Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Well, Tony Romas is getting a refresh.
The fifty two year old restaurant change is undergoing a transformation under its first female CEO. I am thrilled to say she joins us on set now, Mina Hawk, Tony Roma's CEO.
Great to see you in person.
Thank you, thank you for having me here today.
Yeah, absolutely so.
The teas for this block was that you want to be a fifty two year old startup, walk us through what that means.
So Tony Romas has been around for a long time, since nineteen seventy two it opened its door in Miami, Florida. The company went through what I like to say is all types of challenges, but nevertheless it has been a resilient brand. And now what I'm doing is reimagining the brand to see how we can make it resilient and adaptable. And the core focus is on our product on our menu. Food industry is the fastest evolving industry with consumer demands
always changing. Therefore, you need to keep up with the technology. You need to see how you can do like you know, co creation of partnership, and that's what I'm doing and most importantly internally focusing on my talent development.
We're going to want to talk more about that menu and of course the technology, but also want to know about locations because you sat down and you said you're going to change that. When we asked you about the locations, the closest one to New York City, you said is Durham, North Carolina. How are you going to expand in different areas in the United States.
Absolutely, it's about, you know, creating the value for consumers. At this point, we have about ten locations in the United States, all dispersed. We have the nearest location is North Carolina from here, but we have two locations in California in Vegas and Iowa and Florida. I see that we will be able to change once the consumers will be able to see the value that we offer. And
most importantly, our primary business model is franchising. What I'm trying to do is reducing the franchising cost, making it easier for potential franchises to enter into the market. Otherwise, in any type of franchising industry, it's very difficult because it's so cost heavy. Therefore, if you can reduce the operating cost. In addition, to that. The menu use items were very saturated. Back in the days we used to
offer a lot of items. I'm streamlining that as well, making sure it's cost effective.
I mean, the food obviously is first and foremost in a restaurant, but I feel like talent comes in a close second. And you said, you know, talent development is one of your biggest focuses.
How difficult is.
It in today's labor market because you've got to pay people a lot.
That is a great question. We are working remotely at this point, which is attractive for the talent poop because everyone wants flexibility, and that is one of my core focus. How can we strike a balance by being flexible yet ensure that the performance is there and that requires boosting the moral of your team. And part of the reason, I believe is because of the advent of technology, people no longer want to come and work in the industry anymore.
People embrace entrepreneurial spirit, you know, especially young folks thinking, okay, we can go to TikTok or Instagram and create our own career, which is absolutely fine. But I want Tony Romas to be a stepping stone, a place where people can come learn and.
Thrive interesting of course, so using that remote work as a recruiting tool. Basically, I do want to talk a little bit about pricing because you mentioned creating value for customers and we were just talking about high labor expenses. I mean, you think about the consumer, the people who are spending money at your restaurant definitely feeling the pinch there.
So how are you handling pricing right now? Have you had to cut costs of course as things get more competitive.
Yeah, the review for pricing it's, you know, based on a three sixty degree review. What we have figured out is you focus on the stars of your menu and then the items that are doing well offer that back to your consumers. Because the food price is skyrocketing right now, and it also depends like how many location you have, and we definitely don't have as many locations as our competitors,
so we don't have that many buying power. Nevertheless, our core focus is to make sure that it is a price friendly because traditionally Tony Romas has served families and there are so many you know, memories that are associated with the brand. Right now, we are in control of pricing for our corporate unit location, which is bones and Burgers in Tampa, Florida, and then the rest of the location we have. The pricing is determined by the local market condition by our franchise partners.
I mean a great having it in the studio. Thanks so much for visiting us here in New York. Mohammedy the Hawk is the CEO of Tony Romas.