Dagwood and Blondie Create a Show to Tantalize Guests

Tampa Bay, FL, August 04, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Dagwood’s Sandwich Shoppes, which has experienced explosive growth since its launch less than 90 days ago, will begin a management training program in the fall to create a corporate culture that ensures customers return because of the total dining experience, not just the great food.

“The show” is the way that Valerie Oberle, who is heading Dagwood’s training and leadership development programs, describes the warm atmosphere and hospitality she intends to instill in all DSS franchise operations around the country.

“It is everything you experience when you walk into a Dagwood’s – the sights, the smells, the sounds, the entire experience,” said Oberle, who brings 27 years as the top Walt Disney Co. executive overseeing training and business seminars to the DSS corporate structure.

“Although there obviously will be cultural differences in many locations that will come into play, there absolutely will be consistency when it comes to the show, the image, the ambiance and the food,” she said.

Oberle is dean of Dagwood University, which will offer a two-pronged training program starting in September that will be a “must attend” for all market partners. Market partners are investors who purchase marketing territories around the country and then sell Dagwood’s Sandwich Shoppes franchises in those areas to individual owners.

Since the plans for Dagwood’s Sandwich Shoppes were announced in May, there have been eight market partnership territories around the country reserved, meaning that these Market Partners are committed to developing at least 367 local sandwich shops.

Dagwood’s is a joint venture of Dean Young, the creator of the popular “Blondie” comic strip since 1973 and son of the strip’s originator, and Lamar Berry, a veteran franchising expert. “Blondie” appears in more than 2,300 newspapers around the world, and Dagwood’s signature skyscraper sandwich is so well-known that a “Dagwood,” defined as “a many layered sandwich,” is even included in Webster’s Dictionary.

Dagwood’s is structuring daily video training programs at the store level – a first in restaurant franchising, continued Oberle, a restaurant-industry consultant. “Using the company Intranet, we’ll pipe five- to seven-minute programs into each store filled with Dagwood news, training tips and, of course, new “Blondie” comics to air on the stores’ giant plasma screens.”

To ensure each Dagwood Sandwich Shoppe operates with the same high-quality workforce and guest services, Oberle has scheduled the first “Market Partner College” for Sept. 18 in New Orleans.

During the first week of training in New Orleans, Market Partners will learn about the culture of Dagwood’s food and menu as well as marketing and sales processes. The participants will return to their businesses for a week, then convene in Clearwater, Fla., for a second week of training. That session will focus on the financial side of the business operations including the development of a business plan and training in the human resources programs that will be used to recruit and train future employees and create a quality guest experience.

Each market partner and his or her operations director will be required to attend Dagwood University; then they will be charged with training their employees to ensure that the Dagwood corporate culture is uniform from store to store. Oberle said “Market Partner College” will be offered every month.

The goal is to create a positive experience both for customers, who are called “Guests,” and for employees, who are called “Performers.”

“We are building the systems and processes in Dagwood’s that will result in a strong, guest-focused culture and performance-focused culture. You don’t get to great guest services if you don’t treat your performers well,” Oberle said. “You can have a beautiful restaurant and delicious food, but performers will create a ‘come-back’ kind of experience. People will come back because the food is great, but they won’t come back if they are not treated properly.”

What many businesses fail to focus on, she said, is that the venture’s profitability is inextricably linked with the “come back” experience of customers.

Oberle said the first challenge is to create a culture that the employees will be able to easily embrace.

“We want a workplace they see as meaningful to them and not just a place to work. To create that kind of culture starts in the recruitment and hiring process. We are not only selecting the right people, but we want them to be selecting us as a great place to work, and not just another sandwich shop job,” she said.

“We will be setting a stage from the very beginning in a way that does engage them and gets them to buy in because there’s something in there for them,” Oberle continued. “One of our goals is to build retention and build a reputation that Dagwood’s is a better place to work, a different place to work.”

That will be accomplished through a variety of initiatives, including an orientation program that imparts information on the history of the business but also speaks directly to each employee “about why what we are asking is important, our expectations and what is in it for them.”

In addition, each employee will begin his or her shift with a daily “news brief,” a five-to-seven-minute-long message transmitted over the company intranet system that will contain business and marketing updates and information on menu developments and other topics relating to customer service and the franchise operations.

Although there naturally will be differences in Dagwood’s Sandwich Shoppes depending on the area of the country where they are located, the company intends to monitor the store operations to ensure that there is an overall consistency in such areas as design of the stores, the atmosphere and the way guests are greeted.

“When you walk up, you are to be greeted immediately with a warm, friendly, engaging smile and a friendly welcome. How you ask for an order, and how you suggest a product, those standards should be consistent, and you should have a general feeling of consistency when you step into each shop,” Oberle said.

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For more information on Dagwood's Sandwich Shoppes visit the website at www.Dagwoods.us.com

Blondie © 2006 King Features Syndicate, Inc. ™
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