BJ’s Keeps Close Eye on Inflation and Consumer Behavior
BJ's Restaurants is closely tracking increasing inflation, both on its own costs and its impact on consumer behavior, and is managing the hikes, executives said Thursday.
“We began to more closely track the underlying patterns of our guests, so we can identify any shifts in our guest behavior early,” said Greg Leven, BJ’s CEO. “We measure not only overall sales and traffic trends, but deeper layers such as how often certain categories of guests visit and what is being ordered from our menu, and we review and analyze this data regularly.”
Levin said that if a consumer pullback would occur, BJ’s value proposition would lead to improved performance. BJ’s has priced its menu items below inflation, the executives said, but it is planning more price increases.
Lids Launches New Brick and Mortar Retail Concept
Lids announced the launch of Lids University, a new retail concept dedicated to collegiate sports products and apparel. Created as a space for fans to purchase products from their favorite schools, Lids U stores will open in key college markets.
The new concept will feature a significant assortment of NCAA products with a curated selection from local, regional and national university and collegiate teams. Lids U stores will be opening in shopping malls and outlets in various states across the US, with each store offering products unique to the market that it serves.
Giant Food Commits to Local Communities
Giant Food released its second annual Better Neighbor Report. The report is an extensive account of Giant's efforts throughout 2021 across areas of charitable giving, education, partnerships, innovation and development. Within the report are details of Giant's initiatives in serving its customers, associates and communities.
The report is used to bring transparency and accountability to the company as it recognizes the important role it plays as a local retailer and employer. The report is broken into three sections, demonstrating Giant Food as a Better Neighbor, Better Place to Shop and Better Place to Work.