Restaurant And Hospitality News – October 24, 2016
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In news this week, big data helps Dickey’s Barbeque enter the big league while Airbnb fights a major legal battle in New York City.
Dickey’s Barbeque Leverages Big Data To Take Barbeque Mainstream
Dickey’s Barbeque is celebrating 75 years in business this year, building the third-generation, family-run business into the “fastest growing restaurant chain in the country,” according to Technomic. Today, it has more than 560 locations in 43 states, many of which have been in operation for more than 20 years.
Laura Rea Dickey, CIO, acknowledged that the longevity of the brand also comes with some challenges, like the evolution from the calculator to a non-Internet POS to cloud-based and digital technologies. But it is technology that has become an integral part of Dickey’s success.
“We had done a lot of internal analysis to identify what technology we wish we had going into certain challenges, and we concluded that while we had adequate technology, we were not cutting-edge,” Dickey explains. “That was a true turning point for us. We realized that we had evolved in other ways, but we weren’t innovating with technology. We were continuing to patch and scale what we had which was supplemented with a lot of analog, data entry and very siloed ways of handling technology, information and communications.”
Forbes reported that Dickeys worked with big data and business intelligence service provider iOLAP to develop Smoke Stack, a proprietary system that crunches data from POS systems, marketing promotions, loyalty programs, customer surveys and inventory systems to provide near real-time feedback on sales and KPIs. Dickey explained, “It’s not something that we thought would happen perhaps several years ago, but it’s really where the business has taken us and where we think we need to be to maintain a competitive edge in the fast-casual restaurant space. Smoke Stack is our answer to that.”
And while the integration of big data has allowed Dickeys to produce actionable data to address its bottom line more efficiently, Dickey warned, “Data isn’t magic, it’s like any other business resource you have,” Dickey says. “If you use it efficiently and effectively you will yield amazing, efficient and effective results. If you don’t and if the data isn’t actionable, and if IT is just a delivery mechanism or tactic and not part of your overall strategy, then your data is going to be worthless.”
Airbnb Opposing Potential Bill That Would Fine Hosts That Violate State Rules
Airbnb is making a last-ditch effort to convince New York Governor Andrew Cuomo not to sign legislation imposing fines on Airbnb hosts who break state rules regarding lodging, according to Crain’s New York. The governor must make his decision regarding the bill in less than two weeks. The bill would impose serious fines on some Airbnb hosts across the state, which could be a death knell to the business in its largest U.S. market. Airbnb released a new set of rules to guide home sharing in New York City, offering a list of conciliatory measures to the governor in the hopes of forestalling new legislation.
The bill would prevent listings for illegal sublets, and it was passed by both houses of the State legislature last Spring. Now it’s up to the Governor to decide whether or not to make it law. The law would impose fines of $1,000 for a first offense, $5,000 for a second offense, and as much as $7,500 for subsequent violations. New York City laws prohibit renting a space in an apartment building for less than 30 days, though thousands of Airbnb members ignore them.
"Airbnb’s unchecked growth is depleting our affordable housing stock and driving up rent, while threatening good-paying middle class union hotel jobs in New York City and around the country," Peter Ward, president of the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council, said in a statement. "This bill will go a long way toward better protecting tens of thousands of affordable housing units our members and their families rely on to remain in the neighborhoods they call home, and preserving the quality jobs and quality of life in our communities our members deserve."
The battle in New York comes in addition to one already in the works in San Francisco, making Airbnb more eager to appease Governor Cuomo. “You need new regulations for new thing s- you shouldn’t be seeking to apply old laws to a new thing,” asserted Chris Lehane, Airbnb’s global head of policy and communications. “The question here is, are you going to be on the side of the middle class or are you going to be on the side of the powerful interests?”
The bill’s sponsor, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, says that the time for negotiation has passed. “Airbnb’s entire business model is predicated on breaking the law. At the 11th hour they’re desperate to change the narrative, and we do not negotiate in newspapers, in the press, and especially with the lawbreakers.”