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  • Dr. Nilgün Birgören
    Dr. Nilgün Birgören    Premium Member   Group moderator
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    Free breakfasts on Denny’s menu
    Dear friends,

    Denny‘s, the family restaurant chain that is an icon of middle-America, on Tuesday caught the recessionary spirit of the times by giving away an estimated 2m free breakfasts to customers, as it strives to revitalise its flagging fortunes.

    Denny’s said it would serve its popular “Grand Slam” eggs, bacon, sausage and pancake breakfast for free between 6am and 2pm in what is believed to be one of the biggest promotions of its type ever.

    Early-morning queues were reported outside locations from Dayton, Ohio, where customers braved sub-zero temperatures, to Fresno, California, where the franchisee posted a security guard at one restaurant to ensure orderly behaviour.

    Jeremy Kraus, manager of Denny’s in Colorado Springs, told the local television station in his crowded restaurant that “Christmas is normally our busiest day of the year. This surpasses that”.

    Denny’s, which has more than 1,500 full-service restaurants, has faced a decline in sales over the past two years as a result of the slowing economy, changing eating habits, and competition from McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants for its core breakfast business.

    Mr Marchioli said the free breakfast promotion was a way of “re-acquainting” people with Denny’s as a low-cost dining option. “People are having a tough time in this economy . . . they are jumping all the way to fast food, or back to the grocery store . . . we’re telling them they don’t have to do that.”

    He argued that the huge media response, with more than 100 stores attracting television reporters, had justified the expense. “I wish every marketing dollar I’d spent had been spent this wisely,” he said.

    The chain is also handing out coupons aimed at bringing customers back for future visits.

    Denny’s decision to give away a main meal is the most dramatic example so far of what has been an increasingly popular marketing strategy in the food service industry.

    In 2006, Starbucks, the coffee chain, launched an annual “free coffee break” in mid-March, giving away about half a million cups of coffee between 10am and noon. Its stores also gave out free coffee on election day, and recently offered free coffee to customers who volunteered to do at least four hours of community service.

    Caribou Coffee, Starbucks’ smaller rival, also launched a wave of free decaffeinated coffee last Friday.

    Since 2006, International House of Pancakes, one of Denny’s chief breakfast rivals, has started marking Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, by giving away pancakes, and suggesting customers make donations to a children’s charity.

    Kind regards,
    Nilgun Birgoren



    Source: Financial Times
    • 21 Feb 2009, 7:14 pm