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| Cover Story | |
| By Kirsten Srinivasan | |
| Thursday, 14 July 2005 | |
 With more than 60 years of experience growing restaurant concepts, Strang Corp. knows how to operate concepts with consistency and quality. Strang Sr. passed away in 1969 and Strang’s father, Don Strang Jr., took over. He converted the Howard Johnson Restaurant into Don’s Lighthouse in 1971. From 1970 to 1983, the company owned and operated several hotels and Don’s restaurants. Strang Corp. still operates Don’s Fish Market in Skokie, Ill., and Don’s Pomeroy House and Don’s Lighthouse in Cleveland. Strang III entered the business in 1983, which is when he, his father and a partner acquired the development rights for Applebee’s in Minnesota. “Over the next 18 years, we opened 86 Applebee’s in Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Washington and New Jersey,” he states. “We sold those in 2001, which just happened to be the year we opened our first Panera Bread.” When the company left Applebee’s, it was among the three largest franchisees in the system, he notes. Strang Corp. is now a franchisee of Panera Bread and operates 16 units in Philadelphia, and two Johnny Carino’s casual Italian restaurants. It has two Comfort Inns and one Hampton Inn. The company owns development rights for Panera in Philadelphia and Johnny Carino’s in northern Ohio. Strang Corp. plans to expand. “We expect to open six more Paneras over the next 12 months and three more Johnny Carino’s over the next 12 months,” he notes. Strang Jr. is now the company’s retired chairman, and Strang III and his brother, Peter Strang, run Strang Corp. Peter Strang is vice president of development. “Each generation has brought with them different skills that made them successful,” Strang notes. “My grandfather was probably much more of an entrepreneur. He started the business from scratch in a very different time and was able to be successful. My father, although maybe less of an entrepreneur, his skill was he developed his own restaurants in that period of time. He was very good at that, in addition to treating employees well and hiring the right people to execute those concepts. The current generation is not as creative from a development standpoint but passionate about execution and passionate about taking care of associates, so we deliver exceptional service to our guests.” Strang says the company is “as good as anyone out there in executing and taking care of the customer every day. In keeping with that, the care and motivation of our associates and managers also is a strength of ours. I think we have a pretty strong culture and reputation for delivering for those people in terms of both compensation, quality of life and delivering the growth that people are looking for.” The company offers professional opportunities to its associates, assistant managers and managers, he states. “For instance, my vice president and operating partner in Philadelphia started with us in 1986 in Minneapolis as an assistant manager and currently operates our 16 units,” Strang says. “Troy Thrasher, director or operations in Indiana, also started as an assistant manager at Applebee’s in the early ‘90s.” He says a large percentage of managers were promoted from within the restaurants. At the company’s former Applebee’s restaurants, Strang estimates 80 percent of general managers were promoted from assistant manager positions. In addition, the company makes sure managers are well prepared with a 10-week management training program, he notes. “We feel it really gives them the tools to succeed when they are placed in the unit and they have to start managing,” he says. “People are comfortable and able to hit the ground running at that point.” Trends are swinging in its favor. He says the Atkin’s craze in early 2004 affected Panera and Johnny Carino’s, “but not to a huge degree. We see that waning and almost gone in terms of affect on our business.” Fast-casual is becoming increasing popular, Strang notes, which is a key strength for both Panera and Johnny Carino’s. “My sense is the time people have to go out to eat is becoming shorter and shorter,” he says. “Often, they are not looking to spend 60 minutes with you. They are looking for 20 to 30. That’s where Panera fits in. It’s a high-quality product and service in keeping with the needs of many of our guests.” The company has ambitious goals for the future. “We are very focused on the restaurant industry and developing Panera and Johnny Carino’s in the near future and developing our markets,” he says. “We believe our development agreement. It calls for 48 Paneras in Philadelphia. We plan to open close to six a year until we hit that point. With Johnny Carino’s, we’ll open three to five per year until we hit that agreement which calls for about 40 units in the northern Ohio and Indiana area. Some time down the road after that, we may look for another concept to develop, but it’s not on our plate right now.” |
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