“You never quite know when it’s time to move on,” he says. “It’s obviously gut and instinct on a number of folks’ part to move forward, but the worst thing you can do is penalize someone for failing or moving on.”
Invest in your brand
About 10 years ago, Eat’n Park started doing small remodels. Some of the restaurants were decades old and needed to be refreshed. The problem was the people passing by couldn’t see the changes.
“We realized that folks may drive by this same old, tired-looking building that may be beautiful inside, but they don’t know that. So we weren’t building trial,” Broadhurst says. “We started slowly doing some things on the outside, then — painting, some light bands — and we saw a little bit more of a pickup there.”
More recently when the team was trying to entice new and lapsed customers, they saw an opportunity to rebuild the Banksville Road store, because it was on a major artery in and out of Pittsburgh with 25,000 cars that pass by each year.
“We made the decision to tear down a perfectly profitable and great team member store and put up a brand new one at the cost of $2.5 million,” he says. “We’ve seen tremendous results, as a result of it.”
People kept talking to Broadhurst about how nice the store looked — people that he saw on a regular basis who normally wouldn’t mention much about Eat’n Park.
The company has done two more since, and another is under construction. It’s investing in restaurants where there’s the most opportunity for more business, such as a growing community.
Sales came up more than anticipated, but it still was a hit from a financial perspective because a multimillion-dollar cost can’t be easily erased when you’re looking at return on investment.
“Most folks would say, ‘You put $2.5 million into a restaurant that was highly profitable already?’ Yes, because I’m not looking at this as a year investment — this is a 20-, 25-, 30-year investment,” he says.
Eat’n Park is a private, family-owned company so it can take a long-term view. It has been around for more than 65 years and Broadhurst says it wants to be around for another 65. That may mean spending $2.5 million on a store that’s already making good money.
“Our thought is if we don’t reinvest in that store, we won’t be around,” he says. “We’ve got so many competitors over the last 20 or 30 years that just didn’t reinvest in their brand.”
You want to grow because that’s how you give people opportunities to move up in the company, but Broadhurst believes it’s important to be conservative and always make sure your base stays strong.
“We’ve got a robust growth plan. Some people may say, ‘You could be growing faster,’ and we probably could be,” he says.
“If you grow too fast, it becomes really stressful, and ultimately we enjoy what we do. We enjoy giving back to the community in which we serve. It’s a big part of the organization.”
Takeaways:
- Don’t be afraid to invest back into your brand.
- Measure everything and learn from it as quickly as you can.
- If you’re not failing faster, you’re not moving fast enough.
The Broadhurst File:
Name: Jeff Broadhurst
Title: President and CEO
Company: Eat’n Park Hospitality Group
Born: Pittsburgh
Education: Bachelor’s from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, MBA from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
What was your first job and what did you learn from it? I was a wholesaler with Federated Investors and I learned about the power of having a great boss. My boss was the best!
What is the best business advice you ever received? Learn as much as you can from the folks around you.
What’s the No. 1 quality you strive for a leader and why? To be trusted; without trust, you have nothing.
What’s your favorite thing to do in Pittsburgh? Have a great meal out and attend a sporting event with family or friends.
What’s the one menu item from Eat’n Park that you couldn’t live without? I don’t have much say on this because it used to be the Veal Parmigiana before it got taken off the menu! Now it would be either the Lemon Sole or Superburger.
