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catering guests use one wallet, no matter how they spend. They’ ll be able to redeem rewards as one wallet, which we’ ve never offered in the brand’ s history,” Erin points out.
He adds,“ About 35 percent of our sales come from catering. So, it’ s a huge business. Even today, there are bigger and newer brands, but we can still produce an incredible volume of catering in a short time. Our product is just well suited to catering.”
Value is a top priority as consumers stay selective about where they spend, and as such, Corner Bakery has responded with the Choose Two promotion, offering flexibility and affordability while keeping the menu broad.“ We have an amazing value offer. It’ s a $ 6.99 Choose Two, so you can get any combination of sandwich, salad, panini, soup or pasta. It’ s a half and half. There’ s nothing better out there from a value standpoint, and it’ s really, really good food,” Erin notes.
“ We’ re seeing about 24 extra guests per day coming in for the Choose Two. That’ s really significant. It’ s made a real difference for our sales this year. We were positive for quarter two, and we plan to stay positive for the rest of the year.”
Communication and accountability
Behind operational improvements is a leadership philosophy centered on internal development. Erin believes long-term growth depends on creating opportunities for employees to advance within the company.“ We try to hire 30 percent from outside, but we develop about 70 percent of our people from within. We’ re focusing on helping our general managers to become area directors through our managing partner program and supporting our hourly employees as they move into management with our key employee program.”
That commitment has shaped a culture built on communication, accountability, and shared purpose.“ We’ re always working to educate our team. We communicate often, whether through all-GM meetings or weekly updates. We want everyone to be well informed and fully aware of what we’ re doing and why.
“ The response to franchising has been incredible,” Erin enthuses.“ We’ ve brought on three new franchisees this year, marking the first time we’ ve welcomed new franchise partners into the brand since 2017, and we have many more in the pipeline. It’ s an exciting time for growth, and we believe the improvements we’ ve made across our food offering are helping to strengthen the brand as we expand.”
In turn, this internal focus supports the company’ s expansion plans.“ We’ ll keep
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