Here was the scene at the North Hollywood Dennys the other day. It was free Grand Slam Breakfast Day and in such a depressed economy, this is something not to be missed, I guess.
It looked fairly orderly, but I wonder if the free publicity is worth all the money they gave away to their customers.
Only Dennys knows for sure.
I haven't heard about this locally in NJ. What can you tell me about it? I'm just curious. Is it a regularly scheduled event or just a one-time deal? If regular, how often? I usually assume there are certain minimum purchase requirements involved for such things too...
ReplyDeleteI love a good breakfast and I love free (who doesn't?), but I'd still avoid it due to the crowd as I usually just don't deal well with crowds in confined spaces, mainly due to the associated conversational roar in most similar circumstances.
Believe it or not construction makes a difference on the noise issue. I'm not a fan of Cracker Barrel because any I've ever been in has had tiled floors and high ceilings. All the separate conversations going on seem to generate a single accumulative roar that just stays trapped within. Restaurants with carpeted floors and false drop ceilings are much quieter even if populated with similar crowds. Eating at Cracker Barrel always reminded me of attending a dinner in a church hall where so many people know each other and the noise is multiplied that much more.
It's been forever since I've been in a Denny's (there really isn't one close enough to me to be at all convenient) so I don't remember if they have a particular construction style or not.
Perhaps I'm just too decibel-sensitive. I've been known even to insert earplugs before entering Walmart (due to strategically placed TV monitors blaring ads at me or overly loud constant pages) or while browsing in a bookstore (to seriously tone down the usually unnecessarily loud, imo, music playing.) Hey, at least I buy the earplugs at Walmart!
Sorry, kind of strayed off topic a bit there, didn't I?
;-)
As usual, I assumed people knew.
ReplyDeleteI did some research on the Promotion and no, there is no set schedule, but they did do it last year sometime. They had a Superbowl Ad that promoted it and my Husband knew about it from that, I guess.
Anyway, it seems to be around the Country and so your "local" Dennys probably did it, too. Being you are in a more "rural" area then North Hollywood, CA, I would hope it would not have been as crowded as this one was.
As to sound, I hear you on that problem. :-)
We have an Italian Restaurant that has been here for many decades and much as I love their food, I HATE the way sound bounces off the ceiling and just ruins the dining experience. They do a bang up take out business and I always wondered if it was because of the "sound" problem.
I don't remember Dennys having a problem and yes, they seem to be similar in style, so I say check yours out sometime and get a feel for the ambiance in your restaurants case.
Happy eating.
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ReplyDeleteWell, I tend to NOT follow the huge cultural phenomena that most people do, so I'm often not in the loop as they say. I haven't watched the Super Bowl the last several years, thus I was unaware. If I don't care about the team matchup, I simply refuse to watch (as so many do) solely to check out the commercials. I was slightly rooting for the Saints, so I was glad they won, just not vested enough in the outcome to actually watch. And if I were to watch, I'm sure I'd simply be muting 95% of the commercials as I normally do. The vast majority of them are still just annoying imo, regardless of their enlarged budgets or the scale of the event they interrupt.
ReplyDeleteI did later Google Denny's free grand slam and found out more about it, that it was first done last year around the Super Bowl too. Apparently it really is free (if you order water instead of coffee or juice and don't purchase any add-ons such as extra toast or whatnot), no coupon required, just time and patience.
Then just as I was about to return here to say "never mind" re my questions, the PC hiccupped and I had to reboot and all... Sigh.
My local Denny's is about 15 miles away in a much more densely populated area. It would have been just as crowded (or nearly so), I'm pretty sure.
I care very little about the Olympics too. I may tune in just to see what's being aired at any particular time, but 90% of the time it will be something of no interest to me. Plus I just find the Olympics, much like the SB, to be simply too much for my tastes anymore... overhyped, overproduced, overanalyzed, over-inspirationalized, overpatriotized, overdone in general.
Sorry. Perhaps I'm just too negative today.
Here's a really good article on the Denny's giveaway, also explaining it from their perspective...
ReplyDelete2 million enjoy free breakfast at Denny's
By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY
I wondered about tips. The article addresses that, plus other issues. Here are what I consider to be the highlights...
Denny's didn't do this just out of the goodness of its corporate heart, however. The low-budget family dining chain did it because its franchise sales at sites open at least a year were down 7.2% last quarter at a time the hobbled economy ought to be giving it an opportunity to nudge the market-share needle. In tough times, many consumers are willing to trade down to restaurants such as Denny's. If value chains such as Wal-Mart and McDonald's can make hay in a bum economy, why not Denny's?
Well, first, people have to at least consider it among the options.
. . . .
Denny's became a Google search darling after its ad promoting the giveaway aired during the Super Bowl. On Tuesday, "Denny's" was in five of the 40 most popular searches on Google, says Google spokesman Eric Obenzinger. No. 9 was "Denny's location." At 29 was "free breakfast at Denny's."
Denny's also purchased several search keywords from Google so a Denny's link showed up next to Google searches including "free breakfast" and "Denny's Grand Slam."
. . . .
•Free — and tipless. Four seniors from Ulysses S. Grant High School showed up at Denny's in North Hollywood at 5:23 a.m. for free breakfast. All ordered Grand Slams and free ice water, then left for school without tipping. "It's just one day," says waitress Laura Martinez, taking the fact that she got stiffed in stride.
Most guests, however, left generous tips.
. . . .
What Denny's did on Tuesday was an extra-generous form of "sampling." It's the most effective marketing strategy to bring back consumers who left a brand, or get new customers to try it, says David Vinjamuri, marketing professor at New York University. "In a recession, you try to add value, and sampling does just that."
Which helps explain why freebies have become so prevalent.
McDonald's, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and Panera Bread all have had free coffee and food promos in the past year. Panera's free coffee and food sampling promo was last week.
"I'd rather give something away than discount it," says Ron Shaich, Panera's CEO. "If I've got something that I think is wonderful, I want to get it into the mouths of my customers."
. . . .
Did Denny's really lose its burnt-orange shirt on it?
Marchioli is silent for a moment. He hedges. Then he concedes: If you factor in the profits from all of Tuesday's drink orders — which are far more profitable than food orders — "we'll do better than break even."
And, yes, he just may do it again.
Well, that USA Today article did address more of it. I, of course would tip on the total amount of the original order, without the promotion. That is what we do with coupons, 25 Score (a local promotion), etc.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, the waitstaff are still working just as hard. If not, of course they can get stiffed for ignoring us. :-)