Operations

As an employer, you are undoubtedly aware of “Obamacare,” a.k.a. PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), and all its implications. You are also likely hearing a lot of information about the pricing and plan designs offered through medical insurance providers in your state.

How is sales per square foot calculated for truckstops?

While no two days are ever exactly the same for truckstop and travel plaza operators, one thing that is consistent is there is never enough time to get everything done. To succeed, independent operators need to excel at the basics while constantly strategizing and innovating for the future.

With today’s technology, complaining customers can broadcast their thoughts far and wide in real time. The upside of that is that once retailers know more about their customers’ concerns, they can address them and turn the experience around. Addressing complaints can show people that you’re human and give them a solution to their problems, but to make the most of the situation, it can help to know the type of complainer.

Our redesigned truckstop will have a shared transaction counter with one end dedicated to professional drivers. From your experience, can you provide a few key considerations for the layout of this area?

There are many ratios, key performance indicators, metrics and comparisons that operators should be looking at every month. On the surface, many of these seem complex, but once you start using them, they no longer take on the appearance of being complex or difficult to measure.

Whatever ratios, comparisons, and metrics you are going to look at, it is imperative you look at these regularly without fail. If they are daily metrics, then you view them and discuss the findings with members of the management/staff daily. The same applies to weekly and or monthly metrics you review. Items such as labor cost and certainly credit card fees really stand out as the higher numbers when looking at costs and retail and fuel sales really stand out as high numbers when looking at revenue.

As truckstops and travel plazas undergo change, many are finding themselves with empty offices and under utilized t.v. rooms and video arcade rooms. There are a number of ways you can use that space, but have you noticed the explosion of frozen yogurt? Crafted fresh frozen yogurt shops are popping up as quickly as Starbucks once did. You see them everywhere. Some of the more popular ones are Menchies, Red Mango, Pink Berry, Yogurt Land, Orange Leaf, Sweet Frog and of course TCBY—an old standard which has been given a new breath of life thanks to the craze.

The statistics back it up. Take a gander at some of these statics from a recent research paper from Mintel. For the 2011-2013 period, frozen yogurt saw a whopping 74 percent increase in sales, growing to $486 million in 2013 from $279 million in 2011.

“The expanding array of snack options, as well as a lack of product innovation, contributed to this performance,” said Beth Bloom a food and drink analyst at the consumer research firm Mintel. “In contrast, the frozen yogurt segment has benefitted from a perfect storm of factors, including the growing popularity of yogurt among U.S consumers, the growing acceptance of frozen yogurt as a snack, and a perception of a higher health profile that coincides with increased attention placed on better-for-you products.”

We are seeing a lot of new independent and small regional operations coming into the market place.

Additionally, many operators are expanding and/or remodeling their locations, specifically focusing on the retail and food segment areas.

Read on for the 11 key essentials to keep top of mind when considering new operations and/or remodeling areas within your operation.