WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FROM YOUR FRANCHISOR OR GOVERNMENT? Our franchisor has been great about regular check-ins to show that people matter. I hope that going forward, Garbanzo continues to push the envelope and try different ways of doing business. Things will be different after Covid-19. But there are other ways to handle it, and I’m excited to see how Garbanzo continues to experiment and innovate outside of the norm. As I’ve been innovating with the promotions on a local level, I’d love to see the brand continue to be on the cutting edge. HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO REOPEN AND REBUILD YOUR BUSINESS POST–COVID-19? We will be following the recommendations of our local government officials. Everyone is playing by the government’s rules, and we are ready to play the long game. Our guiding principle in all of this is truly the health and safety of our team, customers, and community. Ideally, our Garbanzo business will rebuild the way we originally built it: executing great food and treating people right. We might lose some of our catering business, as people aren’t sitting around offices eating lunch. However, things will return to normal and we just need to weather this storm.
DAWN LAFREEDA Covid-19 has dealt a heavy blow to Dawn Lafreeda, Denny’s largest individual franchisee, and one of the largest female restaurant franchisees in the U.S. Her 90 Denny’s restaurants have experienced business drops as much as 90 percent, and she’s had to temporarily close some locations and permanently close others. As she works to stretch every penny, Lafreeda also must deal with the different shutdown rules and reopening schedules in the various cities and states where her Denny’s are located. HOW HAS COVID-19 AFFECTED YOUR BUSINESS? We are down anywhere from 75% to 90%. We had locations that were further down, which we chose to temporarily close as it was just too costly to keep them open. We also sadly have some stores that will never reopen. WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW TO GET THROUGH THIS? We are monitoring our business on a daily basis and making decisions as to hours of operation, number of staff to retain, and whatever other survival tools we can use. Each city and state has different rules, so we are constantly strategizing to make sure we can stretch every penny as far as we can until we are permitted to reopen. IS YOUR FRANCHISOR HELPING KEEP YOU AFLOAT? Our franchisor is helping, but they are in the same boat we are, and truly it is not enough help right now in times like these. We have gotten some royalty and advertising relief and rent deferrals for locations that we lease or sublease through them. They have been aggressive in doing all they can to help us to stay in business and stay safe during this unusual and unpredictable time. They have been fast thinking and fast moving
102
FRANCHISEUpdate
ISSUE 2, 2020
