Old & Improved
It’s hard to believe, but today marks 6 months since I bought both Texas Inn locations in Lynchburg, Virginia. The “T Room” is an icon in the ‘burg and we’ve been careful to make improvements, but not change the menu or the “character” of the place. I call it Old & Improved. I thought you might like to get a recap of what we’ve accomplished the last 6 months:
- We invested more than $75,000 on new equipment (freezers, racks, shelving, griddles, cooking equipment, etc.) and renovations/improvements to both locations; paint, roof, electrical, plumbing, etc.
- We grew from 173 Facebook likes to 3,669 in 6 months.
- Madison+Main created a new brand identity, menus, business collateral, digital ads, a social media campaign, videos, and a new website.
- We launched the “Store” last November at the downtown location, a retail space with t-shirts, mugs, shot glasses, chili spoons, hats, postcards and much more. (We sold $20,000 worth of Texas Inn merchandise in 4 weeks, from Black Friday to Christmas Eve.)
- We formed a new partnership with Coca Cola, serving their bottles and fountain drinks, in addition to Coke merchandise.
- After months of searching and testing we were able to source our original recipe chili spice, thanks to Petersburg-based Old Mansion Foods.
- We added delivery with Grubhub and Uber Eats, which is now about 6% of total sales.
- We kept prices down (even lowered some) and sourced most food & supplies from local companies; Pride Of Virginia, Hill City Wholesale, H&C Mill Mountain Coffee, etc.
- Cornerstone has 188 reviews on Google and 4.6 rating, downtown has 324 and 4.5 rating. This combined with Facebook, Yelp and Trip Advisor put both locations in the top 10 rated restaurants in Lynchburg.
- Gross Weekly Sales are running about 30% higher than 2018 numbers.
- And we built an online store where you can buy Texas Inn gear.
Hiring Madison+Main as the marketing agency for the Texas Inn was the best decision I ever made. 🙂
Monday, March 25 – March Sadness
Monday morning, Office Manager Katie Rossberg and Jr. Copywriter Derek Fair spent half the day updating our printed NCAA Tournament brackets. Before long, there were dozens of green dots next to the winners and red lines crossing out the losers. Everyone’s bracket looked like a toddler scribbled on a Christmas coloring book. Sadly, after the totals were tallied I found myself in 5th place with Account Executive Allison “Can I Get My Fiance To Fill Mine Out?” Throckmorton and Creative Director Art “Can’t Believe He Didn’t Pick VCU To Win It All” Webb tied for first. I still have UVa winning the whole tourney and currently a cellar-dweller at 41% correct and tied for 10,100,000th place on ESPN. Who will win? Definitely not Account Executive Haleigh “Never Heard of Gonzaga” Lader.
Tuesday, March 26 – A Ferry Special Birthday
On Tuesday we celebrated our giggly Account Manager Leanne Ferry‘s 30th birthday. #DirtyThirty Graphic Designer Erin Rebmann made her a smash cake. Business Manager Brandy Seay nearly shot her eye out with a champagne cork. And Communications Manager Kent Brockwell started a startling birthday roast that finally took a positive turn, similar to Leanne’s lovely personality. “Leanne is stupid…STUPID NICE!,” he declared. The Madison+Main-iacs get their birthday as a paid holiday, but Leanne went above and beyond, logging more than full day to make her clients extra happy.
Wednesday, March 27 – Udder Perfection
This week Allison met with food photographer Catt of Levesque Photography. She shot some fantastic photos for our client Maola Milk and in return Allison shot a very mediocre behind the scenes photo.
When I asked Allison how the day went, she replied, “Who knew milk could look so good?”
Thursday, March 28 – Getting Shipfaced
On Thursday we had our March Media Mixer at Shockoe Bottom‘s ShipLock Brewing. The Madison+Main-iacs love craft beer and good food, and ShipLock had the perfect pair. Their flagship Helles Lager and Robust Porter were rich and roasty and their egg rolls were eggcellent. #DadJoke A huge thank you to everyone who came out! We loved being able to mix and mingle with our favorite folks in RVA. As always, by the end of the event, Kent and Katie were the last two standing. #TotallyShipfaced
Friday, March 29- Bon Voyage!
I’m heading off for a little ‘R and R’ next week for Spring Break, and I’m not telling people where I’m going. Next week I’ll post pics and have people try to guess where I am. “Where in the world is Dave?” It will be a fun and exciting game, but as always folks, there will be no prizes awarded — and a friendly reminder, no wagering.
Before I left town, I heard a loud, yet all too familiar BANG! For the 5th time in many years there was a serious car accident at 1st & Cary. It might not make the news on Channel 6, 8 or 12 tonight, but never fear, you subscribe to the Weekly Report, and the Madison+Main-iacs were first on the scene. Two cars, one red light, and two lucky SUV drivers walked away from it. Here’s a pic of Richmond’s fantabulous first responders doing what unsung heroes do everyday. #WeAppreciateYou
A Few of Our Favorite Events
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“We don’t cash checks or play with bumblebees.”
— Texas Inn Sign (1953)