QUOTE
Managing a full plate
Big Foot’s success in competitive restaurant industry requires constant monitoring
Memphis Business Journal - by Toby Sells
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ALAN HOWELL | MBJ
Shawn and Lana Danko with 7.5-lb. 'Sasquatch' burger - finish it in an hour, it's free.
Bigfoot may be a myth, but rising food prices are a stark reality and Shawn Danko keeps his thoughts on both of them.
Danko owns Big Foot Lodge LLC with his wife, Lana. He says the Bigfoot legend keeps the restaurant fun, but commodity cost hikes have been his biggest challenge this year. In a restaurant that prides itself on Sasquatch-sized portions, food prices can crunch the bottom line.
“Even though we’re seeing the top line grow, that bottom line is not running parallel,” Danko says. “In fact, it’s eroding a little bit.”
The restaurant saw a 16% revenue increase from $1.9 million in 2006 to $2.2 million last year. However, Danko has seen more than 100% cost increases on certain foods. A case of potatoes, he says, went from $10 a case to $28 a case in 12 months. Cooking oil rose from $12 for five gallons to between $30-$40 .
The solution seems simple enough — raise the price to the consumer. But Big Foot was made for casual dining, the middle to low price scale. Sticker shock in that market can quickly drive consumers away. So, Danko relies on strategic price increases.
“You know you have to increase prices, but we have to be smart about it and not do it all at one time,” he says. “You used to do a price increase once a year and now you have to do them two or three or four times a year to make sure you haven’t missed something.”
Danko is a “hands on” manager who earned his stripes through the Hard Rock Cafe ranks. He started working door security for Hard Rock Toronto in 1990. He became the general manager of Hard Rock Montreal in 1998 and was transferred to manage Hard Rock Memphis in 2000. Danko says when people ask him how he manages his own restaurant now, he says “hourly.”
“It changes so rapidly that if you only look at labor and food costs monthly, you’ve missed it,” he says. “Labor accounts for about 30%-40% of your business costs and if you don’t get that right, you’re in a very precarious spot.”
Danko admits the learning curve from restaurant employee to restaurant owner was a steep one. Challenges at Big Foot arrive daily from plenty of places, challenges once handled for Danko by Hard Rock’s corporate office while he managed their operations.
“Whereas here, it’s all you,” he says. “You have to become an expert on the Tennessee Department of Labor and alcohol laws and taxes and what’s the right kind of insurance. With that kind of learning curve, the more people you can get a hold of and ask questions, the better.”
So, while he’s been paddling hard, Ashley Williams, vice president of operations for the Huey’s restaurant chain, says he looks natural doing it.
“He’s done great with his first restaurant and with so much experience, he’s just kind of a natural at it,” Williams says.
Perhaps the two best known hamburgers in town are Huey’s Best Burger and Big Foot’s 7 1/2-pound Sasquatch. Williams says burgers and Danko’s proximity to Huey’s Downtown location make them natural competitors, but “we like competition.”
“If you’re on your way to Huey’s and we’re too busy and you end up at Big Foot, then the same thing will happen back,” Williams says. “We’ve never been the type of restaurant that hasn’t wanted to be next to a Ruby Tuesday or Big Foot or Lulu’s. Also, anything that gets people Downtown is great for the economy.”
Downtown has treated Danko right, he says, as customer counts have risen steadily since 2005. But now he and his wife are scouting a new location in the suburbs either in Southaven, Cordova, Arlington or Collierville, Danko says.
“For me, it’s always been about looking ahead to where we can grow, to expand,” he says. “We’re still looking for the right spot and have it make sense.”
The lodge concept and its hairy mascot took years to develop on “many scrap pieces of paper and bar napkins.” So, don’t look for that to change with a new location.
“I love the country and the outdoors, I just never had chance to spend a whole lot of time doing it,” Danko says. “It’s a break for me to work in this environment, it’s familiar. I figured if I couldn’t go hunting, at least I could work in a lodge.”
Big Foot Lodge LLC
Owners: Shawn and Lana Danko
Employees: 62
Address: 97 South Second
Phone: (901) 578-9808
Web site: www.eatatbigfoot.com
Big Foot’s success in competitive restaurant industry requires constant monitoring
Memphis Business Journal - by Toby Sells
Click to view attachment
ALAN HOWELL | MBJ
Shawn and Lana Danko with 7.5-lb. 'Sasquatch' burger - finish it in an hour, it's free.
Bigfoot may be a myth, but rising food prices are a stark reality and Shawn Danko keeps his thoughts on both of them.
Danko owns Big Foot Lodge LLC with his wife, Lana. He says the Bigfoot legend keeps the restaurant fun, but commodity cost hikes have been his biggest challenge this year. In a restaurant that prides itself on Sasquatch-sized portions, food prices can crunch the bottom line.
“Even though we’re seeing the top line grow, that bottom line is not running parallel,” Danko says. “In fact, it’s eroding a little bit.”
The restaurant saw a 16% revenue increase from $1.9 million in 2006 to $2.2 million last year. However, Danko has seen more than 100% cost increases on certain foods. A case of potatoes, he says, went from $10 a case to $28 a case in 12 months. Cooking oil rose from $12 for five gallons to between $30-$40 .
The solution seems simple enough — raise the price to the consumer. But Big Foot was made for casual dining, the middle to low price scale. Sticker shock in that market can quickly drive consumers away. So, Danko relies on strategic price increases.
“You know you have to increase prices, but we have to be smart about it and not do it all at one time,” he says. “You used to do a price increase once a year and now you have to do them two or three or four times a year to make sure you haven’t missed something.”
Danko is a “hands on” manager who earned his stripes through the Hard Rock Cafe ranks. He started working door security for Hard Rock Toronto in 1990. He became the general manager of Hard Rock Montreal in 1998 and was transferred to manage Hard Rock Memphis in 2000. Danko says when people ask him how he manages his own restaurant now, he says “hourly.”
“It changes so rapidly that if you only look at labor and food costs monthly, you’ve missed it,” he says. “Labor accounts for about 30%-40% of your business costs and if you don’t get that right, you’re in a very precarious spot.”
Danko admits the learning curve from restaurant employee to restaurant owner was a steep one. Challenges at Big Foot arrive daily from plenty of places, challenges once handled for Danko by Hard Rock’s corporate office while he managed their operations.
“Whereas here, it’s all you,” he says. “You have to become an expert on the Tennessee Department of Labor and alcohol laws and taxes and what’s the right kind of insurance. With that kind of learning curve, the more people you can get a hold of and ask questions, the better.”
So, while he’s been paddling hard, Ashley Williams, vice president of operations for the Huey’s restaurant chain, says he looks natural doing it.
“He’s done great with his first restaurant and with so much experience, he’s just kind of a natural at it,” Williams says.
Perhaps the two best known hamburgers in town are Huey’s Best Burger and Big Foot’s 7 1/2-pound Sasquatch. Williams says burgers and Danko’s proximity to Huey’s Downtown location make them natural competitors, but “we like competition.”
“If you’re on your way to Huey’s and we’re too busy and you end up at Big Foot, then the same thing will happen back,” Williams says. “We’ve never been the type of restaurant that hasn’t wanted to be next to a Ruby Tuesday or Big Foot or Lulu’s. Also, anything that gets people Downtown is great for the economy.”
Downtown has treated Danko right, he says, as customer counts have risen steadily since 2005. But now he and his wife are scouting a new location in the suburbs either in Southaven, Cordova, Arlington or Collierville, Danko says.
“For me, it’s always been about looking ahead to where we can grow, to expand,” he says. “We’re still looking for the right spot and have it make sense.”
The lodge concept and its hairy mascot took years to develop on “many scrap pieces of paper and bar napkins.” So, don’t look for that to change with a new location.
“I love the country and the outdoors, I just never had chance to spend a whole lot of time doing it,” Danko says. “It’s a break for me to work in this environment, it’s familiar. I figured if I couldn’t go hunting, at least I could work in a lodge.”
Big Foot Lodge LLC
Owners: Shawn and Lana Danko
Employees: 62
Address: 97 South Second
Phone: (901) 578-9808
Web site: www.eatatbigfoot.com
thanks bill
