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EXECUTIVE MESSAGE

Hello, Team City BBQ!

Are you playing offense or defense in your business today?

Taking an offensive approach is no longer an option, for a few reasons. First, playing defense alone means you’re shrinking your business. Second, in the current environment, we’re in a street fight for market share and only the strong will survive. My friends, this brand is strong and so is our team—we will take a backseat to no one and be a victim to nothing.

Playing offense is important for businesses and individuals alike. From a business perspective, "going on the offense" means taking proactive measures, seizing opportunities, and being assertive and innovative to drive growth and success. "Defense," on the other hand, signifies a reactive stance, primarily focused on protecting what you currently have and maintaining the status quo.

The playbook for going on the offense is simple:

1) Level up. One of my favorite things to observe is the difference one person can make on a team or in a business when we find the right fit for each role. This business can be so easy, or we can make it so difficult: It’s all about the people. Do you have the right team to advance your business? If not, you will never own your community. We must either coach and train every team member up to our lofty standards or hire new talent who can clear that bar. We owe it to each of our 2,120 team members to surround them with the best talent possible.

2) Improve a little every day. Sit down with your team and identify opportunities to improve your business. How do you achieve zero defects in your operation? Work to improve just 1% each day, and in 45 days, your team will be delivering results you never thought possible. Sometimes you must slow down to speed up. The Navy Seals have a saying: “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”

3) Set the pace. The energy, pace, and results of the business move at the speed of the leader. Be the pacesetter and set that pace every day. Focus on quality, speed, and performance. Pacesetting leaders motivate their teams to achieve goals, and to make today a little easier (and more fun) than yesterday.

4) Own your community. Being on offense means we are an extension of the communities we serve. Taking a proactive approach in building meaningful and sustainable relationships is a win-win for both our communities and our business. Identify a community ambassador in every joint and commit time every week to outreach and relationship building. Don’t wait for guests to come to you—go to them!

How can you make sure you are on offense all the time? Choose it! For me, it’s the difference between playing to win versus playing not to lose.

I appreciate you all,

Mike

OPENING SHOTS

Four Pillars

TEAM

P3 Food Quality Contest Winners!

Congratulations to our three winning joints for the P3 Food Quality Contest - Delaware, Medina, and Johns Creek!

Good job to everyone who scored 100% food quality. If your joint wasn’t selected this round, don't worry! Look out for more chances throughout the year!

~ Jillian Armstong, HR Director – Teammate Experience

Guest

We all know we’re paid by the guest, and our job is to bring them the city’s best barbeque. We’ve been doing that now for 25 years, and while the quality has never faltered, we’ve identified some ways to evolve our menu, with new offerings and a broader reach to draw new guests to City Barbeque. The result is our new menu concept, now in test at 10 locations. 

We’re meeting guests where they are, whether that’s wanting more options to share with others—a full dedicated shareables category, with nachos and queso!—or looking for something lighter, with two new signature entrée salads in a new, true salads category. We’re making it easier for folks to make a meal, by offering combos with one or two sides, plus a drink. We’re offering new samplers so guests can try a few of our award-winning smoked meats: we’ve now got a two-meat and three-meat sampler, both of which come with sides. We’re answering the “offer tacos year-round” call with a dedicated taco category. And we’re celebrating 25 years by adding a brand-new signature sandwich (the Dirty Bird), adding a beloved LTO to the permanent sandwich lineup (the Carolina Goldmine), and revamping an insider favorite (Not a Sloppy Joe, the final iteration of what started out as the Chipotle BBQ). 

Our goal is to give our most dedicated guests more of what they love, while making our menu more accessible to a broad range of folks as we continue to grow. We can’t wait for you to get your hands on this new menu—it’s going to take us places!

~ Annica Conrad, Chief Brand Officer

Process

The first quarter of 2024 is in the books, and we have already implemented some great processes.  In CrunchTime we have launched daily prep, hot counts, and daily waste programs.  This is exciting because it will bring us improved food monitoring, remove the need for the Excel Pit Par and Hot Counts, and eventually lead to counting less inventory weekly!  We have also made great strides with both absolute forecasting and our new and improved labor model.  Believe it or not, all these tools work together to produce great, profitable joints.

Other process items we are working on include: 2024 beer program, synching Meez to CrunchTime, and of course implementation of a new menu later this year.  2024 will be a great year for City Barbeque as we Own the Lane!

~ Dave Skerl, Director of Strategic Implementation

Financial

We've successfully completed our annual audit, marking a significant milestone for our team! Currently, we're diving deep into G&A spending across departments, ensuring every dollar is spent wisely. Additionally, our FP&A team is actively monitoring the performance of our exciting new menu items and combos, while also lending their expertise to support the implementation of the new BI and POS system transitions. With valuable notes taken to enhance our processes, we're eagerly anticipating the kickoff of our 2025 budgets this fall. It's an exciting time of growth and optimization, here's to a future filled with growth and success!

~ Lena Hendryx, Finance Manager | Accounting

CATERING CHATTER

Darwinism in Catering | WES Couples Tasting

Darwinism is a long-held theory of evolution that species don’t evolve by being the strongest or fittest, but rather who can adapt and pivot to increasingly changing conditions. Take our friend the giraffe, for example. Their necks grew and evolved to reach higher portions of the tree where there were still leaves other animals could not get. Unfortunately, the giraffe was not able to adapt quickly enough to fight off Amazon (RIP Toys-R-Us).

One shining example of evolution here in the catering space is a concept that Veneisha, our wedding event specialist in Chicago, recently came up with and executed. Veneisha teamed up with one of her best wedding venues to host a “Couple’s Wedding Tasting.” She invited 30 couples to come and participate at a tasting, hosted at an amazing venue, with food from City Barbeque, emceed by Veneisha, and executed with the support of our Ops team. Of the 18 couples who attended, 15 booked their wedding on the spot with City Barbeque Catering for just over $100,000 in total!

I’m proud of Veneisha for recognizing she may need to pivot, to evolve into something new. Sure, we attend several wedding shows every year, but they’re expensive. What is the ROI? How efficient are we really being at these shows? While I want to be very clear wedding shows are still inherently important, what happens if we think a little outside of the box?

The Couple’s Wedding Tasting is a prime example of Veneisha understanding the environment and pivoting to something new, and the numbers speak for themselves. Not only did she continue to bolster City Barbeque’s reputation in an intimate setting, she also solidified our partnership with the event venue. They advertised it on their social media and hosted an open house the exact same night, by design. Veneisha was therefore able to connect with more than 10 other couples outside those invited to the tasting.

To everyone reading this: as a catering team, we challenge you.

We have celebrated a tremendous 25-year history and we’ve accomplished so many amazing things. But looking forward to the next 25 years, how are we going to adapt? Evolve? Pivot? What new trends are we seeing? What new things are we going to try to propel us into the future?

~ Ted Simpson, Regional Sales Director

RDo reflections

A word from Kevin Bennett, Vice President of Operations

Hello to our City BBQ Ops Team,

It feels like change is in the air on comp sales after the first two weeks of P4.  This is great to see.  Slow start in P1.  A little better in P2.  A little better still in P3 thankfully.  Now in P4, we are comping positive which is GREAT to see.  After week 2 in P4, we are up +7.8% in Comp Joints PTD.  Some of that was an offset to Easter.  In week two alone, we comped positive by +2.6%.  I believe this trend could likely continue and we need that for sure.  Remember, a major key to our success in 2024 is the notion that sales are a controllable.  We do that by being the Mayor in our Town.  We take every opportunity to get out in our community and show them what City BBQ is all about.  I’ve seen some amazing pictures and heard some awesome stories so far this year.  If you are not out in your community, ask for help.  We have the answers.

Folks,

“Sales are a controllable” as demonstrated (in the photos below) by team Charlotte this weekend at Moo Brew & Que Festival. Team Charlotte is owning the lane in their community by executing great BBQ and developing sales building opportunities ! Great job being the Mayor of your Community! What sales opportunities can you explore in your community?  Own the lane in your community by identifying sales opportunities and create raving fans !!  Sales are a controllable and you can contribute to your joint’s success. Thank you!

~ Tim Zombek, Regional Director of Operations

TEAMMATE SPOTLIGHT

Charles Dresen | MATTHEWS

Amy snyder | field ops manager

RAVING FANS

Greensboro

Just stopped by for a quick lunch and ended up having the best service at a restaurant I’ve ever had. The entire staff was amazing. Audrey Hinson in particular was so loving towards our kids. I’ve never been to a restaurant that cared so much about our experience. I will 100% eat here again especially if Audrey is working. We will now be calling in to make sure she is there before we come in. 5 stars

Miller Lane   

Lisa was awesome! Her service was perfect! We are thankful for her kindness. The store was clean and well staffed.

Support Center

The pound of smoked turkey I ordered tasted spoiled, and Javonna was the customer service agent that helped me. She was very kind and helpful! Getting City BBQ is a treat for my family, and it was upsetting for our turkey to be bad, but Javonna assisted me and went above and beyond to make it right!! Thank you so very much, Javonna!

Arlington     

We are in love with Marcia not only did she remember us as return customers she was marvelous she treats everyone like they are the family and our orders are always right when she is here.

IUPUI

Food was good but two of your employees were even better. Ronda and Roni were both very pleasant. They smiled when you walked in and were very helpful with our order. When I was throwing things away after eating I dropped bbq sauce on floor and it splattered on my shoes. Roni not only cleaned up my mess on the floor she got a wet paper towel to clean my shoe. These both are assets to your company. Please acknowledge a job well done!

Snellville 

I have been dining with City BBQ since 2018, they have never let me down. Managers Crystal and Juan run a efficient, clean and welcoming restaurant. They make it an environment to keep coming back to. Best BBQ in the area!!!!

Fairlawn

Shyrone and Terica are simply the best! I've placed some large, and small orders through them and they are always on time, and accurate. The food is great; it's the people that bring me back. Thank you Shyrone and Terica!

Woodruff Road

Really tasty. Potato salad & Mac n cheese is so good. We got take out and Julie was super sweet. Will definitely be getting more take out from City BBQ.

Circleville

The brisket chilli at the Circleville, Ohio City BBQ is the best chilli I have ever had. While eating it we learned Melissa Fullen is the Master Chilli Chef!!! Kudos to all the friendly staff at City BBQ, Circleville!!!

Rochester Rd

Love this place and eat here usually twice a week. Josh cooked up some fantastic bbq today. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

Portage

One of our favorite fast food establishments in the area. The food is plentiful, tasty and at a good value. Adam, the General Manager does a great job, is engaging, friendly and cares about his customers and store. We eat here often, and had our Thanksgiving dinner from them.

Cary

Every single time I come into this location I never leave upset! I leave far from it! The staff is absolutely amazing. The first I ever went in I got the chance to meet Al himself who was so kind, he allowed me to try samples prior to ordering my food!! Since I have gone in 4-5 times with it being so close to work and having such a great variety of delicious southern style home cooked meals, I am still treated just as amazing each time! This company really took their time to hire employees who not only service you, but make your dining and EXPERIENCE. Their food, quality, environment, and atmosphere all deserve a 10/10.

Deerfield

Loved this place. Will go again. Destiny assisted our table with extra care when we needed help cleaning a spilled soda and she informed us of some very cool things to try next time we come in. I enjoyed the atmosphere very much also and after going with my coworkers I will bring my wife there also.

Hurstbourne

Wonderful food and Amber was a great helper she was so knowledgeable and helped me sign up for rewards. I will definitely be coming back.

CATERING RAVES

• We Just had the catering tasting on Saturday that was offered to us for our wedding, AND LOVED the food (as well as Antonia! She was awesome and so nice). – Louisville

• Randy was extremely helpful, kinda and prompt in helping me with my catering order. He was able to meet all of our attendee's dietry restrictions even on short notice and the food was DELICIOUS. In addition, I was kept in the loop at all times regarding order delivery and follow ups from drivers and staff. It was a wonderful experience and Randy + the whole team (and their food) was very much appreciated! Thank you all. – Columbus

• We had our wedding catered in. When it was time for dinner they had everything set up an ready to go! There was a lot of options and plenty of food!! The staff was very respectful and kind and answered any questions anyone had!! The food was Incredible, we're still getting compliments on how good it was! – Akron/Cleveland

• Telena Johnson reached out to me to confirm the order after it was received via web order. She let me know she is available to help me with any changes prior to our event date. I did need to make changes which she helped with promptly. – Atlanta

• The process was easy, the service and setup was on time and efficient, and the food was great. Everyone enjoyed the event. – Charlotte

• When food ordered from anywhere is hot and needs sterno's etc. it can time consuming getting everything ready, with team members from City Barbeque setting this up it allows me time to get other things done. Every time we have City Barbeque for meetings EVERYONE raves about how good everything this! – Chicago

• Food was delicious with plenty of utensils, napkins, plates, etc. Delivery was on time and everything was divided perfectly into 2 shifts so no one felt like they were getting leftovers! – Cincinnati

• Working with Stephen Brown was a delight! Gave great suggestions and worked within our budget. Feel like I personally know him due to congeniality in texting. – Dayton

• Everything was great! The person who delivered our order was prompt, set up everything beautifully and the food was delicious. Our employees loved it, and we will definitely be ordering again in the future! – Detroit

• The food was absolutely delicious. The caterers were awesome and friendly. We could not have asked for a better experience for our wedding day. Everything was taken care of and we did not have to worry about a single thing. – Toledo

• The flexibility and the timely manner that the caters arrived. They helped get everything setup and situated, accommodating specifically to my needs which was extremely helpful. - Indy

QUEMMUNITY

aS kEVIN bENNETT STATED: Remember, a major key to our success in 2024 is the notion that sales are a controllable. 

We do that by being the Mayor in our Town.  We take every opportunity to get out in our community and show them what City BBQ is all about. 

I’ve seen some amazing pictures and heard some awesome stories so far this year. 

If you are not out in your community, ask for help

We have the answers!

Catering Cinci - Pickle Ball Tournament - Project Heart Restart partnered with Christ hospital, and realtor alliance of Cincinnati to benefit the AEDs (Automatic Electric Defibrillator). Beavercreek - Chamber Event, with Police Award Presentation. Centerville - Home Town Expo. Powell - Donation made to Liberty Fire Department and HR Team - Out and about for Serve Day- Fun Fact: Rick showed up to have lunch that day! The IT Team volunteered their time at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank location in Grove City. HR Team volunteered their time at Inprem Holistic Community Resource Center in partnership with the Mid Ohio Food Bank and Team Accounting / Payroll / Finance volunteered their time at Furniture With A Heart, parent org is Furniture Bank of Central Ohio.

BE A POSITIVE MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY!

Have you participated in any community or charity event/drive, or volunteered for any cause, either as a team or individually, at work, home, church? Please send your information and any photos you can provide to hr@citybbq.com, with Quemmunity in the subject line. We’d love to publish them in a future newsletter under this feature! We want to “share the wealth in a sustainable fashion!”

Aletha’s INSIGHT

This year’s Leadership Conference is about celebration, drive, focus, alignment and “Igniting” passion for another 25 great years and beyond.

The idea of Igniting passion, drive and effort is very exciting, but makes you think about where to start and what to do with all that energy to be better, to move more deliberate and to bring others along.

It becomes very evident, that none of that can be done without a powerful team, by which Gratitude must lead.  So, I take you down the road of what it looks like to have Gratitude for those and the things around you.

Why Saying “I Am Grateful” Matters

Having an attitude of gratitude is important. Gratitude shifts our mindset. Shifting focus from ourselves to appreciating someone or something gives us the opportunity to express thankfulness for every part of our life. An attitude of gratitude means making the conscious habit of expressing appreciation on a regular basis for big and small things alike. We may be grateful for our relationships, health, business, material items, food in our kitchens, running water in our homes, and our overall sense of well-being. The journey of life is challenging at times and confronting those challenges with a perspective of optimism can help tackle the impossible. Take things one step at a time and be grateful for each step as you get closer to your goals.

When we have an attitude of gratitude, we operate from a place of abundance. Cultivating a grateful mindset helps us feel happier, more positive, and more compassionate with ourselves and others around us. Focusing on what makes us feel grateful allows us to develop better habits of expressing appreciation for the people and things that matter most in our life. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what we have, not what we lack.

Gratitude: A Daily Habit

If you want to develop an attitude of gratitude, make it a daily habit. Be grateful and thankful for everything you appreciate in life. When we express appreciation, what we appreciate grows and increases in value. Practicing gratitude toward our relationships, work, health, home, and mindset makes these things more important to us. Choose to spend your time and energy on what you are most thankful for. Think about how this applies to your team. Wow, right!

Being grateful improves our self-confidence, our self-esteem, and enhances our enjoyment of the present moment. We can be grateful for every aspect of our life, including the parts that are going well and those that are not. Expand the positives, rather than dwelling on the negatives. Feeling grateful on a daily basis improves our positivity which can rub off on others we interact with.

 How to Develop an Attitude of Gratitude

1. Begin by asking yourself, “What can I be grateful for?”

2. When you wake up every day, say or write down three things that you are grateful for.

3. Start a gratitude journal to write down what you are grateful for, proud of, and excited about.

4. Reflect and acknowledge what you have done and accomplished in the last day/week/month/year. Give yourself credit for the big and small wins you have achieved.

5. Acknowledge other people and thank them for inspiring/helping/supporting you.

6. Create a culture of Gratitude, show appreciation when others display gratitude 

7. Commit to a gratitude practice and be intentional with your insights.

The simplest way to start developing an attitude of gratitude is to choose to appreciate people, actions, and things in life. It’s never too late to start. It takes a bit of work but having an attitude of gratitude is one of the healthiest habits to cultivating a fulfilling and happy life. Give thanks every single day. Take the time to stop and appreciate life and all its beauty. Try adopting some of the tactics above to start shifting your mindset today.

~ Aletha Dawson, Director of Training and Recruiting

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