With football season in full swing, sports-focused Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. continues to build on strong sales and an aggressive growth strategy.
The Minneapolis-based operator of 1,030 casual-dining restaurants, which recently reported a 43.8-percent rise in net income for its second quarter ended June 29, has seen success with its Stadia prototype, which offers guests a stadium-like experience of the game of their choice. It has also continued its long-term strategy of investing in emerging restaurant concepts, with a majority investment in Dallas-based fast-casual chain Rusty Taco last month.
Buffalo Wild Wings president and chief executive Sally Smith, No. 6 on Nation’s Restaurant News Power List ranking of industry executives, recently spoke with NRN about upgrading the customer experience, how it has managed to thrive in a struggling segment and what makes for a successful football season.
Tell me about the recent investment in Rusty Taco.
Our investment in Rusty Taco is part of our longer-term strategy in investing in small, emerging brands that meet our criteria: national potential, able to be franchised and simple operations. We’ve targeted both casual dining and fast casual, and this is our second investment, following a minority investment in PizzaRev last March. We will work with the founders and executives at Rusty Taco to develop strategy and work on branding.
What has driven the strong earnings Buffalo Wild Wings has reported during the last several quarters?
We have had really strong same-store sales and steady growth in unit volume. We are operating very well and are able to execute on our brand promise of great wings, great viewing and great customer service. We’ve also really enjoyed some low pricing on our wings in the last year.
Video: Buffalo Wild wings gears up for football season >>
You have also developed a new prototype. How has that performed?
Our new prototype called Stadia was designed to have a more stadium-like feel to watch the game, and there is really not a bad seat in the house. Almost all of our company store build-outs in 2014 will be the Stadia model, and we will do a series of remodels. I think most of our franchise builds this year will be that model, as well. We’ve done a lot of research, and both our guests and our operators really like the new design.
What are some other things you are doing to enhance the customer experience?
We will have Guest Experience Captains at all of our company stores by the end of October, whose only focus is to accommodate the guest, who is there to watch a game. We are rolling out tablets, ultimately for menu ordering and paying, but also to engage in social media. We’ve upgraded our Wi-Fi capabilities in all our restaurants. We also just launched our GameBreak app, which continues to build on our trivia platform. During games, guests are able to answer questions live and win prizes.
What is Buffalo Wild Wings’ current growth plan?
We will open 90 to 95 new Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants this year, including international. We have 14 in Canada, four in Mexico, with another two to three planned by the end of the year. We also expect Dubai and the United Arab Emirates to open this year, as well as Saudi Arabia and possibly the Philippines, although that one may roll into the first quarter
You must be happy that football season is upon us. What makes for a good season from a business perspective?
We love it when it’s football season. Our fourth quarter and first quarter are typically our strongest periods. It depends on the matchups, and as we’ve expanded across the country, every team has relevance. We like it when games go into overtime, as referenced in our commercials and marketing campaign, but it is all about really great matchups. This year will be interesting because the College Bowl series has changed and hopefully the new format will continue to enhance the opportunity for success.
