Penn Station East Coast Subs, a fast-casual restaurant known for its grilled, made-to-order sub sandwiches, hand-squeezed lemonade and fresh-cut fries, launched its first app and loyalty program, debuted a new level of franchisee support and re-hauled its training program in 2016, preparing the brand for expansion this year.
Penn Station’s mobile app allows users to find a location, refer a friend via social media, pay for their orders and send digital gift cards. It integrates with Penn Station’s loyalty program, which also debuted last year. Employees scan a barcode from the app at the register, so that customers earn points for their order. For every dollar spent, customers get one point. Points are tracked on the app and customers get notifications when they are eligible for a reward.
Penn Station created a regional franchise consultant program in 2016 to help franchisees assess their business, including profit and loss statements and balance sheets, and makes specific recommendations on ways to improve. To further help franchisees, Penn Station integrated its new career path and training program My Penn Path into the POS system.
“2016 was a great year for Penn Station, and it set us up for success in 2017,” says President Craig Dunaway. “We were thrilled to launch our first app and loyalty program, and customers have given it great reviews. We also spent a lot of time and money fine-tuning how we support franchisees with things like My Penn Path and our new franchise consultant program. These initiatives will help us open more successful restaurants this year.”
Penn Station passed the 300-restaurant milestone in 2016, opening 12 new restaurants throughout the year. Penn Station’s steady growth strategy led the brand to be named to the QSR Best Franchise Deals list. In 2017, Penn Station plans to open 15 to 20 new restaurants, mostly to fill out existing markets.
