Article
Popeyes finds practice makes perfect
The brands' New Orleans stores spend months preparing for Mardi Gras sales.
March 5, 2009
Preparing for an event that triples store sales for several days takes weeks of planning, as Dwayne Fontenette, director of operations for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen well knows.
Fontenette helps the 24 New Orleans-area Popeyes restaurants prepare and execute the sales frenzy that accompanies the 12 days of the city's Mardi Gras celebration. Planning starts a couple months out, as Fontenette and his team compare notes from previous years with the coming event's parade routes and schedule.
If a parade route changes, he said, so do the projected sales for stores that either will or no longer will be on the new route. The team also takes into account how early or late in February Fat Tuesday will occur. Because Fat Tuesday is tied to the Catholic observance of Lent, the date it falls on changes each year as the date for Easter does.
This year, Fat Tuesday fell on Feb. 24.
"The later in the year it is, we seem to get busier during those times because the weather more than likely is a nicer," Fontenette said. "This year the weather was great because it was later (in the month).
Preparations for the event include determining staffing needs, planning the stores' product supply, training staff for the event and putting together a marketing campaign. Typically, the New Orleans' area store increase staffing by 25 percent for the event, and marketing focuses on specials posted on yard signs that are used along parade routes.
This year, the stores promoted Popeyes' 50-piece box and 20-piece bundle, which includes 20 pieces of chicken, large side orders and 10 biscuits. The stores typically promote some type of box menu item because those are the most popular.
The stores kick off staff training with a Mardi Gras rally for all team members, boosting employee spirit and preparing them for specials and operations changes.
Throw me something, mister
The first parade of Mardi Gras typically occurs two Fridays prior to Fat Tuesday, followed by more over the weekend. All told, more than 50 parades roll in the New Orleans area in the weeks before Fat Tuesday.
Sales at New Orleans Popeyes along the parade routes are usually 20 percent to 40 percent higher than a typical weekend.
Sales pick up more in the week before Fat Tuesday, with sales tripling at most New Orleans locations, Fontenette said. Even stores in the suburban areas see an increase in sales as parade goers pick up orders on the way to and from parades.
During the Mardi Gras celebration, the Canal Street location stays open 24 hours a day and a refrigerated truck is brought in to handle the extra stock. On parade days, stores open at 5 a.m.
The busiest stores also map out a new flow for order taking and pickup, with orders usually being taken in the lobby to keep traffic flowing at the counter, Fontenette said.
Fontenette and his team take notes on the event, from preparations to parade route changes or cancellations to the weather. After Mardi Gras, Fontenette's team meets to debrief on the week's successes and areas on which to improve.
"It's always good to take very good notes because it's such a big event," he said. "Through the years we've been able to collect history" to prepare for the next year.
Bouncing back from Katrina
Fontenette said that this year several locations experienced their highest Mardi Gras day sales ever. Together, the stores sold an estimated 1.5 million pieces of chicken, 1 million biscuits and 50 tons of red beans and rice, figures similar to last year's.
He also said that local news media reported that this year's Mardi Gras saw the highest number of visitors since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city.
As for Popeyes, the area lost six stores but its stores are experiencing store average sales volume above pre-Katrina levels thanks to continuing construction in the city.
Mardi Gras wasn't always such a big sales event for Popeyes. Fontenette said the that sales started picking up in the late 1970s when the company's founder, the late Al Copeland, used to throw doubloons from the Popeyes float offering a free two-piece dinners. Since then, parade goers have developed a connection with the brand and the event.
"It's a culture in New Orleans," he said.
That culture is demonstrated by customers asking for Popeyes crew members to give them the company-provided t-shirts designed for the event.
"They practically begged crew members for the shirts off their back, just because it has Popeyes on it and Mardi Gras because they want to make that connection," he said. "Every year it's just that bond. My people get a rush from the different visitors and people that come from out of town and it's their first time in Popeyes."
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