever had thanks to industry-leading training technology, mystery shopping, restaurant audits, online reputation management and reporting, customer relationship management (CRM) guest relations and sales analytics. This information provides the best support to our franchisees which ultimately drives consistency across our restaurants."
Naturally, that mentality extends to the 70-unit chain's delivery strategy. While Goodcents has been delivering since it opened in 1989, it's facing more competition than ever thanks to third-party delivery providers.
"This has actually created incredible competition to our existing delivery business as now literally everyone it seems delivers or has that option now," he said. "With our early adoption and excellent product, we have been able to retain most of our delivery business in this now very crowded delivery space.
Although the chain still uses its own drivers, it has also partnered with DoorDash, integrating its point of sale for seamless order assignment for franchisees.
"This allows our franchisees to use delivery service providers when they need them during high revenue periods or staffing shortages," O'Toole said. "With our integration, many of our franchisees have decided to use DSPs full time."
It's never too late to grow
The 30-year-old chain is planning double-digit store openings this year through multi-unit and area representative programs. And although it may sound a little late in the game for a seasoned brand to be entering growth mode, O'Toole said the chain's dedication to offering a consistent product has readied it for the next step.
"Our founder understood that consistency matters," he said. "We did not want to grow faster than our ability to support the consistency of our brand. Thanks to our investments in technology we are now enabled to drive more growth in 2020."
Those investments helped the brand experience double-digit sales growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2019.
"We have a plan for growth and pushing new features like Goodcents To Go, which is changing the landscape for us," he said.
Goodcents To Go, which features new menu items and delivery service, was born after the company realized that consumer spending and purchasing habits were continuing to move heavily into home meal replacement and convenient, on-the-go meals.
"For 30 years we have provided our guests with an amazing line of pasta dishes and dinners along with our famous subs," O'Toole said. "Moving those dinners into a convenient to-go format and expanding that offering to include entrees like Grilled Alaskan Salmon, Pot Roast and my current favorite, Naked Chicken, was just a very smart move."
Most units, for example, have seen an increase of over 300% in that menu category after transitioning into the to-go meals.
"Multiple times a day, we have guests come in for their favorite subs and as they leave they pick up 3-5 fresh made daily to-go meals," O'Toole said. "As life continues to get busier, we are ready to continue to provide what our brand has provided our guests for 30 years: sliced fresh, baked fresh, made fresh daily, famous subs and convenient and delicious meals.
Helping Goodcents also pick up sales is its recent investment in marketing.
"Last year, we launched a commercial with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who led the team to win the Superbowl this year," he said.
This year, the chain is partnering with local soccer team Sporting KC and defender Matt Bessler, who will star in a commercial.
"With our resurgence and current positioning in this space, we are actively looking to expand even our company-owned locations," O'Toole said.
About Cherryh Cansler
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