Archived Cafe/Food Avenue Failure

[oath2order]

McFuck seems to fare well at Shitmart. Maybe Pizza Hut is just not cutting it? We sold off our pharmacies, maybe it's time to sell off our Cafes too.

Some of the McDonalds in Walmart look nice and classy.

The layout does look fast food, but changing the signs and the countertop would make a world of difference in looking nice. Keeping the pizzas and the popcorn can be done (since they are the big draw) and still look nice if the rest of the menu were changed for higher quality items and presented for sale in a classier way. Think of the difference between Panera and Subway, even though they serve very similar food.

Yeah that's fair. We have marble top and these white tile walls but it just looks...eh.

 

[PMT2Four]

My last stores cafe was in need of a remodel. I think it is slated to close and replaced by Starbucks within the next year. I was told they are closing most cafes because Target’s contract with Pizza Hut is ending soon.

 

[Anelmi]

There is nothing in Cafe that is a big draw in my store. Not the pizza nor the popcorn nor the icees. Our Starbucks is huge and is so busy yet bc of Cafe, sometimes they only have 1 TM covering both sides. Stupid. Close it down, I say and put SFS/OPU there or I guess in my store's case, move GS there since Target Corp plans on getting rid of the IGS model anyway. It'd be a far better use of space tbh.

 

[redeye58]

During the summer our cafe was mobbed: kids getting pretzels & Icees, nearby workers getting pastas/salads, retirees getting hotdogs or popcorn/soda combos, teens getting pizza & wings.
Now that school has started we're at a more sedate pace but weekends are still crazy.

 

[Kartman]

I think overall it works out to be a better store when a FA and a SB is inside.

 

[Times Up]

During the summer our cafe was mobbed: kids getting pretzels & Icees, nearby workers getting pastas/salads, retirees getting hotdogs or popcorn/soda combos, teens getting pizza & wings.
Now that school has started we're at a more sedate pace but weekends are still crazy.

We've got too many options available just outside of our store:. Wendy's, McD, Taco Bell, Chick Fil A, (a real) Pizza Hut, Arby's, and more.

There is no reason to eat from FA unless you work at Target and can't leave the building.

 

[NeoDarikona]

There seems to be no consistency in popularity of food ave. One store two miles down the road might be slammed and churning out craploads of hotdogs and pizzas, and the next store over is an 50 million/year store and yet their FA is a ghost town. The trend has just been that FA is slowly being gutted out and will likely be replaced or shut down.

 

[Yetive]

Sister store spends more in payroll than it makes in sales.

 

[redandkhaki]

I think a huge issue with food ave stems from how much support it gets.
When I first took over my ETL basically ef food ave, it sucks, doesnt make money, just keep doing starbucks.
I tried to turn things around but with zero support or ETLs and TLs closing it and pulling my tms to work in other areas it was a lost cause.
Now I have a new DM and ETL and with a little support, some new TMs I hired, actually having pizzas ready to go, we are crazy busy and our comp vs last year is roughly +60%.

I still hate it though. Lol

 

[redeye58]

ETL support makes a huge difference.
Ours holds us to high standards & it gets results.

 

[Buttercup24]

Starbucks gets more hours to operate than Food Ave, and there's also a District Manager from Starbucks corporate assigned to make sure that the store is complying with the terms of the licensed store agreement. Issues with Starbucks can be escalated from the ETL-Food/STL to the DTL by the Starbucks DM if nothing is changing at the store level. It's actually a very big deal for the store to close Starbucks early, with the exception of literal natural disasters/food safety regulations. Also your leaders probably won't want to close Starbucks as often as Food Ave anyway, because Starbucks is a lot more profitable.

 

[Buttercup24]

Starbucks gets more hours to operate than Food Ave, and there's also a District Manager from Starbucks corporate assigned to make sure that the store is complying with the terms of the licensed store agreement. Issues with Starbucks can be escalated from the ETL-Food/STL to the DTL by the Starbucks DM if nothing is changing at the store level. It's actually a very big deal for the store to close Starbucks early, with the exception of literal natural disasters/food safety regulations. Also your leaders probably won't want to close Starbucks as often as Food Ave anyway, because Starbucks is a lot more profitable.

 

[Kartman]

 

[OneArmedJesus]

Our FA is pretty busy during the weekend. Constantly making food, then again I don't know what money it makes

 

[can't touch this]

WELP.

Our FA is "back". They suddenly have hours out of nowhere, they've started opening at 8am like back in the day, and they're bringing back pasta, wings and breakfast sandwiches (only had pizzas and pretzels before). I was talking to the FA kid and he goes "Dude I actually have 38 hours this week and next" with a stunned look, lol. For the longest time they were only open on the busiest parts of the weekend, but now it's like a light went on somewhere and breathed new life into it.

Anyways I'm stoked bc those breakfast sandwiches are good af and it's the best thing to eat on a 15 after the unload

 

[Kartman]

Our FA is physically gone.

No coming back from that.

 

[REDcardJJ]

you wanna slide some of those FA hours my way at Starbucks??

 

[can't touch this]

you wanna slide some of those FA hours my way at Starbucks??

Our Starbucks shifts are always 8 hours and most of them work 30 a week minimum

 

[Thunderbird1956]

I don't know what it is about Starbucks in my area. We're literally across the road from a Starbucks and both are busy open to close. We had someone move from a Starbucks a mile down the road because our constant stream of people was less busy...

 

[starmaster1000]

We have a Starbucks in our same shopping center, literally touches the side of the store at the far end, and people will come from that one to ours instead. It's just weird.

 

[Tessa120]

We have a Starbucks in our same shopping center, literally touches the side of the store at the far end, and people will come from that one to ours instead. It's just weird.

Not necessarily weird. How busy a location is, how fast you get in and out, and how nice the baristas are mean a lot more than a short distance.

 

[starmaster1000]

Not necessarily weird. How busy a location is, how fast you get in and out, and how nice the baristas are mean a lot more than a short distance.

Yeah that is true. We are pretty speedy. Our two baristas have been there a while, and the new girl is catching up quick. Although she did drop my (and the last ) Bullseye cookie. Sigh.