Grounded in reality: before launching a major initiative to bring the company into the 21st century, ground round executives first took a long look at the chain's 1970s roots

Cheers, Nov-Dec, 2003 by Bob Keane

It's very fashionable these days for companies to talk about re-inventing themselves to face new challenges. But re-invention isn't the solution for every business looking to turn around its fortune. If the original concept is still sound, a return to the roots with an eye toward the future may be a much better approach.

That's certainly the philosophical outlook being taken by the management team at The Ground Round. The chain dates to the early days of the casual theme restaurant movement but with ownership and management changes over the years seemed to lose track of itself and its identity.

"The Ground Round, founded in 1969, is probably the granddaddy of casual dining. It was a real groundbreaker at the time," recalls chairman & ceo Tom Russo of the chain's early days. "Family casual, that's our brand positioning and that's what we want to be known for. When you think of Ground Round, we want you to say, 'oh, a family place.' It's got stuff for dad, for mom, for the kids but family is the key word."

"The Ground Round Grill and Bar is the good time meeting place where family and friends can always enjoy an interesting selection of good food and drink that won't break the bank," adds senior vice president marketing Ken Roffe paraphrasing the chain's mission statement. In recognition of that, Ground Round took the 2003 Cheers Award for best chain beverage program, and the 2002 Award for best chain beer program.

BEVERAGE IS BIG BUSINESS

"Beverage is as important to our concept as our food is," says beverage director Larry Varvella, who was hired to see that beverage program stays both contemporary and true to the core concept. "We've successfully found a way to promote to different audiences. I think that what allows for that is the two room philosophy."

Chainwide beverage sales average in excess of 20% and around 25% for new restaurants. As part of the company's long-term commitment to its beverage program and building incremental sales, a new drink and desert menu was introduced earlier this year. The 11-page document uses high-quality photographs to draw attention to a variety of cocktails and other drinks as well as the chain's signature Cinnamon Dippers and other self-described "decadent desserts."

The menu includes more than 30 specialty cocktails such as the Leapin' Lizard (a vibrantly-colored, melon Margarita featured on the cover) under such headings as Creative Concoctions, Frozen Treats, Twisted Lemonades, Martinis, Margaritas, and After Dinner Drinks. Of course, the menu also offers an extension selection of cognacs, single malts, bourbons and other whiskies, together with beer and wine suggestions. And for those who are two young or choose not to consume alcohol there are numerous smoothies, freshly-flavored iced teas and lemonades as well as traditional soft drinks.

"We insist that our beverage business be paired with our food and we didn't do that until about three years ago," says Russo with typical enthusiasm. "If you look at our menu, if you look at our limited offerings, you'll notice these are very current drinks, they fit right in with the product we're offering and they're very much up to speed in terms of what's happening today. We're not cutting edge. But we ask, 'What are we selling, what beverage fits with it? Promote the two together. And that means more than just wine. It means Diet Coke and bourbon. It's on that menu with a burger because it feels good."

One aspect of the company's emphasis on its beverage program was a re-evaluation and streamlining of the wine list. The list was pared from three tiers to two.

"We honed in on brands that resonated well with our customers," explains Varvella. "When we're choosing wines we try to take advantage of national programs and really do pass along the saving to the customers. We put an emphasis on value when we rewrote the wine list this past year and I have to say it's done extremely well."

While wine is still the smallest of the three beverage alcohol segments in the chain's sales mix, recent sales are up 10% to 15%, according to Varvella. While any wines on the list are available by the bottle, almost all sales are by the glass.

NEW IDEAS

Regular introduction of new food and beverage items is one of the ways that Ground Round keeps its offerings fresh. "We have quarterly limited time offers," explains Roffe. "We have our core menu and then we have an insert into that core menu that changes four times a year. There are a number of new items and they're generally the lead items for that quarter in our stores. And every one of those limited time offerings is paired with beverage suggestions. And it's typically where we will introduce our new drink items as well."

"We're constantly introducing new spirits recipes," says Varvella. "Limited time offer (LTO) campaigns become a good platform to see how new products work. This past summer we brought in Bacardi Vanila and mixed it into two new recipes. If we see something that looks like an emerging trend we try to work with it. We realize it's very important to be up on trends."