An Open Letter to the Next Owner of Portillo's

Edit on 11/11/14: After further consideration, I no longer agree that Portillo's should franchise. I still like my first two ideas, though.

Portillo's is a terrific fast casual restaurant chain predominantly in the Chicagoland area. It's a true Chicago original, famous for its hot dogs, Italian beef, and chocolate cake. And it's reportedly for sale.

 Since I don't have a spare hundred million dollars lying around to make a bid, I'd like to share a few big ideas for the next owner on how to take Portillo's to the next level. I spent three summer and winter breaks from school working at my local Portillo's. I loved working there and I still love eating there.

 So to the next owner of Portillo Restaurant Group: here are three big ideas for you. We should chat sometime soon:
  1. Expand to Illinois' biggest college towns.
    Portillo's is extremely popular among young people — especially high school students. And 33 out of 38 Portillo's restaurants are in the Chicagoland area. Yet, Portillo's doesn't have a single restaurant in Illinois college towns like Urbana-Champaign, Carbondale, or Normal. That's where most Chicagoland high school students go after graduation, so this is a no-brainer.
  2. Bring the chocolate cake to grocery store aisles.
    Ask anyone in the Chicagoland area where to get the best chocolate cake, and I'll bet the majority says Portillo's. "Portillo's Famous Chocolate Cake" is a best-seller at the restaurant because it tastes so darn good. It's time to expand distribution to grocery stores and extend the product line by creating cupcakes, brownies, and other chocolate goodies.
  3. Franchise.
    Dick Portillo owns and operates every one of his restaurants. This has enabled him to maintain his high standards over time. But it has also limited his growth opportunities. It's time to place bets in some highly qualified franchisees and take this business across the country. Franchising has been done well by many restaurant brands and Portillo's is the next great franchise opportunity.
I have several other ideas for you, new owner. Send me an email and let's chat.

 Add This to Your To-Do List
What advice would you give to the next owner of Portillo's? Where am I wrong? Where am I right?

 There's never a lack of ideas.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Porta Potties: Hilarious Product Names

Image
I think the most entertaining product names in any one industry belong to the portable toilet industry. Porta potty names are hilarious! Here are eleven real portable toilet companies I found: The Honey Bucket Johnny on the Spot A Royal Flush Honey Do's Gotta Go Don John's Super Loo Pit Stop Pot-O-Gold Oui Oui (my favorite name) Floaters (slogan: "You Float 'm, We Tote 'm") See how much I love my readers? I researched porta potties for a long time to find these companies. You're welcome! Add This To Your To-Do List Am I right? Are porta potty names the most entertaining? Or is there another industry with even better names? It just goes to show you — sometimes the stinkier the industry, the better you'll stand out with a clever name. There's never a lack of ideas. PS If you're in the mood to see some hilarious slogans from septic tank businesses, check out this Reddit .
Read more

Only Old People Choose Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Image
Adapt or Die   Those who know me best often hear me proclaim my theory that only old people choose to eat butter pecan ice cream. Oh sure, some younger people enjoy its taste, but nobody under the age of 55 ever goes to the grocery store or Baskin Robins and buys butter pecan ice cream. The flavor is simply outdated. What does this mean for ice cream manufacturers? It means they should keep producing the flavor to satisfy current demand, but they had better create new flavors to adapt to changing tastes. That’s why they’ve created flavors like French silk and cookie dough — flavors that didn’t exist 15 years ago. In short, they adapt or die. Add This To Your To-Do List Have you taken a good look at your products or services lately? Are you still investing heavily in butter pecan ice cream and counting on it being your best seller for years to come? If so, you need to invest in innovation as quickly as possible. It could be as simple as offering new items on your menu, new s...
Read more

How to Advertise Your High School Reunion

Image
Welcome Back, Cotter Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time helping to advertise my upcoming high school reunion. For those of us who went to school before Facebook was around, this can be a challenging thing to do – especially with a graduating senior class of 900 students. Information hub. Create a website with a simple URL so that it can be easily referenced in all of your communications. Include all information about the reunion on that website – it will serve as your information hub. You will only have to update information in one place if you consistently refer your classmates to this website for information. Here’s an example . Share your URL with your school. Share the URL of your website with your high school so that they can post it on their website. School marquis. Ask to have the URL of your website placed on the marquis outside of your school for a week during the summer. Not much else goes on during the summer, anyway, so your school will probably be eager to put up ...
Read more