As we close out the 2020 year, Prospect Capital Restaurants (PCR) takes a look back at some of the events and takeaways throughout the year.
The Roaring Twenties
Dubbed as “the roaring twenties” by CEO Chris Rigassio, 2020 was to be a monumental year for PCR. The goal was for this to be a year of growth and positivity for the company as they added new brands and opened new locations. In many ways, that was true. As we faced the challenges of COVID-19 taking over almost the entire year, we saw our people challenge themselves and grow.
Internally, our team had the challenge of thinking creatively and continually pivoting. Our team came together in such inspiring ways with the common goal of continued growth. The need for creativity and flexibility was paramount and we adopted that across all of our initiatives. Our teams began working together more than ever before. Managers were sharing leads, departments sharing best practices and team members sharing information.
Of course, we saw our plans come to a screeching halt, just as the rest of the world did, in the middle of March. April was a full month of uncertainty and anxiety. Our crews collected themselves and hit the pavement. With schools starting to close, we offered free kids’ meals to students beginning in April. We also began donating thousands of subs throughout the state to first responders, frontline workers and health care workers as a token of our gratitude.
Building A Great Team
We, of course, have to acknowledge our amazing teams. They remained positive and professional as they served their communities. Our teams represented a sense of normalcy for our customers. They took their roles as community ambassadors seriously. When we say we could not have survived without them, we truly mean it.
As we progressed through the year, PCR focused heavily on “building our bench.” We knew growth was on the horizon and that we still needed to recruit awesome talent. We invested back into the company by building a strong management team.
Our marketing team brought on two interns and our executive assistant expanded her role and brought on one intern. We expanded and adjusted our training department. Our operations team moved the right people into the right stores and we saw them begin to flourish again.
PCR Shows Continued Growth
We kept our eye on prime real estate locations and studied changes in consumer patterns. Marketing may have moved to digital but the desire to order out still remained high. Throughout the year, PCR opened an additional Jersey Mike’s store, its first Wingstop in the Bronx, acquired nine existing Wingstop locations in Massachusetts and Illinois, and ended the year with its second Wingstop in Neptune, N.J. As a result of our team’s hard work, we are looking forward to opening more Jersey Mike’s and Wingstop locations throughout N.J. and N.Y.
Our teams faced challenges on all different levels this year. With those challenges, we saw enormous growth on both personal and professional levels. With a renewed commitment to our goals and a stronger foundation built on creativity and flexibility, PCR looks forward to 2021 and all that it holds.