Charley's

UVA-C-2210

Rev. Jan. 3 2011 31,

CHARL LEY’S FAM MILY STEA HOUSE (A) AK E

Charley Turn was in an unusually good moo as he pu C ner a y od ulled into th parking l of he lot Charley’s Family Ste House No. 2 (Charle eak N ey’s). It was a beautiful day in mids l -December 2 2007, and he was about to have a mee w eting he had been lookin forward to for sever weeks. T d ng ral Turner was sche eduled to me with Ale Pearson, the new ma eet ex anager of Ch harley’s, to finalize the 2008 operating plan for the restauran He hope this meet g nt. ed ting would be a good first step to oward increasin sales and improving profitability at all of his r ng i p a restaurants.

Backgro ound Unit No. 2 was one of four Char U f rley’s owne by Turne through a privately held ed er corporati ion. He ope ened his firs family ste house i 1997, on the west s st eak in n side of a ra apidly growing cosmopolit tan city in eastern Tex xas. He ma anaged this restaurant for three y years, experime enting with various men nus, pricing strategies, a custome and er-service co oncepts. Tur rner’s goal was to create th best steak house in the city—on that was k s he k t ne known for h having a ple easant atmosphe ere, fast and courteous service, hi d s igh-quality, freshly pre epared food, and reason , nable prices. As with many other famil steak houses, the men was poste on the wa and custo A y ly nu ed all, omers went thro ough a cafe eteria-style line to place their order pick up their bevera l e rs, age, and pa the ay cashier. The food wa then prepa T as ared and bro ought to their tables by a staff of ser r rvers. The se ervers also prov vided choco olate mints and commen cards to customers o a nt once they h finished their had meals, and Turner utilized the customer comments and sugge a ese s estions to m make contin nuous improvem ments at his restaurants. By 2000, Tu B urner knew he had deve h eloped a sol recipe fo success. Customers r lid or raved about his restaurant’s food, servi...