Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Jeffrey Bernstein - Barclays Capital.
Jeffrey Bernstein - Barclays Capital
A couple of questions. One, just as it regards to kind of the bigger picture, long term unit growth, you talk about the new markets you’re entering into and I believe in the past you’ve talked about by what degree they’re outperforming the system. I’m just wondering in terms of the confidence over the long term that they can at least sustain system averages. I know initially I would see your marketing efforts drive sales above the average but I’m just wondering if you have examples of markets that have been around long enough to see you know that these markets can sustain at least system average volumes. Is there any color in terms of markets at different stages, new markets at different stages of growth that would give comfort to that?
W. Scott McLain
Right. Jeffrey, this is Scott McLain. A couple of things. When we started going into the new states, which was around March of 2006, we really did that in a way that was markedly different than the way we had developed historically. First we had a significant amount of national cable advertising which drove brand awareness that we had not had historically as we tried to penetrate new markets. And we also increased the financial requirements and operator requirements for new franchisees that we brought in a lot of really good, new franchisees. And really as we’ve opened across the country we’ve given numbers over the last several quarters. You know we have yet to find a place where the brand has not worked well. Some of those initial openings continue to perform at very high levels. We don’t have very many that have been open more than I guess three years would be the longest. We’ve only got a handful that have been open for three years.
But overall you know we continue to perform well across all of our new markets. Not only our new stores but stores that have been open for a while also. I think Spokane, Washington, for example was one of the early stores that we opened and I think its first year it did over $3 million in sales. It’s been open three years now and I think its still doing over $2 million in sales today.
Jeffrey Bernstein - Barclays Capital
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
