From the Chairman

What a difference a year makes! It is a wonderful feeling to be writing to you as our nation continues to emerge from the global coronavirus pandemic. Our economy is reopening to a more normal state as many of the dining rooms in our Buffalo Wild Wings® sports bars do the same.

As more people are vaccinated and COVID-19 infection rates continue to fall, it’s good to see sales on the rise and people happy to be back watching sports and enjoying our food and atmosphere once more. Though there is more work to be done, the trends continue to improve.

A year ago, we were facing the depths of the pandemic crisis. Most of our dining rooms were closed, and we were scrambling to adjust operations to focus on our takeout and delivery sales platforms. Keeping team members working and our locations open was a daily challenge that required ingenuity, dedication and a lot of hard work, and it came with much anxiety and sacrifice.

Of course, one of the losses we suffered in 2020 was the postponement of the annual FBS Summit, which had been planned for early May. Our yearly meeting is something we all anticipate with a lot of excitement. It offers great information and best practices to take back to our businesses as well as time to meet with our vendor partners and each other in a relaxed atmosphere away from the day-to-day pressures we all face.

The return of the Summit is another reason it’s so good to have the last year in our rearview mirror and be looking ahead. The Summit is planned for Aug. 4-6 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The keynote speaker is a perfect choice after our recent experiences. Scott Burrows is a former college football player and kickboxer who was forced to remake his life and his identity after he was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident. His book and presentation, “Vision Mindset Grit!” promise to give us a needed motivational perspective on taking on the challenges of life.

We’ll also have a brand update from Lyle Tick, president of Buffalo Wild Wings, as well as informational presentations on minimum wage best practices, pay equity, brand valuation and lenders, and unionization. We’ll finish with a town hall meeting featuring the FBS board of directors.

Of course, there will also be trade show time with the wonderful vendor partners who have supported our organization during this time and, of course, the traditional Casino Night and Texas Hold ’Em tournaments so we can let our hair down, relax and enjoy each other’s company.

While it’s good to be anticipating the Summit and happier times to come, we also know that pandemic recovery has been presenting us with a whole new set of challenges. We are all being affected by a labor shortage that is quickly becoming our biggest hurdle to complete economic recovery. While customers are coming back to our restaurants, if we don’t have the teams to serve them, we risk being unable to fully return to normal as the year moves ahead.

This issue of The SCORE examines the challenges we’re facing now as we move into the post-pandemic world. From the labor question and its effect on restaurant recovery to embracing delivery services in ways that work for our businesses and customers, there’s still plenty ahead we have to navigate.

We’ll move forward as we always have – together. It’s good to begin this transition to a new journey together, starting with the Summit. Be sure to make your plans to join us. You can register here: www.cvent.com/d/9hqd4s/4W

Wray Hutchinson