From our very beginning, Ye Olde Sandwich Shoppe has been committed to delivering to our guests the best quality food for the best possible value. To help us achieve that goal we have developed and implemented what we consider our food service "Best Practices."

Guest Care
We pride ourselves on our guest management process. From the moment you enter one of our stores until the second you depart, your happiness and your satisfaction is our number one priority. Each of our store managers and almost every member of our headquarters staff has attended the Disney Institute's "Be Our Guest" program in Orlando, Florida. The companion book is required reading for our store and commissary leadership teams as well! Why all this attention to the guest? Without our guests, we don't have a business! The food delivery process considers the guest and his or her needs and expectations at every point.

Quality
At Ye Olde Sandwich Shoppe, quality is not just a catch phrase, it is a way of life. From the ingredients we use to the processes we follow, quality is infused at every step of the way. The food delivery process is based on this commitment to quality and it is every employees responsibility to help improve the process whenever quality is threatened.

Store Layout
As you enter our stores, you will find you've instantly entered the main queuing area. But our store designs are more than simply getting you in and out. Our store designs were based on our goal of providing you with the crispest salads, the hottest soups, and the freshest sandwiches and desserts available! The designs we have chosen for our stores help us accomplish that goal, while giving you a pleasant and relaxing dining experience.

Click the icon to see our store layout in GIF format. (45 KB)

Commissary Operations
Ye Olde Sandwich Shoppe's commissary system is a significant competitive advantage for the company. While requiring a major commitment of capital, the commissaries assure both consistent quality and supply of fresh dough products to our restaurants. In order to develop a specific market with our concept, a commissary must be available to provide fresh product on a daily basis.

A commissary may begin operations by serving one store, however, as our target markets are developed and built out over time, the commissary becomes more efficient. In addition, the commissary system allows the company to control product quality for all of our locations, thereby increasing product consistency and enhancing brand identity. It is the intention of the company to focus its immediate growth in areas that allow it to continue to gain efficiencies within its current commissary structure and to selectively enter new markets which would require the construction of additional facilities.

The remaining baked goods served in the restaurants, such as dessert items, are prepared with frozen dough. During 2004, the company will complete construction of a state of the art frozen dough production facility in San Jose, California to
supply frozen dough to all of its store locations. Currently, the company purchases frozen dough items from a third-party, custom dough manufacturer.

Raw Materials & Supplies Distribution
The company currently utilizes independent distributors to distribute frozen dough products and other materials to all of our restaurants. By contracting with independent distributors, the company has been able to eliminate investment in distribution systems and to focus its managerial and financial resources on its retail operations. With the exception of fresh baked products supplied by the commissaries, virtually all other food products and supplies for retail operations, including paper goods, coffee, and smallwares, are contracted for by the company and delivered by the vendors to the distributor for delivery to the stores. The individual restaurants place orders with our headquarters purchasing office. These orders are then delivered directly to the stores from a distributor two to three times per week.

Automating Our Operations
Each restaurant has computerized cash registers to collect point-of-sale transaction data, which is used to generate pertinent marketing information, including product mix and average check. All product prices are programmed into the system from the company's headquarters. The company's in-store personal computer-based management support system is designed to assist in labor scheduling and food cost management, to provide corporate and retail operations management quick access to retail data, and to reduce managers' administrative time.

The system supplies sales, bank deposit, and variance data to the company's accounting department in Half Moon Bay (California) on a daily basis. Ye Olde uses this data to generate weekly consolidated reports regarding sales and other key elements, as well as detailed profit and loss statements for each restaurant every four weeks. Additionally, Ye Olde monitors the average check, guest count, product mix, and other sales trends. The commissaries have computerized systems which allow the commissaries to accept electronic orders from the individual restaurants and deliver the ordered product back to the store.

The firm also has network/integration systems which are corporate office electronic systems and tools which link various information subsystems and databases, encompassing e-mail and all major financial systems, such as general ledger database systems and all major operational systems, such as store operating performance database systems.

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