The Rise and Fall of Kreuz BBQ, Bryan, TX

Remember the free BBQ Sandwich offered by Kreuz BBQ May 2018? It was a clever marketing idea that brought in customers, but ultimately they closed their doors. Why did they close? Sadly, giving away free food was not enough to generate long term customers.

All local businesses should have a better understanding of the ever-changing market of the rapidly growing Bryan / College Station area. That’s why we’re going to dive into their reports and share them with you. What happened to Kreuz? Let’s take a look:

Kreuz Market opened up its second location (under its own name and ownership) in Bryan, Texas on Monday, February 2, 2015.

Here is the foot traffic from Jan 2017 – Aug 2018 (when they closed). As you can see, for the most part, business was about the same from 2017 to 2018, with some growth in 2018. What we don’t know is what each day was bringing in. If 75k visitors across 20 months each paid $15 per visit, that is only $1875/day in top-line revenue. After food and labor cost, that doesn’t leave much if any.

Jan 2017 – Aug 2018 visitors

Let’s next look at the frequency of visitors. A longstanding goal of restaurants is not the first visit but the 4th, 5th, 6th and so on. Building up a base group of patrons will help even out the ups and downs of the seasonal changes. The heat map below shows that lots of people tried the restaurant at least once, but a repeat of regular customers drops off after the second visit.

Jan 2017 – Aug 2018 visits

Kreuz-Market-Bryan-Texas-Foot-Traffic-Jan-2017-Aug-2018-1030x308

above: visitor frequency showed by via a heat map, the hotter the color the more people from that area visited. At the top, the center the frequency number goes from 1 visit to 18 visits over the 21 month period of data. After even the second visit the repeat rate goes drastically down.

Jan 2017 – Aug 2018 most common places before / after

Next, let’s look at the most common places visitors came from and where they went immediately after eating at Kreuz. 33% of visitors were at their home right before they visited Kreuz, and even more, went back home after. What is different about this than other more visited restaurants is the lack of Texas A&M visits. Texas A&M isn’t even a top 5 prior location for visitors to Kreuz. Location from Texas A&M and popularity with the students certainly has an impact on how many people will visit your Bryan or College Station restaurant.

Kreuz-Market-Bryan-Texas-Customer-Journey-Jan-2017-Aug-2018-1-1030x425 Top 5 places visitors were before and after eating at Kreuz Market

above: Top 5 places visitors were before and after eating at Kreuz Market

Jan 2017 – Aug 2018 hourly visits

chart showing the % of overall visitors by the hour

Hourly visits showed that a majority of the visits were lunchtime and only about 26% were evening dinner visitors. Considering that the staff needs to be there at all times, having a low dinner crowd isn’t profitable. The daily visits % shows most visitors were on the back end of the week also.

Jan 2017 – Aug 2018 day of the week visits

Kreuz-Market-Bryan-Texas-Day-of-Week-Visits-Jan-2017-Aug-2018-1-1030x297 this chart shows the % of visitors by day of the week, with most visits Thursday – Sunday

this chart shows the % of visitors by day of the week, with most visits Thursday – Sunday

Jan 2017 – Aug 2018 length of visits

Kreuz-Market-Bryan-Texas-Length-of-Stay-Visits-Jan-2017-Aug-2018-1030x295

this chart shows the % of visitors and the avg. length of time they stayed. Less than an hour is about the length most people stayed.

Jan 2017 – Aug 2018 Annual Household Income

Kreuz-Market-Bryan-Texas-Household-Income-Visits-Jan-2017-Aug-2018

Another way we can determine the type of customer that visited is the % of visitors by household income. Retailers / Restaurants with a large % of students have a much larger percentage of visits with household income below $40k/yr.

They did have a few essential marketing ideas, including giving away free BBQ sandwiches. But I’m not sure that even giving away food was going to be enough to generate long term customers. And sadly, eventually, they closed :(

We loved their BBQ – our staff ate there as often as they could. Now, we have to drive all the way to Lockhart!

Data reports we pulled for this article
- Monthly Foot Traffic
- Visitor Frequency
- Common Places Visited Before
- Common Places Visited After
- Hourly Traffic
- Daily Traffic
- Average Length of Stay
- Average Household Income of Patrons
- and more…

Using these reports, we can see where a business gets the most foot traffic, and where they can improve. Interested in your own traffic report? Click the button below to get started.

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