Dear Red Robin Board Members,
We are looking forward to seeing you in Denver next week and our leadership team is extremely excited to share the impact our combined efforts are beginning to have on the business today. We passionately believe the arduous work of our teams to stay true to our North Star plan are coming to fruition and taking root in many different forms, as a result we continue to see positive momentum building across the brand.
While we are only 17 months into this comeback journey at Red Robin, we are incredibly optimistic about what we’re doing today and the leadership team we have in place to advance our vision for the future. We’ve accomplished a lot in a short period of time for the betterment of the brand long-term and we believe our courage and discipline to stay the course on our North Star plan has been essential to our progress. We have been laying a strong foundation for the future while urgently addressing the needs of our operators as we work to empower our people and provide the tools they need to succeed.
It’s a new day at Red Robin and we believe our action-oriented mindset is reflected across the moves we’ve made in recent months. Our Managing Partner program is creating engagement and ownership, our shifts in marketing strategy are telling the Red Robin story of our improved menu and ingredients in a compelling and different way, our IT team is giving our restaurant teams the tools they need to manage their business effectively, we’ve made significant improvements in training and development to set our people up for success, and our focus on improving communication is giving our people a critical voice and enhancing our culture. While these are just a few examples of key elements of our North Star Plan coming to life, we continue to double down and see our work producing positive momentum today.
We have just completed our second annual field tour, this year themed “All-In,” and I would suggest that the pride and passion we are seeing today from our front-line restaurant teams is a completely different story from our field tour just over a year ago. You can see the renewed enthusiasm our people have for the future, sense the excitement over the improvements we’ve made in the brand, and feel the positive shift in our culture. Our people are once again taking great pride in wearing our logo and inspired by our current direction. As you have heard many say several times before, our people are the most important ingredient in our success, and today they are “All-In” on our vision for the future of this remarkable brand.
Make no mistake about it, we clearly understand that we have much to accomplish on the road ahead and must continue to confront the brutal facts when it comes to the challenges and opportunities for improvement in the business today. The pressure for our team to perform has never been stronger and our persistent pursuit of our North Star vision and focus on caring for our people is yielding results. We clearly acknowledge where we are today and the need for urgency in producing positive sales and traffic trends. We understand we must continue to overcome; we must continue to execute with excellence, and we must exceed the expectations of our stakeholders and those we serve. At the same time, we sincerely believe we have a clear vision and thoughtful plan in our North Star and it’s working today.
Our team is looking forward sharing all the work happening across the brand, but more importantly the specific actions we are taking centered on producing positive sales and traffic across the system. Today we are well positioned to build upon the foundational work of the past year as we launch priority initiatives singularly focused on growth. I thank you for your ongoing support of our North Star vision and we look forward to the engaging discussion next week.
See you soon,
GJ Hart