REAL ESTATE To dig down deep with that, Dec has been immersing himself into Nashville for the past seven years. Beyond understanding what makes a city tick, Dec says, he also looked at Nashville more scientifically, examining parameters such as population growth, proximity to targeted demographic, lack of competition, and strategic local partners. The AinsworTh “To know if it’s the right fit for our concept, I have to love the people, culture, environment, beauty, potential. It has to invigorate, excite, motivate, and hype me up to deliver our best product at the highest level.” —Billy Dec, CEO & fOunDEr, rOCkit ranCh The AinsworTh Ainsworth, newArk, nJ Ainsworth, new York CitY The Golden rule Golden Corral uses technology to hone its site-selection process. The Raleigh, North Carolina–based chain, which has around 500 restaurants across the U.S., uses PopStats and Experian for demographic information. It also uses a demographic platform, Intalytics, for its major analysis. “We have a pretty sophisticated way of looking at this,” says senior vice president of development Dave Conklin. After this, the concept researches the market. A high-density market is essential, Conklin says, since high-frequency users visit the restaurants as many as 80 times a year. For a large location, he looks for 110,000 people within a 15-minute driving radius and around 31,000 cars passing daily. “Our preference is highway exposure, and if we can’t have that, we want the busiest street,” Conklin says. The chain is not averse to small locations, either. For these, it looks for 70,000 people within 20 minutes, 21,000 cars passing daily, and 18,000 employees nearby. “That employee population really drives your lunchtime business—we survive on multiple dayparts.” Conklin also looks at which bigbox retailers, such as Home Depot and Walmart, are nearby because they generate traffic. “We also look at areas that have positive growth—at eating and drinking sales, as well as retail sales,” he says. “This shows the health of the market.” A change that Golden Corral made in recent years is a move into in-line and end-cap locations. “Freestanding restau- 56 <strong>April</strong> <strong>2018</strong> FooDnewsFeeD.Com
REAL ESTATE Paige HosPitality grouP Southampon SoCial Club, Southampton, nY 121 Fulton Street, new York CitY Paige HosPitality grouP FooDnewSFeeD.Com aPril <strong>2018</strong> 57
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