No kidding Around: Rib Crib Barbecue Chain Rack Up Sales, Popularity.

By Dina Berta, Nations Restaurant News

Broken Arrow, Okla. (June 24, 2002) - As Bret Chandler saw it, barbecue was untamed territory in the restaurant business, so he set about reining it in.

Ten years later Chandler is founder and chief executive of Rib Crib, a 22-unit casual-dining chain based here. Sales for the privately held company were $21.6 million in 2001, and officials expect sales to jump more than 20 percent this year as they push a new franchising initiative.

"Barbecue intrigued me," Chandler said. "Everything else had been duplicated to death. Barbecue was one of the last segments that had not been duplicated successfully in my mind."

One reason barbecue seemed a fertile category was that for years it has been considered a very local cuisine, dominated by individual operators or small regional chains and just a handful of national players, Chandler explained.

"It used to be people thought barbecue was so regional that what worked in Tulsa may not work in New York City," he said. "But what we're finding is that in the past decade or two people have traveled and moved around so much that regional [preferences] are not there anymore."

Chandler, an Oklahoma native, had been a franchisee of the Tulsa-based Mazzio's pizza chain for five years before launching Rib Crib. He remodeled an old house in Tulsa with a hickory-wood-burning smoker and opened the first Rib Crib in 1992. From the beginning he had envisioned a concept that could be replicated not just in Tulsa, but around the country.

The chain is on track to have 27 units by year-end in Oklahoma, Florida, Kansas, Missouri and Ohio. Systemwide sales in 2001 were up nearly 30 percent over those of the previous year and are projected to stay close to that growth rate this year, said Marc Chastain, chief financial officer.

Same-store sales were up 5.3 percent in 2001 over those of the prior year. Unit-level EBITDA for the privately held company was up 21.6 percent last year and up 24.5 percent in the first quarter of 2002. Average unit sales have reached $1.75 million.

Rib Crib is catching on. "We've been profitable, and we're a proven success," said Chastain, who is also Rib Crib's general manager of franchising.

Rib Crib began franchising in earnest last year, seeking franchisees with experience in operating multiple units. Three Rib Cribs belong to franchisees, and three more franchise units are under construction.

Franchise costs range from around $500,000 to retrofit an existing building into a Rib Crib to $900,000 to build and equip a 4,500-square-foot freestanding unit. Operators pay Rib Crib a $25,000 franchise fee and a 4-percent royalty on sales.

It took 10 years to start franchising, because the company wanted to do it right and because its first priority had been to develop systems and a consistent product, said Rib Crib's top executives.

Finding the right kind of smoker for barbecuing the meat was critical to the chain's success. Each restaurant has rotisserie, gas-fired, hickory-wood-burning smokers.

The menu revolves around the smokers, original sauces and a rib-rub seasoning. Items include St. Louis ribs, baby back ribs, sliced brisket, chopped brisket, pulled pork, boneless chicken, Polish sausage and smoked turkey. Meat is continuously slow-cooked and cut to serve.

As testimony to consistency, Rib Crib has won media accolades for "best barbecue" in many of the towns and cities where it has opened.

Chandler described the Rib Crib decor as "Western whimsical," with antler chandeliers, old John Wayne movie posters, wooden floors, and some stone and metal siding.

"We really get a broad range of customers," Chandler said. "Kids seem to really enjoy it. We get the attorneys at lunchtime in suits sitting next to construction workers. It's a good mix of people."

Check averages are about $10, which makes Rib Crib attractive to 22- to 55-year-olds with families and household incomes of about $50,000. Some Rib Crib units also have a drive-thru window for takeout orders.

A recent ad campaign promoted the concept's takeout business. Rib Crib didn't start a branding campaign until last summer. Up until then the chain relied on word-of-mouth, which officials said they believe was inspired by the food and service.

"I think we've done a good job with QSC - quality, service and cleanliness," Chandler said. "You have to perform on those disciplines in the restaurant business. That's the key."

Rib Crib also has been able to hang on to management teams. "We have five operating guys who have been here nine and 10 years," Chastain said. "Some of our other key operating guys have been here five, six or seven years. We've developed an experienced and talented team."

Thirty percent of Rib Crib's management staff rose through the ranks from hourly employee positions. The majority - 85 percent - of the corporate staff came from stores as unit managers, and half of the unit managers advanced from hourly positions.

This high degree of internal promotions began before Eric Bartlett joined the company two years ago as director of training with the charge to establish a manager-in-training program.

Bartlett, who spent the previous 18 years at Mazzio's, created an intense nine-week program that teaches managers-to-be everything about the operation, from the back-of-the-house to the front-of-the-house.

MITs - managers in training - must master each employee position to advance in the program. That way they will be able to teach their own new hires in the restaurants they manage, Bartlett said.

Rib Crib had no training manuals when he came on board, said Bartlett, who now is focusing on developing training programs for hourly positions.

"Right now we're doing better than the industry standard on retention [of hourly workers]," he said. "I'm confident that once we get the training in place that's equivalent to what the managers have, our hourly retention will go up. We already have a good orientation process and good training although it's not formalized."

Because Rib Crib has been profitable for the past 10 years, it's been able to reward key people from a compensation standpoint, which also has contributed to the good retention, Chastain said.

"They also see the reward of being a part of something that's exciting and developing, and they see the hands-on results of their own efforts," he said. "Growth creates opportunity."

Write to Dina Berta at Nations Restaurant News, 2266 Ivy Street, Denver, CO 80207, or call her at (303) 333-8404.

Rib Crib. Where Bold Began.

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