Closing & Debranding Your Locations
It’s not anyone’s favorite topic, but in the restaurant industry, it’s a fact of life. To ensure profitability, well run brands recognize store closings as a financial lever they can use when the situation merits.
Reasons for closing a store run the gamut. Consumer preferences can be volatile. Market changes may encounter a glutted market or macro-economic changes in city or neighborhood demographics (for example if oil prices drop, or coal production decreases in certain areas), or a decline in overall brand performance. Strong management recognizes these trends and evaluates information against changes in purchasing power and economies of scale. The end result for the Facilities Manager is list of stores that require debranding or closing quickly.
Because of the sensitive nature which surrounds store closing decisions, the decision to close a restaurant is usually kept confidential until a few days before action needs to be taken. In many cases the Facilities department isn’t aware until the restaurant staff is notified, and because of this, they need to jump into action quickly. A partnership with a General Contractor who understands the time sensitive nature of these events and is able to quickly spring into action is critical. The faster a store is debranded, cleaned, and turned over to the real estate department, the less time an unused asset stays on the company’s books.
At RFS® we understand the nuances associated with store closings. We recognize on one hand that they are a natural course of business, but on the other hand there is an urgency about closings that are similar to emergency restorations following an accident or storm.