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Putters Covid-19 Staff Relief

Just picked up an order. Shot the shit with them for awhile. Great family. They're humble, gracious and hard working. Staple in the community.
 
RacerDeac said:
Lots of people in the media are saying this...except for the actual business owners. All a gift certificate is going to do is push the loss further down the road. It doesn't replace lost revenue. It just shifts the revenue away from when the expense will be realized. If you're about to shut down completely, a big gift card revenue injection may be a worthy last ditch effort to save your business. But otherwise, there are better ways that customers can help and that businesses can pay their bills. Besides, I'm not buying a bunch of gift cards right now to businesses that may not be around later.

In the restaurant business where margins are tiny, a bunch of folks showing up to cash in their gift certificates when this is all over will just put them in a big financial bind then. Right now their variable costs are way down and they are running as efficiently as possible. For many restaurants, the last thing they need when finally able to open their doors again is a bunch of gift card cash-ins. Expenses will be back through the roof and there won't be much revenue coming in.

If you want to help a business with a gift card, buy it and toss it in the trash. If you really want to help a business, order takeout/delivery and tip heavily when you do.
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Flattening the curve
 
A restaurant sent me different advice /request about gift cards. They were requesting customers to buy gift cards now. They represent a no interest loan.


If people slow roll the use of the gift cards after sit down service resumes, the restaurant will be able to handle the redemptions.

Also, if you use gift cards when the restaurant is open but business is slow, they essentially are redeeming them at around 50%. If the restaurant is open and staffed, but doesn't have many customers, the incremental cost of the next meal they serve is the cost of the food plus the energy to cook it. Food cost is about 50% of the price of the meal.

And if you use it on alcohol, even better. Cost of ingredients for a drink is way less than 50% of the price of the drink. Restaurant wine price is about three times the price of the same bottle in a wine store.
 
Deaconblue said:
A restaurant sent me different advice /request about gift cards. They were requesting customers to buy gift cards now. They represent a no interest loan.


If people slow roll the use of the gift cards after sit down service resumes, the restaurant will be able to handle the redemptions.

Also, if you use gift cards when the restaurant is open but business is slow, they essentially are redeeming them at around 50%. If the restaurant is open and staffed, but doesn't have many customers, the incremental cost of the next meal they serve is the cost of the food plus the energy to cook it. Food cost is about 50% of the price of the meal.

And if you use it on alcohol, even better. Cost of ingredients for a drink is way less than 50% of the price of the drink. Restaurant wine price is about three times the price of the same bottle in a wine store.
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Use it all on tea.
 
Deaconblue said:
A restaurant sent me different advice /request about gift cards. They were requesting customers to buy gift cards now. They represent a no interest loan.
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Loan is a nicer way of saying liability. If a restaurant is advertising them, consider the risk to yourself and buy them up if you want. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn't, but it's their strategy...I don't think some business owners have thought through it much and are in panic mode, but that's on them.

My complaint is with all of the folks who just want to do something to feel good running around telling everyone to go buy gift cards. We've seen what can happen to businesses when there's a sudden influx of demand with limited/no revenue...Groupon absolutely ruined some businesses.

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Deaconblue said:
If people slow roll the use of the gift cards after sit down service resumes, the restaurant will be able to handle the redemptions.
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In a world where shelves don't have toilet paper, I don't trust the public to slow roll anything. When things open back up, there will be extreme demand.
 
plus the issue that you're describing will incentivize a "run" on the restaurant. Overall you need revenue to pay the rent and a complete elimination of expenses - otherwise you're eventually going to get GOT.
 
Figured they'd have a little extra put away considering how overpriced their food is. Us Townies chuckled at how they would get the Wake kids to pay $12 for an $8 sandwich. Beer prices were generally legit though and those soft chips are money.

Joking aside, I like the place and wish them the best. They are a Winston institution. One of the places I will be visiting once this is all over.
 
About 10% of gift cards are not even redeemed, not to mention the dollars left unused on them. At worst, it is an interest free loan. At best, it is a donation to the company.
 
Stan Gable said:
About 10% of gift cards are not even redeemed, not to mention the dollars left unused on them. At worst, it is an interest free loan. At best, it is a donation to the company.
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My babies r us cards are burning a hole in a drawer right now from their never-to-be-fulfilled potential
 
BillBrasky said:
Figured they'd have a little extra put away considering how overpriced their food is. Us Townies chuckled at how they would get the Wake kids to pay $12 for an $8 sandwich. Beer prices were generally legit though and those soft chips are money.

Joking aside, I like the place and wish them the best. They are a Winston institution. One of the places I will be visiting once this is all over.
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It's great bar food. They have to make a profit.

On the other hand, their steak dinner and fajitas are a great value for how they taste. Not everyone can go to Ryan's (the local one, not the buffet chain) whenever they want a steak.

Village Tavern is probably more "overpriced," imo.
 
DeaconBrews said:
It's great bar food. They have to make a profit.

On the other hand, their steak dinner and fajitas are a great value for how they taste. Not everyone can go to Ryan's (the local one, not the buffet chain) whenever they want a steak.

Village Tavern is probably more "overpriced," imo.
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Best steak in town I think. I’d take the prime ribeye at putters over any other steak in WS.
 
Now Outback and Carrabbas gave $20 bonus gift card for every $50 purchased. Bonus card good til end of 2020. Regular doesn't expire.
 
DeacDiggler said:
plus the issue that you're describing will incentivize a "run" on the restaurant. Overall you need revenue to pay the rent and a complete elimination of expenses - otherwise you're eventually going to get GOT.
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If I were the owner I'd rather take my chances of selling cards now and hope the cards are redeemed over time once back open. If you keep in mind food sales are about double the food cost a $50 card is only costing about $25 once redeemed and you'll still tip the server on the original pre-card bill ($50). And if you use the card on a bar tab only it's probably only costing about $15-$20 against true cost for the restaurant.
 
GoDeacsGo said:
If I were the owner I'd rather take my chances of selling cards now and hope the cards are redeemed over time once back open. If you keep in mind food sales are about double the food cost a $50 card is only costing about $25 once redeemed and you'll still tip the server on the original pre-card bill ($50). And if you use the card on a bar tab only it's probably only costing about $15-$20 against true cost for the restaurant.
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Key word there is "if". I don't know any restaurant owners running a 50% margin. There's more to it than food costs. Successful restaurants run at 3-5% profit margin. Some can bump that up to 10-15% at the extreme end of things. It doesn't take much to turn that into a loss. If you aren't in danger of losing your restaurant, there's no reason to exchange future revenues for revenue right this minute. It just doesn't solve anything and will make things worse coming out of this. You're only hope is that a bunch of people will buy them that would have never eaten at your restaurant otherwise, or buy them and not use them. While that's generally a predictable percentage, it's usually based on the fact that people tend to buy and give them as gifts. The redemption rate is way higher for people that buy them for themselves, and I suspect will be even higher for cards bought right now while the need to get of the house and the desire to celebrate are building up.
 
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Racer,
I did not mean to imply the "margin" is 50% but rather the cost of the FOOD is typically about 50% of the sell price. Once this thing is over there will be a mad rush at all restaurants for a while pushing them to full capacity and seems like an ideal time to honor the cards. You'll be paying the cooks, servers and bartenders regardless of how busy you are. You should be able to absorb the reduced margins (or some loss) while you are slammed busy.
Just my 2 cents.
 
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