Well, school holidays are over for most of the students here in the US and it’s time to start thinking about the kids that are back in school and how to gain some sales from the school crowd.

This is especially true of any store in a shopping mall or near a school. Many stores do better business when school is in session than on the holidays so time to get out your local store marketing caps and start thinking kids!!

Here are some ideas to get you going.

• Develop some kid friendly beverages, make them colorful and fun and keep them at a price that will suit their average spend.
• Talk to the local schools about hosting after game meals. You can either do it on premise or do carry out packs the coaches can pick up prior to the game.
• Offer discounts for students at special after school times. This can also help you with sales in the slower afternoon period.
• Get some bookmarks printed with your store name, logo and a discount coupn and give it to every kid you see.
• Get on Facebook and attract some fans!! Be careful though, Kids can be very truthful if they are not happy with service and price.
• Advertise in your local school news letter or at their sports ground if possible.
• Free upsize to all students on your slowest day. Works with non students as well.
• Give vouchers to the school to use as incentives for a winning match or great scholastic achievement. Don’t worry, there is a good chance that they will bring there parents and siblings along to redeem the voucher and they pay full price!!
• Package meals and snacks to appeal to students. Be creative, make sure it’s hard to copy and price point aggressively.

I am sure you can think of many more to suit your establishment but make sure you are aware of the growing trend for healthy foods, you can even advertise the fact that your offering is low carb, vegetarian, low gluten low fat etc.

So have a look at your menu at start picking out some items you can bundle or discount without hurting the bottom line too much and talk to your printer about the vouchers and advertising. Good luck!!

I was in a pizza restaurant last week, no not the one that I have been raving about, another one and was having a chat to the owner. He had recently set up his pizzeria as part of a whitewater rafting, kayak and general water sports centre. The establishment was a bit off the beaten track and I was amazed at some of the equipment he had in his kitchen, including a Middleby Marshall conveyor oven that could handle ten times the volume that would ever be able to fit into this small pizzeria.

I suggested that maybe he had over capitalized just a little considering even a used Middle Marshall in reasonable condition could cost as much as $10,000 and this one looked almost new. Looking around I also noticed lots of good condition stainless steel workbenches, make tables, stoves, high end commercial microwaves etc.

OK, I asked, what’s the deal? You have a restaurant equipment package that could go into any quick service or fast casual restaurant that would cost a million to build and here you are with a little converted shed with the same equipment package!!

A huge smile broke out on his face and he told me that the entire package was for sale from a pizzeria that went bust less than a year after it opened. So what did he pay?

Now get this.  $4000 for everything.  A whole restaurant equipment package for $4000!!

• Check out online for used restaurant equipment stores.
• Check for Bankruptcy sales or going out of business sales and auctions.
• ebay is full of great deals. Some of them from franchise systems like Wendy’s and Subway so you may even be able to satisfy your franchisor’s equipment specifications.
• Ask your franchisor for stores that are closing or relocating. Most good franchisors will have a list of used equipment in storage that they will want to convert into cash.

You can often get fantastic deals for a fraction of the price and even though there probably is no longer a valid warranty you can get many years of dependable use from the majority of used equipment as long as you put in place a maintenance schedule that looks after not only the day to day cleaning and maintenance but also includes regular visits by the service technicians to ensure the internals and electrics are kept in good order. The technicians will also be able to let you know if any part needs replacing prior to a breakdown in a peak period.

The downturn in the economy can have devastating affects on many businesses and you may not want to reap the rewards of someone else s bad luck but look at it this way, at least they will be getting something back for their investment and that equipment needs to be used  so why not you!!

The recent (still happening) heat wave across the US reminded me that it is well past time to do the summer check on all cooling and refrigeration equipment. Most smart franchisees and small food shops will have this booked in for that start of every summer. If you are not one of them, call your service provider and change the inspection times to coincide with the summer and winter season beginnings.

There are several reasons to ensure your refrigeration and cooling systems are at their optimum during the summer and the first and most important is the safety of your customers by ensuring that all equipment can do the job of keeping foods at the correct temperature all day and every day. In other words ensuring full food safety.

All foods are at a higher risk during hot weather. Restaurant refrigeration systems struggle to keep safe temperatures, delivery trucks are even worse and the processing factories have the same heat problems as the restaurants Summer is also the time of insects which can find their way into your restaurant and food, so pest control will have to be stepped up.

Refrigeration will be working at it’s hardest over the summer so ensure that the coolant is recharged and all condensers are clean and free of dust. You may have to move the equipment, get into crawl spaces or ceilings to do this but it is worth it as it will help the overall efficiency of the system. Ensure that your service company also does this as part of your normal service so that you only have to check it once or twice in between services.

Do the same for your air conditioning so as to ensure a comfortable environment for your customers. Good A/C also assists refrigeration as a cool area surrounding the refrigeration system assists with good airflow around motors and condensers. Also a good idea to check that there is nothing blocking air flow near any of the motors as this could cause serious overheating and may even cause a burnt out motor, which could lead to a lot more serious problems like spoiled food and even food poisoning.

The start of summer is also a good time to do a complete strip down, clean and sanitize on all fridges as well as checking door seals for cracks and tears and anything else that will affect the running of your equipment. It is also a great time to schedule a full team meeting on the importance of food safety and to stress sanitation, FIFO and all the other things that can be impacted by the hot weather.

I have found over the years that normally the only time I have had any problems with equipment in summer was when regular servicing had not been done. It ends up costing significantly more in call out fees, wasted food, and unhappy customers because  equipment always breaks down when it is at full stress and that is usually on the weekend when call out fees are higher, you have more perishables in stock and more customers to be angry at you when the A/C breaks down or the ice cream is soft.