FSR Magazine: Beef ‘O’ Brady’s CEO Looks to June for COVID-19 Breakthrough

According to a recent article in FSR Magazine , Beef ‘O’ Brady’s CEO Chris Elliott knows there is no playbook for navigating these strange times.

“It’s an educated guess at this point,” Elliott said in the article. He continued with, “Everybody’s having to do it to manage their cash and to see when they can start paying their bills,” when referencing the 150-unit chain’s choice to allow franchisees to decide on whether to keep their doors open. In mid-March, around 15 percent of locations chose to close as the rest of the franchisees shifted to take-out, delivery, self-delivery and offering grocery items in select stores which caused an increase in 10 percent of sales the following week, after suffering losses from the initial outbreak.

Elliott also discussed how social distancing orders will affect dining rooms nationwide. “They will turn the lights back on cautiously—whether or not this becomes a regulatory thing forced upon operators will depend on city and state laws,” Elliott states. “If dining rooms reopen in May, sales could shift from down 60 percent, as they are today, to roughly 50 percent.” Elliot remains hopeful that “toward the last quarter of the year, sales will approach flat, year-over-year.”

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s started their off-premise dining options by offering 20 percent off all delivery orders to emphasize the service to their customers. The chain then developed five different family meals, “which have been the most popular off-premises bundles in the company’s history thus far,” Elliot said. Pre-COVID-19, the brand solely worked with third-party delivery, but now it is also onboarding delivery in-house so it can create additional jobs. Plus, the smaller sized orders run a lower cost to franchisees.

Elliott expects heightened competition after COVID-19. “Value is going to be big,” he said in the article. “Look, millions of people lost their jobs. Discretionary income across the country is going to be significantly lower than it was before. So people are going to be deal shopping big time. That’s why these family meal deals that we put together are selling so well.”