Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2011 | Page 62

Subs on the roll

Tom Jones has been a Cousins
Subs franchisee since 2006. He
operates four restaurants in Milwaukee County and runs two
mobile trucks, which he parks
strategically outside various businesses and offices. He says the
customers are built in because
there are no restaurants near
the offices where they work.
“Our trucks provide more
opportunity for additional business for us,” he says. In addition
to working the business lunch
crowd Monday through Friday,
he often takes the trucks to festivals and similar events on weekends.
Jones says acquiring his first truck
was almost accidental: it came with the
purchase of one of his brick-and-mortar
locations. “I had the idea to fix it up and
make it feasible for delivering our sandwiches,” he says. He has since purchased a
second truck (at a cost of about $35,000)
to build his fleet—and his bottom line.

“The franchise brand
name helps us sell
sandwiches because
people know they can
depend on the
quality and safety of
Cousins Subs.”

NRA Food Truck Study

“F

ood trucks are one of the hottest trends in the restaurant
industry right now, and consumers are showing increasing
interest in mobile foodservice.” That’s the conclusion of the
National Restaurant Association after surveying 1,004 American adults about
mobile food trucks from August 25 to 27. Some numbers from the survey:
• Nearly 6 out of 10 (59 percent) would be likely to visit a food truck if their
favorite restaurant offered one, up from 47 percent one year ago.
• Nearly one-fifth (18 percent) saw a food truck in their community this
summer.
• More than one-quarter (28 percent) of those who saw a food truck this
summer made a mobile foodservice purchase.
• Consumers living in the West (29 percent) and Northeast (24 percent)
were much more likely than those in the South (15 percent) and the Midwest
(9 percent) to see a food truck parked in their community this summer.
• Adults with children (70 percent) were more likely than those without
children (52 percent) to say they would patronize a food truck if it were offered by their favorite restaurant.
• A solid majority of younger consumers said they would be likely to visit a
food truck if offered by their favorite restaurant: more than two-thirds of those
age 18 to 44, compared with 38 percent of those 65 or older. n

60

“It’s a simple operation. We
prepare and prepackage the
sandwiches in advance and are
happy to take special orders from
our customers if they call the
morning before we head out,”
he says. The trucks have all the
necessary refrigerated storage
space. He keeps seven of his
most popular sandwich offerings on the trucks and makes
room for any special advance
orders. Depending on the day
and demand, he says, each of his
trucks can sell anywhere from
40 to 150 sandwiches every day.
The key to delivering food
to customers, says Jones, is to be there
on time. “We treat our food trucks just
like a regular brick-and-mortar store.
We are where we say we are going to be
on time every day. Those customers are
depending on us.”
Jones says he believes that having
a recognizable brand benefits him as a
mobile food provider. “The franchise
brand name helps us sell sandwiches because people know they can depend on
the quality and safety of Cousins Subs.”
Additionally, he says, corporate Cousins
Subs marketing teams help him by promoting not only the brand in his market,
but also his trucks.
Jones says he can run each of his trucks
with a single dedicated and fully trained
employee. When they return from the
lunch run they can simply finish off their
hours at the store.
“The trucks have been a great tool for
us,” he says. “They offer an additional way
to generate more sales, increase profits,
and build our market share.”
Site selection on wheels

Randy Wolken is a pioneer in Dallas.
He’s the first to bring Gandolfo’s New
York Delicatessen franchise to the Dallas market—and the master franchisee is
doing it exclusively through the brand’s
mobile truck units. Wolken has also signed
on to develop sister brand Petro’s Chili
& Chips in the Dallas market during
the next year (both are brands of Pool’s

Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue IV, 2011

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