F.C. Dadson Welcomes Joei Vander Kooy to Sales Team

F.C. Dadson is very excited to introduce Joei Vander Kooy as the newest member of its sales team. She brings to the company over 15 years of sales experience with an emphasis in retail and restaurants. Throughout her career, Vander Kooy has had the pleasure of working with a variety of businesses, spanning from small ventures up to Fortune 500 companies.

At F.C. Dadson, Vander Kooy will serve as Account Executive focusing on the retail and service markets. She’ll be responsible for identifying prospects, developing targeted sales strategies, and establishing and growing new accounts. Joei can be reached at 715-470-2620.

Unique Solutions Design, Ltd. Announces Partnership with F.C. Dadson for Rollout of Body Scanning Kiosks Across North America.

Unique Solutions Design, Ltd, developer of innovative body fit solutions and technologies, is pleased to announce that it has retained the design and manufacturing services of retail technology company F.C. Dadson for an aggressive rollout of over 300 body scanning kiosks that will be installed at large shopping centers and other high-traffic venues throughout North America. The partnership begins with the design, production and initial launch of Me-Ality - Measured Reality body scanning kiosk at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Georgia on October 3rd, 2011. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.me-ality.com/.

Unique Solutions holds the exclusive license for the only body scanning technology to measure the body while fully clothed. Unique's highly acclaimed apparel size-matching service, Me-Ality - Measured Reality - premiered in 2010 at the King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania, and has been a dream come true for consumers by taking the guesswork out of finding their best fitting apparel styles. In addition to body measurement technology expertise, Unique Solutions holds the largest and most comprehensive database of body measurements. The application of the technology, and subsequent aggregate data, will have far reaching impact in apparel retailers’ development of products and services that require accurate body size data.

"F.C. Dadson’s partnership will allow us to rapidly deploy our ground breaking new shopping service," said Tanya Shaw, CEO of Unique Solutions Design Ltd. "Since the widely reported success of our King of Prussia location, both shopping mall operators and consumers from across the country have been pressing for the opening of more kiosk locations. This partnership provides an aggressive expansion opportunity."

Let's Talk at the Restaurant Finance & Development Conference

Learn more about how F.C. Dadson can save time, money and resources during restaurant build-outs at the 2011 Restaurant Finance & Development Conference - November 7-9 in Las Vegas. Call Larry Myer at 800-728-0338 to set-up a meeting at the show.

See you at the West Coast Franchise Expo

Going to the West Coast Franchise Expo? The conference is November 4-6 in Los Angeles. Tim Matey and Troy Schwehr from F.C. Dadson will be in attendance. Call Tim or Troy at 800-728-0338 to set up a meeting during the show.

Thanks for a great Franchise Leadership & Development Conference

We met so many great people and look forward to connecting again. If you missed us at the conference, don't worry. You can learn all about F.C. Dadson's turnkey, interior build-out program by calling Marie or Tim at 800-728-0338.

Restaurant Industry Trends - Part 2

Continuing with our restaurant trends, below are more from Andrew Freeman & Co. in Restaurant Hospitality:

1. Pies: Move over cupcakes, make way for pies.

2. Mom & Pops: The spirit of entrepreneurship has resulted in smaller restaurants with fewer than 40 seats.

3. Single-Purpose: Single-item restaurants specializing in one thing such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hot dogs or pies.

4. Smaller Portions: Smaller portions for pint-size budgets. Look for mini-size pizzas, bagels, hot dogs, tacos or pies.

5. Windows: Restaurant expansion with the addition of a quick-serve window.

6. Key Ingredients: Restaurants are keeping things simple with only highlighting the key ingredients on menus and skipping the marketing fluff.

7. Dry Powders: Chefs are in search of more simplistic flavors using more powders and crumbles instead of sauces.

8. Wood-Fired: Wood-fired pizzas or anything else cooked over fire is hot.

9. Hot Dogs: The hamburger receives competition from hot dogs with gourmet toppings.

10. Vegetarian: More meatless entrees will graze the menus.

11. Deep-Fried: Everything from brussel sprouts to kale chips are deep-fried.

12. Soft-Serve: Look for more soft serve frozen fruits, yogurts and other cocktails.

13. Junk Food: Chefs are reinventing junk food in a gourmet and healthy way.

14. Pop Rocks. Salty, sweet, spiked and exotic popsicles.

15. Processes: Expect to see more sun-dried, freeze-dried, smoked, pressed and other processes.

16. Swede Inspiration: Swedish ingredients and trends are rising in popularity.

17. Breads: Speciality, house made breads are filling restaurant bread baskets.

18. Goat and Lamb: Both meats are are making gains over pork and other meats.

Restaurant Industry Trends - Part 1

What are some restaurant industry trends? According to an article in National Restaurant News, Chicago-based market research firm Technomic Inc. indicated 11 trends including:

1. Increase in Alcoholic Beverages: Higher-end alcoholic drinks, such as retro cocktails and high-end spirits, along with craft beers are gaining popularity in fine dining and independent restaurants.

2. Food Trucks: They're moving into more cities and with a variety of items including healthy and gourmet foods.

3. Farmers and Producers. Farmers and producers are being spokespeople for restaurants, including Domino's with its commercials taking place on a dairy farm.

4. Social Media: New technology and applications, such as iPads and hand-held devices for ordering and table side payment.

5. Korean Influence: Korean barbecue and foods are rising in popularity.

6. Indulgent Menu Items: Consumers who are tired of being frugal will decide to treat themselves with a few indulgent menu items. Restaurants could see an increase in order of high-margin and high-priced point dishes.

7. Value: Opposite of indulgence, consumers will still demand value with everyday items when dining out.

8. Branding: More restaurants will update their brand positioning through remodeling and new formats.

9. Comfort Foods: Consumers continue to turn to comfort foods, such as southern foods and Italian favorites.

10. C-Store Competition: Convenience stores upgrading their food service sections are competition with restaurants.

11. Healthy: There is a move to redo menus to include healthy items.

Chapter #11 - Finding the Magic Number to Pilot

Marie Van Drisse is back with the final chapter of her kiosk development story. In case you happened to miss the previous chapters, you can check them out here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10

Deciding how many kiosks to build for a pilot or full rollout is different on every project. Logically, the more you build that are alike, the more can gain from the economies of scale. The cost per kiosk will come down.

There is no "Silver Bullet" answer to how many units should be deployed in a pilot and it really depends on the individual situation, the budgets and the cost of the pilot units. The primary factor affecting the number of kiosks in a pilot is strictly budgetary.

If you have 10 locations and can afford only five complete units to test your idea, than you have your answer. You have to do it right, so to speak, but putting out 10 cheaper kiosk will not give you the results you want to test.

How Many to Consider:

Here is a quick calculation to provide you with stages in the life of a kiosk project:

Prototype = 1 unit (could be a factory test program)

Pilot Deployment = 10-15 units (Ideal for minimal costs and manual on-site revisions)

Limited Deployment = 25-50 units (Refine the fixes discovered in the pilot program)

Full Rollout = Unlimited (Make sure your comfortable with all aspects and that your vendor can handle the production and install volumes)

Worth checking out...

Some great friends have just announced key dates for the 2011 Over The Top Franchise Recruitment Experts Workshop. Worth check out at www.overthetop2011.com

Collin and Larry attending IFA's Public Affairs Conference

F.C. Dadson is pleased to announce that Collin Gruthoff, President and Larry Myer, VP of New Business Development will be attending the annual International Franchise Association (IFA) Public Affairs conference. The conference, which will take place September 13-14 at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C., features 2 days of networking with industry professionals, information on the latest business and economic trends that impact franchising, and political insights from Washington insiders. The conference will address key issues in franchising including credit, health care reform, and supporting veteran franchise ownership, along with an opportunity to honor outstanding achievements with the Franchisee of the Year Award recipients and IFA Legislators of the Year Awards. If you are interested in meeting during the conference, feel free to call either Collin or Larry at (800) 728-0338 to set-up a time.

Going to the 2011 Franchise Leadership & Development Conference?

The Franchise Leadership & Development Conferenece is October 12-14, 2011 in Atlanta, GA. Marie VanDrisse and Tim Matey from F.C. Dadson will be in attendance and we were wondering if you'll be there too.

Marie will also be speaking on Thursday, October 13 at 11: 30 am on "Site Selection and Build-out Programs that Can Drive Sales". If you are interested in learning more about F.C. Dadson, feel free to call either Marie or Tim at (800) 728-0338 to set up a meeting at the show.

Chapter #10 - Rollin' Out the Dough

Marie VanDrisse is back with the next chapter of her kiosk development story. In case you happened to miss the previous chapters, you can check them out here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9

Chapter #10 - Rollin' Out the Dough

Of course, there are advantages to skipping the pilot phase and going to a full rollout of a kiosk program. For those of you out there with experience and confidence in a kiosk program, economies of scale can dramatically cut the cost per kiosk.

That's in part because design and engineer costs can add up each time you modify a custom kiosk. With a larger number of kiosks, you can spread the cost of engineering development over multiple units.

If you have experience from other concepts and fully understand the value and ROI of an effective kiosk system than you may concern bypassing the pilot phase and move directly into full deployment. If you have previously managed a deployment of an ice cream concept and now you're employed by a corporation that sells yogurt you past knowledge can certainly be carried over.

Some kiosk companies will offer price breaks for commitment to a large number of kiosks. For instance, some will waive the kiosk engineer fees if the customer commits to a certain number of kiosks. Amortizing a $5000 engineer fee over 100 units will get a buy-in every time. But the same fee over 10 units could break the bank.

With so much to be gained financially on a full rollout, the pressure to gamble that everything is correct within that kiosk program, without full in-the-field testing, can be persuasive.

-Marie VanDrisse (For more about me, visit my LinkedIn page.)

F.C. Dadson's turnkey, interior build-out program gets franchise locations open faster - open 4 weeks faster than industry average - so franchisee can start generating revenue sooner and franchisors can obtain royalties. We also use our expertise and buying power to make your build-out program is a as cost-effective as possible. Our streamlined program has been proven to save franchises time (and money) during build-outs.

One-Stop Shopping with F.C. Dadson

Opening a location is a serious investment of time and money. Not only do you have to prepare your location, but you also need to hire staff, order inventory, and promote your location. F.C. Dadson's one-stop shopping helps save you time and money in the build-out process. Our turnkey program includes pre-construction, construction management, and creating, ordering, delivery, and installation of fixtures, decor, interior & exterior signage, and equipment. For more information, visit http://www.fcdadson.com/ or call 800-728-0338.

Maintain your franchise brand from location to location

Maintaining your brand look and feel from location to location is key to franchise success. Using multiple vendors can lead to inconsistent design and quality. F.C. Dadson's turnkey, interior build-out program keeps your brand intact no matter the location or size. Plus, we can take your existing design and "value engineer" it to best suit it for multiple locations, while still maintaining your brand integrity.

Happy 4th of July

Have a great 4th of July weekend. The F.C. Dadson Team.

The Redesigned Store Fitting Room

Recently, I read an article on store fitting rooms in the Wall Street Journal, "Why are Fitting Rooms So Awful?" Why are fitting rooms so awful? To agree with the article, the doors don't shut or lock, the lightening is poor and mirrors don't help either. However, "customers who try on clothes in fitting rooms have a conversion rate - meaning they ultimately buy something they tried on - of 67%" compared to "customers who don't use the fitting rooms have only a 10% conversion rate." Stores can't afford not to pay attention to the fitting or dressing room area. They are transforming it into a warm and friendly environment much like your own bedroom. They are giving it extra space for others to join too. "Inside the fitting rooms, wallpaper and back-lit mirrors aim to flatter, not frighten." And, they are designing great seating areas for both women and men to wait outside, with nice furniture and televisions. In addition, I recently watched a YouTube video from Metro Group on the Smart Dressing Room where the room could have interactive units that scan your image and show you what you look like with the outfit. I especially like the make-up unit where you can see what lipstick or eye shadow would look best on you without having to walk out of the store with lipstick stains on your hand. What is the result of this redesigned fitting room? Increased sales! "Because fitting rooms are highly trafficked areas, stores must make the design durable as well as aesthetically pleasing." At Ann Taylor, wallpaper is designed to "hide scuffs" and leather benches were chosen with durable materials to "resist stains and tears." What is the future of the store fitting room? Vital to the selling process and F.C. Dadson is a key part by creating, constructing, fulfilling and installing brand environments, including innovative and durable fitting room areas.

Shopping in the Future
When email first came out, I can remember the discussions about becoming a paperless society. While email has certainly had its impact, we are far from paperless. So, when I read the article, "What's In-Store for the Future," I thought to myself, stores are not going away.

Years ago, when the Internet first arrived, I was leery of online purchasing. I'd view a store's Internet site, found items I liked, and hopefully could find it at their local store. I eventually became confident of online shopping and enjoyed the convenience. But, online shopping just wasn't the same. There's certainly no substitute to the availability of touching, feeling, and trying on clothes immediately. Shopping is an enjoyable experience. As the article indicates, "at its core, shopping has much less to do with economic need and a lot more with human gratification." The gathering of friends to take a trip to the mall, listen to the music, and smell the perfume is a great, social activity and stores are all about enhancing this customer experience.

What is the future of shopping? According to this article, stores will become more about marketing. They will be less about simply selling products and "more like interactive galleries, showrooms and workshops - places where consumers can have aesthetic, visceral, and emotional experience with the brand." F.C. Dadson helps create those sights, sounds, and excitement of stores by creating, constructing, fulfilling and installing brand environments. Visit http://www.fcdadson.com/ and see for yourself.

I met so many great people at the Franchise Finance Conference, March 8-9 in Las Vegas. I appreciate your friendship and look forward to connecting again. If you missed me at the conference, don't worry. You can find out all about F.C. Dadson's turnkey, interior build-out program by giving me a call at (920) 757-1486 x 123.

Marie VanDrisse

Executive National Account Manager