Red Lobster 2004 Annual Report Download - page 13

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13
Tim฀O’Brien
General฀Manager
Bahama฀Breeze
As฀the฀first฀hourly฀team฀member฀
ever฀promoted฀to฀general฀manager,฀
Tim฀O’Brien฀holds฀a฀distinctive฀place฀
in฀Bahama฀Breeze’s฀leadership฀history.฀
“I฀had฀worked฀in฀a฀number฀of฀other฀
restaurants฀in฀different฀positions,฀but฀
Bahama฀Breeze฀really฀inspired฀me฀
to฀reach฀for฀a฀higher฀level.฀I฀really฀
love฀the฀concept.”฀Part฀of฀the฀
Bahama฀Breeze฀proposition฀is฀to฀
create฀a฀relaxed฀atmosphere฀where฀
guests฀can฀relieve฀their฀stress.฀How฀
hard฀is฀it฀for฀Tim฀to฀achieve฀this฀
atmosphere฀given฀the฀demands฀of฀
serving฀fresh฀Caribbean-inspired฀
food฀to฀hundreds฀of฀guests฀daily?฀
“We฀have฀all฀the฀systems฀in฀place฀
to฀make฀our฀operation฀run฀
smoothly฀and฀calmly,”฀he฀explains.฀
“The฀thought฀and฀planning฀that฀
goes฀into฀developing฀a฀concept฀
really฀helps฀me฀do฀my฀job฀and฀the฀
Company฀is฀extremely฀good฀about฀
providing฀clear฀direction.฀I’ve฀
received฀a฀prompt฀and฀clear฀answer฀
to฀every฀question฀I’ve฀ever฀asked.”
Trust
How much does Tim O’Brien believe in extraordinary service? For guests
who had experienced an unusually long wait, this Bahama Breeze general
manager once sprinted to a local mall to buy chocolate ice cream for a
young guest. “We only had vanilla, he only wanted chocolate!” Tim
remembers. Did going the extra mile pay off? “The family are regular
customers and I get chocolate ice cream every time they visit,” he
reports. When it comes to leadership, no job is too small for Tim, no
gesture too insignificant.
It’s this type of service and commitment that is helping Bahama Breeze
take casual dining to a new level. The brand has established itself as a
place where guests can relax, feel refreshed, and forget the the stresses
of everyday life. With its menu of Caribbean-inspired cuisine, tropical
drinks, and lively deck-side entertainment, Bahama Breeze is the place
to go to put yourself in an “island state of mind.” The concept had
fiscal 2004 sales of $176 million and now operates 32 restaurants in
19 states, with average annual sales per restaurant of $5.2 million
(on a 52-week basis), one of the highest levels in the industry.
As with any developing concept, Bahama Breeze continues to evolve
and refine its brand positioning to find the best potential for maxi-
mizing profits. Recently, Bahama Breeze opened a new prototype
restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a meaningfully lower
initial restaurant investment cost. The Bahama Breeze business plan
also has evolved to include lunch as a dining option. The move has
helped expand the brand’s presence among a new group of diners
and boosted same-restaurant sales growth in fiscal 2004.
13