Zane Tankel claims he is not afraid of the big, bad recession. Even as much of the casual-dining segment remains battered by the cash-conscious consumers defecting to quick-service eateries, the chief executive of Apple-Metro Inc., a Harrison, N.Y.-based Applebee’s franchisee, says he and his team have found ways to move their company forward. Apple-Metro has worked to improve operations and manage costs and continued to open stores, taking advantage of a falling real estate market and a rising labor pool to get the best lease terms for new restaurants and the best people to staff them. The results have paid off, said Tankel, who says that Apple-Metro’s same-store sales rose 2.8 percent in 2008. More growth is planned for this year, including two restaurants under construction in the Bronx, which also helps further Tankel’s mission of helping underserved communities by providing sit-down dining options for families in fast-food-dense neighborhoods. Apple-Metro currently operates 28 Applebee’s in the New York City metropolitan area, including one of the chain’s highest-grossing units in Times Square, which was featured last month in a New York Times article about the woes of the restaurant industry. The company, which also owns one Chevy’s Fresh Mex and one location of its proprietary Zanaro’s Italian concept, boasts $119 million in sales.
How is business?
At the end of 2007, before things really went into the toilet bowl, we made a very clear decision about whether to hunker down and wait for it to pass, or whether we could aggressively go out and take advantage of a tough situation. It turned out to be a brilliant decision.
We moved our office and doubled our size and built a 100-person training site to train managers. We negotiated leases, built and opened three restaurants, all ahead of projection, in 2008. We signed leases for four more for 2009, two of which are under construction.
We continue to gain traction. We have been able to negotiate leases at increasingly favorable prices because no one is building. We’re signing deals at literally half the prices we would have a year ago. If they don’t want to negotiate, that’s their prerogative. But we move on.
FAST FACTS AGE: “There are three ages that every man has: My physical age is about 25. My psychological age is about 18. My chronological age is something north of 60.”HOMETOWN: Patterson, N.JHOBBIES: cycling, martial arts and other fitness activities
What do you think of all the discounting and value menus in casual dining?
They’re in a lot of trouble. I think they undermine the price-value relationship, and it’s an indicator of being in real difficulty. We don’t do discounting; we never have. We do combining, like the 2 for $20 promotion. I call it bundling.
What’s your advice for others?
They’ve got to get their heads up and look around and ask themselves where they’ll be in six months, but take action now. You can’t wait for the storm to pass. You have to take action now to have a speedier recovery.
We asked ourselves, “Can we be stronger and better ahead of the curve if we take action now, or do we wait and come out the same?” In that meeting [in 2007], I remember, clear as a bell, one of our steering committee members asking what happens if everything goes south for us? My exact words were, “You don’t have to plan for that.” It will be completely beyond our control. Let’s plan for the upturn, and it will be in our control.