Subject area:                      Competitive Strategy, Corporate Level Strategy, Growth Strategy, Sustainability & Development

Region:                                   Boston, United States

Industry:                                Food

Company:                               Wingstop

Decision Maker:                Jon Rebello, the owner of Wingstop

Dilemma: Wingstop’s Problem:

Jon Rebello, the owner of Wingstop, speaks with a southern accent as he wears a Patriots’ hat inside Medford and East Boston’s newest restaurant, Wingstop, in January 2017. Jon Rebello has moved to Boston to introduce Wingstop, a restaurant chain that started in 1994 in Garland, Texas. Rebello has been tasked to open 12 restaurants in total throughout the Boston region.

Jon Rebello and his brother Kevin Hardiman opened their first two restaurants, located in Medford and East Boston, Massachusetts, in July and November of 2016 and are currently in the process of building restaurants #3, #4 and #5. The initial reception of the first two restaurants in the Boston market was very strong. In fact, the first store opening in Medford in May 2016 was the 5th best opening in company history. Customers appreciate the high quality product over the price. However, Jon and Kevin quickly realized that there are many differences between what works best in the Boston area compared to Texas and Southern California.  

These differences were starting to impact sales and customer satisfaction surveys. One issue is the company converting to “jumbo” wings. While customers in Texas and Southern California enjoy the taste of the chicken more, customers in Boston cared more about the sauce and flavors, which were less prevalent with the larger wings. This also impacts wait times since everything is cooked to order and the larger “jumbo” wing takes longer to cook. This doesn’t impact their legacy markets in Texas and Southern California as lunch breaks are typically 1 hour. However, in Boston it’s impacting their lunch business because lunch breaks are typically only 30 minutes.  With the product of jumbo wings staying the same, how can Wingstop serve the customer in 30 minutes and advertise that they can deliver this?

Finally, in Texas and Southern California, the Wingstop brand is well known.   However, in Boston, brand awareness is needed.  With social media being the most effective way to reach customers, Wingstop is in need of a plan including which forms to use and how to use them.  “We’ve already had some Patriots players follow us on social media that I think are from the South and follow the brand,” Rebello said. However, there is room for improvement. It is critical for Wingstop to find a way of successfully addressing the unique issues to improve sales, profitability and customer satisfaction.