Chili's Grill & Bar – I want my baby back ribs
ROUGH WATERS
For years Chili's Grill & Bar enjoyed strong growth from both existing restaurants and new units. But by 2005, category dynamics had changed. Many casual dining restaurants (CDRs) began reporting declining customer traffic in existing restaurants – a serious concern. In fact, Chili's business had been declining for many consecutive months and would continue on that trajectory until October 2006, when same-store sales would hit negative 1.1 percent (source: Chili's Finance Department). The marketing challenge was straightforward: increase customer traffic growth in existing stores.
In...