Tom Monaghan Hones Gyrene Burger Operations
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Published on Saturday, 11 February 2012 19:42
When building Domino's Pizza, Tom Monaghan often worked long hours at the ovens, making pizzas and watching how customers were served.
Now, five decades later, he's back behind the counter of his new hamburger delivery business, Gyrene Burger, flipping hamburgers and dealing with customers.
""A lot of realism has set in," he said in an interview while grabbing a fast lunch consisting of half of a Deluxe Gyrene Burger. " It's been 50 odd years since I started out. I cook a lot of hamburgers myself."
Although his basic concept of a hamburger delivery business has not changed, Gyrene Burger has already made some modifications to its original plan of offering only two types of hamburgers, and no drinks or sides. The pilot location on US 41 and Central Ave. in Naples now will customize burger orders for take-out customers, and has started offering Coke and Diet Coke as well as potato chips.
"I was hoping not to add items, but we did," he said. "The plan was geared to high volume, which is why they weren't offered initially. It only made sense not to have them unless we were really busy."
"And we will get real busy," he added. "I'll make sure of that."
Meantime, he said, he is trying to get his staff to work with the speed and hustle they will need when they are dealing with high volume.
"I tell the staff, treat every order as if it's the first order of a big rush," he explained.
He said that the burgers are popular with people who buy them, and there is a lot or repeat business. The biggest challenge he faces, though, is what he called the "mindset of delivery."
"People aren't used to calling for hamburger delivery," he said. "I'm surprised at the volume of people who live in our delivery area who get in their cars and drive over to pick up a hamburger."
Walk-in orders currently are between 80-90 percent of Gyrene Burger's business, Mr. Monaghan said, so the current marketing focus is on increasing the amount of deliveries. Although he has begun the process to open a second location on US 41 just north of Vanderbilt Beach Rd., he said the company would not expand until its first store is breaking even.
When will that be?
"Soon, I hope," he said.
Meantime, he is also working on plans for expansion through the opening of more company-owned stores, franchising and international operations, which he acknowledged might require a tweaking of the company's trademark U.S. Marine Corps. theme to play overseas.
Gyrene Burger has been Mr. Monaghan's main interest since he announced almost exactly one year ago that he was handing over the reins of Ave Maria University to a new CEO, Jim Towey.
Mr. Monaghan said that he misses his role at AMU in some ways.
"I was a boss for 50 years and I'm still coming up with ideas," he said. "But it's a relief, too."
The university had a tough year, he said, adding that Mr. Towey has shifted an emphasis away from sports which had been a key component of the school's growth strategy.
Part of that shifting emphasis resulted earlier this year in the dismissal of the school's first football coach, a move that Mr. Monaghan said he supported.
"A good part of the football team flunked out," he said. "The whole key of sports being an asset to the university is to have the right coach."
He said he has confidence that AMU is on the right path.
"Jim [Towey] is good," Mr. Monaghan said. "He makes people accountable and watches the little things."
And, the university founder added, "He's more patient."
