Popeye's 2009 Annual Report Download - page 6

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Strengthen Unit Economics
Profits so good, franchisees love the
business as much as the food
We remain committed to finding ways to lower restaurant
operating costs and improve profitability throughout the Popeyes
system, while maintaining excellent food quality and service
for our guests. One example is the comprehensive diagnostic
analysis we completed of our supply chain system this past year,
which has allowed us to identify cost-saving opportunities in
areas such as packaging, shipping, and sourcing.
We are also tracking the profitability of restaurants
throughout the system every quarter to measure the results
of our business plan and to ensure our decisions deliver
results for our restaurant owners. Our “act like an owner”
approach resulted in improved margins for restaurants in
2009 and a detailed plan to improve them even more in
years to come. This commitment to measuring results is
allowing us to make quicker and smarter decisions and to
track our performance against our goals.
Ramp Up Unit Growth
Returns so good, franchisees can’t wait
to build more
Our fourth pillar going forward will be singularly focused on
accelerating our unit growth in the United States and around
the globe. In 2009, during a difficult economy and lending
environment, our system built 95 new restaurants, a sound
number for the times. Our restaurant closings were the
lowest in five years. The outcome: positive net new units for
the year.
As the economy and financial markets improve, we will
be ready to step up the pace of new restaurant openings.
We have strengthened our real estate selection capability
and prioritized key markets for growth. Our development
team has partnered with our operations team to bring our
best performing Popeyes operators to these development
opportunities. As we have done in recent years, we also
selectively look outside our system to recruit a few of the
best, most capable restaurant operators into the Popeyes
system. Our focus is to ensure our franchisees experience
success from their first opening to full market build-out.
This is the key to strong, long-term relationships with
our franchise developers.
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