Operating a restaurant franchise in the midst of a global pandemic represents very unique challenges for guests, franchise owners and their employees. Angry Crab Shack has not allowed this crisis to deprive its guests of the unique seafood they desire, negatively impact the fortunes of its franchise owners and employees, or dampen its effort to give back to the communities in which it operates.
Instead, Angry Crab Shack has faced these new economic and situational realities head-on by enhancing its guest experience, strengthening franchise owner support, adapting restaurant operations and expanding its community support.
Enhancing our Guest Experience
We remain committed to bringing our communities the bold and enticing flavors of our famous seafood boil, making sure to think outside the box as we continue to adapt our menu and overall operations.
To help us do this, we’ve appointed Sloan Emden as our new executive chef. Sloan has over thirty years of restaurant experience and will help oversee ongoing refinements to our menu and food packaging so our guests can still experience the delicious tastes of Angry Crab Shack at home. To ensure that we can service our guests and get their favorite food to them hot and on time, we’ve added online ordering and new delivery partners Door Dash and GrubHub.
Strengthening Franchise Owner Support
In the light of the unprecedented challenge the pandemic has had on our franchise owners, we’ve worked non-stop to ease the financial burden on them.
To maintain revenues, Angry Crab Shack transitioned from a full-service, sit-down restaurant to focusing on takeout and delivery. To aid our franchise owners in navigating other financial challenges, royalties were immediately waived for an indefinite period. Finally, we assisted them in completing PPP loans and working through program laws and regulations to access critical funds enabling them to retain and pay their employees.
Helping to ease our franchise owner’s financial burdens allows them to focus on adapting their business operations and keeping their community safe and healthy.
Adapting Restaurant Operations
While our guests may be focusing on bringing Angry Crab Shack into their homes, having properly trained staff is still crucial to our franchise owner’s success. First and foremost Angry Crab Shack has taken measures to ensure the health and safety of its guests and employees by implementing employee and guest screening, new cleaning and sanitizing procedures, and switching to single-serving and disposable items.
We’ve strengthened our training programs and have plans to retrain new staff members in person at our new, larger corporate office once it’s safe to do so – all while staying in constant communication with our current and soon-to-be franchise owners.
Supporting our Communities
Our communities are part of the Angry Crab Shack family, and family is at the core of our brand. Our communities have supported our restaurants and we want to reciprocate.
Angry Crab Shack has always supported our community heroes including our first responders and hospitals. However, with the advent of COVID-19, the need became greater. As a result we’ve responded by donating to area food banks which enabled them to provide 120,000 meals to people in need, and by increasing our quarterly donation to Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH), a longtime Angry Crab Shack community support partner.
Whatever it Takes
We pride ourselves on being able to adapt to any challenge thrown our way, and although COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of our business, we’re committed to working around the clock to stay innovative and to help every franchise owner succeed.
Our resiliency would be nothing without the loyalty of our guests and the drive our franchise owners have shown during such a challenging period – and we’re always happy to welcome more like-minded entrepreneurs into the Angry Crab Shack family.
