The intersection of Satellite Boulevard and Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in Suwanee is not pedestrian-friendly. So when people from the many nearby office parks go out to eat, they drive. Traffic gets hectic during the lunch hour. Drivers have to cope with cars bound for Wal-Mart or I-85 while deciding where to eat.
What does a restaurant owner do to attract business - especially when he runs a lesser-known franchise competing against some big-name chains?
Jersey Mike's Subs, at 3463 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road, has been open for about nine months. It's thriving by regularly delivering coupons and menus to area office parks.
"We have pretty regular people who come on certain days, and we know what they order," says assistant manager Chris Post, whose brother Mike owns the franchise. The family-run franchise pays attention to what its biggest competitor, Subway, advertises and will custom-build a similar sandwich on request. But it doesn't go head-to-head with the big chain on product offerings.
Post says having other restaurants in the same shopping strip actually helps business. "We feed off each other," he says. He's watched carloads of diners drive in, some heading for pizza and the rest coming in for subs. With more choices available in the same location, he's sure customers are more likely to return.
So what's the most difficult aspect of his location? "There's no traffic light. It's hard to turn left, but visibility is good," he says.
This is not fast food - sub shop franchisees don't consider themselves to be in direct competition with quick-serve restaurants ("QSRs") like McDonald's. But they compete fiercely with others in the sandwich shop segment.
How does an upstart franchise like Quiznos Sub, in its 45 Satellite Boulevard location less than nine months, compete against the more established Atlanta Bread Company restaurant right on the corner?
Enter " Cup Man."
Quiznos franchise owner and manager Golam Choudury practices guerrilla marketing. He arms his employees with costumes or signs to call attention to his restaurant - right under the nose of the Atlanta Bread Company outlet.
Cup Man is an inflatable balloon-like contraption more than six feet high, shaped like a drinking cup. There's a plastic straw at the top and a large "Q" on the front. Weather permitting, a Quiznos staffer steps inside this device to wave at passing drivers during the height of the lunchtime rush.
Cup Man alternates with a five-foot-long banner proclaiming "Quiznos - Get Toasty Here." Choudury insists on "banner-shaking." Holding the sign still doesn't get enough attention, he says. "You have to waggle it back and forth."
Post of Jersey Mike's says the corporate office makes a "sub suit" available to franchisees for special promotions. "It looks like a hot dog," he says. "It's usually just used at grand openings."
Choudury admits Cup Man may not be an immediate draw.
"You can't tell what is generating business, what's working and what isn't," he says. He also relies on community service to earn notice. His Quiznos outlet sponsors the North Gwinnett Middle School football team, and also sponsored the North Gwinnett High School golf tournament last spring, not long after he opened. "It's important to be part of the community," he explains.
What happens when the coupons, the sponsorships, the guerrilla tactics or pure serendipity brings customers in? "Once you get someone in the door, the quality of the product brings back 80 percent to 85 percent of the customers," Post says.
"If people come in one time, usually 90 percent come back," Choudury asserts.
Not 100 percent?
"Some of those people are from out of town," he says.
