The company, whose sales dropped more than 6 percent in the previous two years, revealed some early results January 22.
Razed and redesigned stores, or “scrape and rebuilds,” in multiple markets, are generating sustained sales-volume lifts of 70–80 percent, the company said. Additionally, they’re seeing average staffing increases of 66 percent as Krystal looks to “improve the dining experience and adapt to changes in consumer behavior.”
“The impact of the redesigned stores has exceeded our expectations. Customers love the streamlined, efficient drive-thru and the fresh look and feel of the new restaurants, which are also a magnet for recruiting and energizing employees," Macaluso said in a statement.
Increased sales have necessitated additional labor. Staffing is up, on average, from 30 to 50 employees at each of the five prototype stores. Updated kitchens and facility layouts are contributing to consistently higher overall stratification (OSAT) scores, Krystal said.
Moving forward, the brand expects to redesign 75–100 restaurants over the next five years, representing about 40 percent of its corporate portfolio.
Another big trend: Third-party delivery is emerging as a key sales driver, Krystal said, particularly for dinner and late-night dayparts. Krystal grew its third-party delivery business from 2 percent of its restaurants in early 2018 to more than 60 percent by the end of January via Uber Eats, DoorDash, GrubHub, and Waitr. Below is a late-night themed ad that generated about 1.2 million views.
"Delivery is a huge trend that's increased late-night sales by 8 percent over last year," Macaluso said.
