華馆着力打造雲厨房外卖店，纽约市连开三間PF Chang’s To Go

2021-09-22 01:51  来源： 中餐通讯编


在新冠疫情大流行爆发最早的前12个月，華馆的外卖和外送餐厅业务就像点燃火箭一般的爆发式增长。不过，早在2019年，華馆(PF Chang’s)就已经在想办法利用美国主流顾客对中国主食和亚洲特色菜的急剧渴望，扩展外卖外送业务，让食客们在家里就能吃到美味的華馆出品的中餐菜肴。


2021年8月底，也就是2周前，随着華馆外卖店(PF Chang’s To Go’s)在纽约市中心的开业，華馆外卖店正式进入外卖外送市场的第二阶段，挑战夫妻档家庭小餐厅为主的中餐外卖市场。在纽约，中餐与比萨饼和熟食相比是该市标志性的外卖食品。 纽约市（被称为大苹果）还有三家外卖店，2021年计划在城市中心和高密度郊区再开15到20家。已经开始开发的地点包括长岛，纽约市东部的郊区，以及达拉斯。

这些单位中至少有一个将在张家界的测试中配备自动售货机。 这些计划中的新店将加入今年早些时候在芝加哥开业的三家To Go's，该概念的测试地点。


華馆的首席执行官、保尔森公司（Paulson & Co.）的合伙人达莫拉-阿达莫勒昆（Damola Adamolekun）说："这都是为了满足客人的需求，更多的人希望在我们的四面墙外进行互动。"

保尔森公司与TriArtisan Capital Advisors合作，于2019年初以7亿美元从私人股权投资公司Centerbridge Partners收购该品牌。 那时，Centerbridge已经将张家界从一个快消品分拆出来，即Pei Wei Asian Kitchen，该公司将在去年6月出售给Pick Up Stix和Leeann Chin亚洲连锁店的所有者。

Adamolekun拒绝讨论Pei Wei和P.F. Chang's To Go之间的任何相似或不同之处，但这两个概念远非相同的双胞胎。贝微的特色是柜台服务，但座位相对充足。在张家界的外卖店，"你可能会有一张天井的桌子或类似的东西，"但那就是了，Adamolekun说。


To Go's （華馆外卖店）的面积约为1,500至2,000平方英尺，而典型的P.F. Chang's中餐馆的面积为7,000平方英尺，该连锁店称其为全方位服务餐厅。这家店的特点是菜单与小馆的外卖菜单相同，厨房与它的大姐姐的后厨功能相同。阿达莫勒昆说，所有的菜单选项都将从头开始准备，就像在小酒馆一样。 他不愿透露華馆外卖店和華馆小酒馆的开发成本差异，但他断言，开发成本的节约不是扩大缩减概念的驱动力。同理，由于To Go的平面图较小，因此有更多的潜在地点可供选择。阿达莫勒昆说："这确实是由消费者驱动的，"。


華馆Bistro （小馆）大约四分之一的销售额来自外卖和送餐。她补充说，公司计划在2021年开设五家大卖场，并将在机会成熟时继续发展大型商店。目前正好有202家Bistros开业，他们的堂食业务仍然占公司销售额的75%左右，"所以这些仍然发挥着非常重要的作用，"Adamolekun说。 他说，華馆總公司正试图通过测试自我配送来提高这两个品牌的店外业务的盈利能力，这项实验目前正在10个地方进行。 華馆的一些休闲餐饮竞争者正试图通过使用 "幽灵厨房"（ghost kitchens）或新地区的准备设施来提高他们的店外销售，这些设施只为外卖或送餐而生产。不提供现场用餐的座位。 他说，这种方法对華馆不起作用。这些餐厅往往有视觉上引人注目的外观，通常包括门口巨大的狮子雕像。"对我们来说，可见性很重要。我们的幽灵厨房没有工作，因为需要可见性，"Adamolekun说。

華馆外卖店在纽约开业，连开三間。仅限外卖外送。店址查询： pfchangs.com

A good 12 months before the pandemic lit a rocket under takeout and delivery sales, P.F. Chang’s was already brainstorming ways of riding the public’s soaring hunger for Chinese staples and Asian specialties they could eat at home.  Phase 2 of the resulting incursion into a market traditionally dominated by mom-and-pops began two weeks ago with the opening of a P.F. Chang’s To Go in the heart of New York City, where Chinese food rivals pizza and deli as the city’s signature to-go fare.

Three more To Go’s are set to follow in the Big Apple, with 15 to 20 more planned for urban centers and high-density suburbs in 2021. Locations where development has already begun include Long Island, the suburban sprawl just east of New York City, and Dallas. At least one of those units will feature a drive-thru in what Chang’s terms a test.

Those planned additions will join the three To Go’s that opened earlier this year in Chicago, the concept’s test site.

“It’s all about meeting our guests where they want to interact, and more people want to interact outside our four walls,” says Damola Adamolekun, the CEO of Chang’s and a partner in Paulson & Co., the investor that teamed up with TriArtisan Capital Advisors to buy the brand for $700 million in early 2019 from Centerbridge Partners, a private-equity firm.  By that time, Centerbridge had already separated P.F. Chang’s from a fast-casual spin-off, Pei Wei Asian Kitchen, which would be sold to the owner of the Pick Up Stix and Leeann Chin Asian chains in June of last year.

Adamolekun declined to discuss any similarities or differences between Pei Wei and P.F. Chang’s To Go, but the concepts are far from identical twins. Pei Wei featured counter service, but seats were relatively plentiful. At a Chang’s to Go, “you might have a patio table or something like that,” but that’ll be it, says Adamolekun.

The To Go’s measure about 1,500 to 2,000 square feet, compared with the 7,000 square feet in a typical P.F. Chang’s Chinese Bistro, as the chain calls its full-service restaurants. The off-premise riff features a bill of fare identical to the Bistros’ takeout menu, and sports a kitchen that duplicates its big sister’s back of house capabilities. All menu options will be scratch-prepared, as they are in a Bistro, Adamolekun said.

He would not reveal the difference in development costs for a To Go and a Bistro, but asserted that savings in development costs were not the driver for expanding the scaled-down concept. Ditto for having a wider array of potential sites available because of To Go’s smaller floorplan. “It is really consumer-driven,” Adamolekun remarks.

About a quarter of a Bistro’s sales come from takeout and delivery, he says, adding that the company plans to open five of the big-box restaurants in 2021 and will continue to develop the large stores as opportunities warrant. Exactly 202 Bistros are currently open, and their dine-in business still accounts for about 75% of the company’s sales, “so these still play a very important part,” says Adamolekun.

The company is trying to increase the profitability of off-premise business for both brands by testing self-delivery, an experiment currently underway in 10 locations, he said.

Some of Chang’s casual-dining competitors are trying to boost their off-premise sales by using ghost kitchens, or prep facilities in new territories that produce meals solely for takeout or delivery. No seats for on-site dining are provided.

That approach doesn’t work for a P.F. Chang’s Bistro, he said. The restaurants tend to have visually arresting exteriors, often including enormous statues of lions at the door. “For us, being visible is important. Our ghost kitchens didn’t work because of that need for visibility,” Adamolekun says.


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