Restaurant And Hospitality News – December 29, 2015
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In news this week, the Center for Hospitality Research has developed a new spreadsheet that optimizes restaurant seating; Union Square Hospitality Group is hit with a tip-pooling lawsuit; and Starbucks sees record-breaking gift-card sales for 2015.
New Spreadsheet Generates Optimum Seating For Restaurants
A new tool from the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) gives restaurants the ability to optimize reservations and seating via Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet. Created by Gary Thompson, a professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, the tool and description, "Instructions for the Restaurant Reservations Optimization Tool, are available at no charge from CHR. Thompson explained, “The tool uses the Solver add-in for Excel, which allows restaurant operators to determine their best mix of tables and also decide which reservations they should accept based on their demand forecast. As part of this calculation, the operator does have to make an estimate of how much to inflate the amount of time guests will be seated at the table, since dining duration is an important aspect of when tables will become available and when reservations can be accepted.” The instruction document explains how to use the tool via a practical example of optimization.
Union Square Hospitality Group Hit With Tip-Pooling Lawsuit
According to the Nation’s Restaurant News, the Union Square Hospitality Group (USGH), which runs Gramercy Tavern, was hit with a tip-pooling lawsuit by two former bussers who allege that pooled tips were illegally shared with non-service personnel and managers. Filed December 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of new York, the suit also alleges that the restaurant collected a 20-percent service charge for private events that was not distributed to service workers, representing a violation of state and federal laws. The attorneys for the case have requested class-action status for the suit to include other service staff beyond the two plaintiffs, Uzzol Siddiky and Kawsar Maruf.
Kate Lindquist, USHG’s director of public relations, said in a statement that the company “has systems in place to comply with all employment regulations. We have always cared deeply about cultivating a strong employee-first culture, and we will review this matter thoroughly.” USHG recently announced a move to a no-tipping policy for its 13 full-service restaurants, which would likely eliminate any such complaints in the future.
2015 Saw Record Gift Card Sales for Starbucks
Last week, Starbucks predicted that it would sell a record number of gift cards to last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve, surpassing the 1,700 gift cards per minute it sold on December 24, 2014. Starbucks gift cards are so popular that more than one-third of all Starbucks purchases are made with them. Since the Starbucks Card was launched 15 years ago, more than $25 billion has been loaded on them in the U.S. and Canada alone. According to CNN, users can register the cards with the chain's rewards program to get free food and drinks, a system that has been very successful for the coffee company, with more than $5 billion loaded on to Starbucks cards in the 12 month period ending in September, according to Starbucks. A limited number of "Premium Cards" are also available each year, costing $200 and pre-loaded with $50. The 2015 holiday cards are stainless steel and encrusted with Swarovski Crystals.