COVID-19 took a massive toll on the restaurant industry, forcing many restaurants across the country to close temporarily or permanently, but the Checkers & Rally’s drive-thru model set the brand up to weather the storm. Our executive team made early and strategic pivots under new CEO Frances Allen, which have led the brand to not only thrive through the pandemic but continue growing.
Ursula Lane, Director of Franchise Recruitment, Checkers & Rally’s Inc. Tampa, Fla.In February 2020, Checkers & Rally’s welcomed Allen, the former CEO of Boston Market and past president of Jack in the Box, as its first female CEO to continue driving the company’s growth and take us to the next level. She was in her role for just a few weeks before the COVID-19 shutdown, and her number-one objective quickly became protecting Checkers & Rally’s employees and guests while keeping restaurants open.
Under Allen’s leadership, the Checkers & Rally’s executive team set up a task force and quickly created a comprehensive response plan, including health and safety best practices and new procedures for even greater safety, social distancing and responding to local mandates, and quarantine procedures if a store was to shut down. The operations team led by Marc Mediate, our chief operating officer, and a cross-functional task force, developed 15 new contactless procedures and a “Be Safe, See Safe” audit to ensure staff implement the new measures on a daily basis. Communicating to the franchise system, guests and employees that the restaurants were safe was a key focus during this time.
Looking at the restaurant industry as a whole, Checkers & Rally’s has fared better than most due to our resilient drivethru model with closed kitchens, with our early pivots putting us in a good position. We had record system sales, with a 4% increase in revenue (to $64.4 million) between March and June. We have and will continue innovating from a menu perspective, like the launch of our new premium chicken earlier this year and building on our integrated delivery platform and order-ahead offerings. On both the corporate and franchisee level, we’ve been very involved in giving back to the community, including elevating our ongoing partnership with No Kid Hungry.
Strong new restaurant openings continue, with record sales and more than 30 new franchisee signings year to date. We remain in growth mode, continuing to expand in existing markets and tapping into new markets, with a focus on Houston, the Carolinas and on the West Coast in California and Phoenix, Ariz., while innovating with new artificial intelligence-powered tools for site selection.
We have the advantage of an efficient, small footprint and a preferred modular buildout, which drastically decreases the time to open a new restaurant. Together, the advantages of our restaurant design allow us to open restaurants in sites that cannot accommodate other brands. Studies from our operations team found our associates walking over a mile and a half during their shifts. Bringing in new technology and equipment has allowed us to alleviate that.
This pandemic has caused a paradigm shift in life, and the restaurant industry is no different. Looking ahead, keeping our restaurants open, prioritizing the safety and happiness of our guests, employees and franchise owners, and serving craveable food in a safe environment will be our top priorities.
