March/April (Revised)

I would set that tone, share the good news,
share the good practices. My message was
simple. I said, ‘Look, we’re going to go one
day at a time and figure out what we have
to do to generate more sales than we did the
day before, even if it’s just a dollar. And we’re
going to succeed at that today. And tomorrow,
we’re going to beat that — day after day, at
every restaurant.’ And it worked.”
When COVID-19 hit, says Fox, “Our number
-1 fear was that we would have restaurants
close. It costs money to close a restaurant, but
even more money to re-open one. The most
efficient thing to do is to keep restaurants
open. That’s why we stopped collecting royalty
and advertising fees.”
In Canada, not a single Firehouse restaurant
closed. “Achieving that took a lot of sacrifice, a
lot of hard work and a lot of determination on
the part of the franchisee. In many respects,
forgiving those royalties was my way of saying
thank you. By keeping those restaurants open
we kept the brand open.”
“I’m very, very grateful,” says Carlos Lopez,
a Firkin franchisee whose franchisor extended
the same gift of relaxed royalties. Lopez,
whose seven Firkin pubs in and around
Toronto make him the organization’s biggest
franchisee, has had to shut his two downtown
locations, but is staying afloat with his
remaining five.
In addition to losing in-house dining, he’s
lost about 20 per cent of his staff — who
considered government relief offerings preferable
to hanging around — and a shameful
stash of food. Food waste has been an issue
as restaurants struggle to be responsive
to the government’s whiplash
changeups that don’t give enough
notice about impending openings
and shutdowns, Lopez says. “If the
keg was already tapped and you
just put it into the line, you don’t
get a full refund on it. And, if you
close for three months, the beer
goes bad.”
Takeout sales, meanwhile,
have been marginal, while delivery
apps skim so much off the
top that delivery’s been a constant
challenge. “The situation
right now is very difficult,” says
Lopez. “Uber and Skip taking 25
or 30 per cent of what we sell
doesn’t work when you’re only
doing takeout because it doesn’t
cover what we have to pay for
overhead expenses. And sometimes
we spend days where we’re
here with kitchen staff and the
tablets don’t ring.”
Along with waiving the usual
franchising fees, head office has
been “extremely helpful,” Lopez
says, in helping franchisees grasp
rules and guidelines, including
insisting on records of every person
who enters the premises, negotiating
rent subsidies with landlords and
interpreting government support.
UBER
AND SKIP
TAKING 25 OR
30 PER CENT
OF WHAT WE
SELL DOESN’T
WORK WHEN
YOU’RE ONLY
DOING TAKE-
OUT BECAUSE
IT DOESN’T
COVER WHAT
WE HAVE
TO PAY FOR
OVERHEAD
EXPENSES.
AND SOME-
TIMES WE
SPEND DAYS
WHERE WE’RE
HERE WITH
KITCHEN
STAFF AND
THE TABLETS
DON’T RING
Firehouse Subs was able to
support its franchisees in pivoting
the fast-casual locations
to takeout and delivery
Additionally, the franchisor
has helped franchisees
adjust their menus to
feature popular, deliveryfriendly
items. “As a
franchisee, it makes me
feel like I have someone
behind me who’s supporting
the brand and
helping us to stay in
business.
“I’m nostalgic for
what we used to have,”
says Lopez. “I believe
we’ll have it again,
which will be awesome.
People will go out and
party again.”
Firehouse Subs’ Fox
is equally optimistic.
“We’ve already shown
that we’ve done very well
in the worst conditions,
so I’m bullish that we’ll
continue to perform.” For
one, he says, there will be
less competition.
The company’s January sales in
JONATHAN CHEN [LOADED PIEROGI]
22 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY MARCH/APRIL 2021 FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM