Operators near bases fight war of attrition: Trooper customers ship out; families stay home for TV news

Nation's Restaurant News, April 7, 2003 by Amy Spector

As the war in Iraq raged, restaurateurs on the home front whose businesses cater to nearby military bases were fighting their own battles to shore up sales.

Restaurant operators have been hit by a double-whammy depletion of their customer base -- both from the overseas deployment of thousands of nearby military personnel and the tendencies of concerned family members left at home to stay tuned to their TVs for news of the conflict.

The U.S. military had sent more than 250,000 troops to the Middle East by early April. Orders to ship out reportedly also were received by 100,000 more, including 12,500 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, near Waco, Texas, and 5,200 troops from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs, Cob.

With those assignments for overseas duty, struggles to recover sales were being waged by such restaurant chains as Pat & Oscar's, which trades primarily in Navy-oriented San Diego County, and Southeast-concentrated chain operators O'Charley's and Waffle House.

Nashville, Tenn.-based O'Charley's indicated recently that nearly 18 percent of the units in its chain of 188 restaurants were encountering customer downturns because of their proximity to bases -- the result of overseas deployments and military families' stay-at-home focus on televised war news.

For Domino's Pizza franchisee Jeffrey Morse, whose 13-unit North County Pizza operates near Camp Pendleton, the San Diego County home to the First Marine Expeditionary Force, troop departures have presented particular challenges. But Morse, whose franchise is based in Escondido, Calif., became a veteran of wartime business casualties 12 years ago, when he had to replace 60 drivers almost overnight on the eve of Operation Desert Storm, when reservists on his staff were called to duty.

As the current war in Iraq loomed, Morse explained, "we attempted to hire as many civilians as possible" to staff his 13 Domino's, two of which operate within Camp Pendleton. Still, since local Marines were deployed abroad in mid-February, sales at his on-base outlets have dropped 20 percent to 25 percent, he said.

Two other Domino's locations that are close to the gates of Camp Pendleton have lost about 15 percent of their usual volume, although in January "we experienced an upswing in sales as [the base] brought in reserves. We had record sales at both stores on Camp Pendleton."

To show concern for those left behind, North County Pizza has delivered free pizzas twice since troop deployments to help military families get through their daily lives, Morse said.

The Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant in Santa Clarita, Calif., has sounded bells and whistles for American service personnel since opening as the drum-beating revival of Bob Farrell's once-prolific chain in November 2001, when it sponsored a letter-writing campaign to support the troops in Afghanistan.

Farrell's chief executive, Mike Fleming, said his company's proximity to March Air Force Base near Riverside, Calif., and Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert allowed Farrell's to develop close ties to armed forces personnel, more than 100,000 of whom recently deployed through March AFB, according to Fleming.

But even Fleming was bowled over by this year's response to a "Valentines For Troops" promotion, when the restaurant recruited customers and others to send more than 1 million messages from all 50 states to troops stationed overseas. "We had a semi-truck pull up to deliver the mail," he exclaimed.

Up to 80 volunteers daily sorted and boxed the mail. When Fleming's local paper fed the story to the Associated Press, he said, his restaurant suddenly received national news coverage, including a mention on Valentine's Day by ABC anchorman Peter Jennings.

Independent restaurateurs are finding that national media exposure or a national presence helps in wartime, when the military moves troops around the country or moves reserves and National Guard personnel onto bases to "backfill" for troops sent overseas.

Efforts in peacetime to build a loyal, local trade must be renewed once those soldiers, sailors and airmen are assigned abroad. As Andy's Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers franchisee Chris La Coe of Jacksonville, N.C., pointed out, local military "newcomers go to McDonald's and Hardee's."

La Coe, who with his mother, Marian La Coe, operates six Andy's units in North Carolina, said only the Jacksonville site had seen a drop in sales and only since early March. The quick-service sandwich restaurant, located about three miles from the gates of Camp LeJeune -- perhaps the best known of four contiguous bases and home to the 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade -- is a converted former McDonald's.

Personal touches differentiate Andy's, La Coe said. "Like today, it was raining so the waitresses ran out with umbrellas to help customers in." In time, he predicted, his restaurants' local appeal will recruit new customers from the ranks of military transplants.

Jamie Pantelakos and his wife, Angelica, have seen business at their white-tablecloth Hilltop House and the Java Cafe, both in Fayetteville, N.C., rise steadily since the recent Air Force deployments from nearby Fort Bragg. However, Pantelakos said he had heard of businesses closing closer to the base.