摘要：I have heard for the last 20 years, well, my wife wouldn't let me go in there.

I have heard for the last 20 years, well, my wife wouldn't let me go in there.

过去二十年里，我总听人抱怨：“我老婆不让我去那种地方。”

For years, Hooters has been operated by two different companies.

多年来，猫头鹰餐厅（Hooters）一直由两家不同的公司运营。

One owned by private equity that emphasizes the brand's sex appeal.

一家由私募股权公司所有，强调品牌的性感魅力。

And the other, which includes the original founders, that says the restaurant is actually family-oriented, and always has been.

另一家则有品牌创始团队参与，他们表示，这家餐厅实际上一直以家庭友好为定位。

After filing for bankruptcy earlier this year, Hooters says it's trying to bring all its restaurants back to that purportedly more wholesome vision.

今年早些时候申请破产后，猫头鹰餐厅表示，正努力让所有餐厅回归那个据称更健康的品牌愿景。

And this is the man leading that effort.

而眼前这位，就是领导这项工作的人。

What do you think that does to the brand to have these two different operations, basically?

在你看来，这两种不同的运营模式，对品牌造成了什么样的影响？

Well, so far, it's not done very well.

嗯，到目前为止，效果并不理想。

Neil Kiefer's group, which includes the restaurant's original founders, runs the stores in the chain's two most successful markets.

尼尔·基弗的团队包括餐厅创始团队成员，经营着该连锁品牌两个最成功市场的门店。

The rest of the locations have been run by private equity since 2019, and have been riddled with debt.

其余的门店自 2019 年以来一直由私募股权公司运营，如今已负债累累。

We watched the deterioration, and not only the execution of the brand, but also the sales.

我们眼睁睁地看着品牌的运营每况愈下，销售额也跟着一落千丈。

But we were helpless to do anything about them.

但我们对此却无能为力。

We couldn't do anything about it legally.

从法律层面上讲，我们拿他们没办法。

We certainly made our protestations, wrote many letters on behalf with the franchisees to say, "You shouldn't be doing this. Please don't do this."

我们当然也提出过抗议，还代表特许经营商写了很多信，恳请他们：“你们不应该这么做，请别再这样干了。”

Today, because of social media, you can be affected in your area when you get associated with the wrong Hooters, so to speak.

如今，拜社交媒体所赐，可以说，一旦你和名声差的猫头鹰餐厅扯上关系，你所在区域的门店也会受到影响。

Kiefer's team is taking control of about 100 of the struggling locations.

基弗的团队正在接管大约 100 家经营不善的门店。

He says his plan is to replicate the success of his Chicago and Tampa restaurants.

他说，他的计划就是复制其在芝加哥和坦帕分店的成功经验。

The last group of owners, to me, seemed more obsessed on their ROI, their return on investment.

在我看来，上一任运营方满脑子想的都是投资回报率（ROI）。

How quick can they get their money out of it?

想着怎么能尽快把钱捞回来。

And they did, okay?

他们还真捞到钱了，对吧？

So I think this entire brand going through a bankruptcy was totally unnecessary.

所以我觉得，整个品牌走到破产这一步，完全是没必要的。

Hi! Welcome to Hooters!

嗨！欢迎光临猫头鹰餐厅！

The waitresses, known as Hooters Girls, have always worn low-cut tops and shorts.

这里的女服务员被称为“猫头鹰女郎”，她们一直都穿着低胸上衣和短裤。

But in 2021, the restaurants owned by private equity launched a controversial new uniform.

但在 2021 年，私募股权公司旗下的餐厅推出了一款备受争议的新制服。

They took it and made it, sexualized it.

他们把制服改了，变得更加露骨。

Made it shorter, almost shorter than hot pants.

改得更短，简直比超短裤还短。

That is offensive to most people, particularly in a restaurant setting.

这种穿着让大多数人感到不适，尤其是在餐厅这种场合。

When this brand started and still the way we run our store, it's an athletic fit.

我们品牌创立之初，制服就是运动款，我们现在的门店也一直沿用这种风格。

In 1983 and the 70s, jogging was huge.

上世纪 70 年代到 1983 年，慢跑运动风靡一时。

The Dolphin short was the short that everybody wore.

当时人人都穿海豚裤。

After receiving backlash on social media, the new uniform policy was updated, giving staff members a choice of what shorts to wear.

在社交媒体上引发强烈反对声浪后，新的制服政策做出了调整，允许员工自行选择穿哪种短裤。

Private equity firm, TriArtisan Capital Advisors, didn't provide a comment.

私募股权公司特里阿蒂桑资本顾问公司未予置评。

And private equity firm, Nord Bay Capital, didn't respond to requests for comment.

私募股权公司诺德湾资本则没有回应置评请求。

Kiefer says he plans to standardize the uniform across all restaurants to feature the original shorts.

基弗表示，他计划统一所有门店的制服，全面恢复最初的短裤款式。

- I don't think you're gonna see a bunch of butt cheeks hanging out. - Okay.

- 你不会再看到大量裸露臀部的现象。- 好的。

And things like that, to be really frank with you.

恕我直言，诸如此类的现象都不会再有了。

How about how the servers interact with guests?

那服务员跟顾客的互动方式呢？

How might that change?

会发生什么变化吗？

Look, it's a friendly place.

我们这儿是个氛围友好的地方。

嗨！欢迎光临猫头鹰餐厅！

Thank you very much!

非常感谢！

Our waitresses do quite well.

我们的女服务员收入相当不错。

I think in 2024, they averaged about $27 an hour, where we're at here at Chicago.

就拿我们芝加哥的店来说，2024 年，她们的平均时薪大概是 27 美元。

That's good money, okay?

这收入相当不错了，对吧？

But you gotta be nice to get good money.

但你得待人友好才能拿到高收入。

But maybe not too nice.

不过也不能太“友好”。

My understanding is at the Hooters of America stores, they could actually sit next to guests.

据我所知，在美国猫头鹰餐厅的那些店里，服务员甚至能坐到顾客身边去。

- We don't allow that, okay? - Okay.

- 我们绝不允许这种情况发生，明白吗？- 好的。

You know, there's things in those stores like hula hooping.

有些店里还有摇呼啦圈之类的活动。

Of course, we know how to hula hoop.

我们当然会转呼啦圈。

Who the heck wants to hula hoop in the middle of a restaurant, okay?

可谁会想在餐厅中间转呼啦圈？

You look silly, okay?

那样看起来很傻，好吗？

Sitting down with the customer.

跟顾客坐在一起。

I didn't ask you to sit down here.

我可没让你坐这儿。

That's a little too cozy.

这也太亲密了。

And by the way, my wife's sitting right there.

再说了，我老婆就坐在那儿。

Yeah, why don't you sit with her?

你怎么不跟她坐一块儿呢？

That's crossing the line.

这就越界了。

That's not required for good service, you know.

优质服务可不需要这样。

And we've frankly don't allow it.

而且说实话，我们绝不允许这种行为。

We're Hooters Girls. And no, we're not on the menu.

我们是猫头鹰女郎，但我们可不是菜单上的菜品。

So let's talk about the road ahead.

我们来谈谈今后的发展吧。

How might the menus change?

菜单会有什么调整？

I wanna make the menu a little shorter, a little easier to execute.

我想把菜单精简一下，让后厨更容易操作。

Focus on those things.

专注于那些核心菜品。

I think our restaurants have a tendency to try to be everything for everybody.

我觉得我们的餐厅总想面面俱到，满足所有人的需求。

And then you have to look in this business, I think, and say, "Well, I may like this, okay, but we only sold 20 of 'em last week."

做我们这行，就得想清楚：“这道菜我可能很喜欢，但上周我们总共才卖了 20 份。”

So why are we carrying that?

那我们干嘛还要留着它呢？

Now let's focus our execution on what we're known for, what we do well.

现在，我们要把运营重心放在我们的招牌菜、我们的拿手菜上。

And one of those things is the original Hooters sauce.

这其中就包括原版猫头鹰餐厅的酱料。

It's got all natural ingredients, has AA butter that we purchase from Wisconsin.

它采用纯天然原料，里面有我们从威斯康星州采购的 AA 级黄油。

For our 23 restaurants, I buy about 44,000 pounds every two months of AA butter.

我们 23 家门店，每两个月就要采购大约 44000 磅的 AA 级黄油。

- A lot of butter. - Best butter you can buy, yes it is.

- 这黄油可真不少。- 没错，是市面上能买到的最好的黄油。

The sauce has no preservative. It's natural ingredients.

这款酱料不含防腐剂，都是天然原料。

In the other stores, that's not true.

但其他门店，情况可不是这样。

Why is that butter sauce so important to get back into the restaurants?

为什么一定要让这款黄油酱料重回餐厅呢？

It's craveable. I can't tell you why, okay?

因为它让人回味无穷，我也说不清为什么。

There's other, some other secret ingredients.

里面还有其他一些秘方。

You know, I'd have to kill you if I told you and everybody else.

要是我告诉了你和大家，那我就得灭口了。

But the last time I looked on our P mix, which is product mix sold, about 60-plus percent of our foods that were sold had the sauce on them.

不过我上次查看产品销售数据的时候发现，我们卖出去的食物里，有 60% 以上都搭配了这款调味酱。

From buffalo shrimp to the sandwich from chicken tenders, the bone-in, which is the number one thing.

从布法罗虾、鸡柳三明治，到最受欢迎的带骨鸡块。

And we also bread them with a secret formulation that gives 'em a little more crunch.

而且我们还用独家秘方给它们裹粉，让口感更酥脆一点。

Kiefer says seafood is also a top seller at his Hooters restaurants.

基弗说，海鲜也是他的猫头鹰餐厅里的一大热销品。

Our grouper and mahi are wild caught.

我们的石斑鱼和鲯鳅鱼都是野生捕捞的。

Our shrimp don't have any injections of any type in them.

我们的虾没有注射过任何添加剂。

We haven't traditionally advertised that because 25 years ago, who cares?

我们以前一直没宣传过这个，因为 25 年前谁会在意这些呢？

Right.

没错。

Today with the advent of the food networks and we all care and we should care.

如今随着美食频道的兴起，我们都开始关注食材品质，也理应关注。

So we, I think you're gonna see that on our menu and we're gonna tell the public more about that.

所以我想，这些信息之后会出现在我们的菜单上，我们也会更多地向公众宣传这一点。

How about the training and the servers? How might that change?

那服务员和培训方面呢？可能会有什么变化？

A lot, okay? We're not sure what's been going on.

变化很大，我们也不确定以前是怎么培训的。

We've all been out to eat and had bad servers and we've had good servers.

我们都出去吃过饭，遇到过服务差的服务员，也遇到过服务好的。

There's quite a difference.

这差别可大了。

It's just changing the, bringing that morale back and the culture back.

关键在于重振员工士气，重塑企业文化。

We usually have a trainer divided up over so many stores.

我们通常会为每几家门店配备一名培训师。

There's a lot of investment that needs to be done in some of these restaurants.

有些门店需要投入大量资金进行改造。

Any sense of how much that might cost?

大概需要多少投入呢？

Probably on an average, about 300,000 per unit, okay?

平均下来，大概每家店 30 万美元吧。

If you times that by 100 units, you can do math.

若按 100 家门店计，你算算就知道了。

I think our idea is get it right first within the four walls.

我觉得我们的想法是，先把内部的事情理顺。

Do those things that are absolutely necessary, from safety purposes, of course, first.

当然，安全第一，先把那些最基本、最要紧的事情做好。

And then we have to strategically plan that.

接下来，我们必须做好战略规划。

And there's a lot of variables in that, you know.

而这其中有很多变数。

All of these stores that we're acquiring, and we cherry-pick them.

我们接手的这些门店，可都是精挑细选出来的。

There's some that we didn't make the cut.

有些门店我们没纳入考虑范围。

We have their three to five-year history, know that they were doing three years ago before the changes.

我们手上有这些门店过去三到五年的经营数据，很清楚三年前，也就是调整之前的经营状况。

When we have to get 'em back.

我们必须让业绩回到之前的水平。

And we think not only we get 'em back, now that we get 'em the right way in totality, we can get it above that.

而且我们相信，不仅能让业绩回暖，只要我们现在用正确的方法进行全面整顿，业绩还能再创新高。

So there's a lot of chicken restaurants out there.

现在市面上做鸡肉的餐厅太多了。

Obviously chicken is important part of your menu.

显然，鸡肉是你们菜单上的重要品类。

And if you know the marketing is more family-friendly, how do you compete with a slew of chicken joints out there?

如果你们的市场定位更偏向家庭，那你们要怎么在这么多鸡肉快餐店中脱颖而出呢？

We've been doing it for a long time, okay?

我们做这行已经很久了。

Back in the day, I mean, it's, we're very specific on the type of chicken we spec.

早年间，我们对鸡肉的规格要求就非常严格。

We only serve live fresh chicken.

我们只用新鲜鸡肉。

Now, that's how we compete.

这就是我们的竞争力所在。

We give 'em a fresh product, great craveable sauce.

我们为顾客提供新鲜的产品，还有让人回味无穷的秘制酱料。

And frankly, we have not in 42 years had trouble acquiring customers.

老实说，42 年来，我们从来不愁客源。

And we've kept 'em.

而且我们还留住了顾客。

We've got a lot of regulars, they're called, you know.

我们有很多老主顾。

Families that come in routinely.

许多家庭都会定期光顾。

So casual dining has had, you know, some are doing quite well, some have filed for bankruptcy.

现在的休闲餐饮行业，有些品牌经营得相当不错，但也有些已经申请破产了。

How are you gonna keep this brand strong and not going that route?

你们要如何保持品牌的强势，避免走上那条路？

I feel real comfortable with what we're doing.

对于我们正在做的事情，我心里很有底。

The challenge is the turnaround.

挑战在于如何扭转局面。

The hardest part has been the public perception.

最难的部分一直是公众对我们的看法。

The typical consumer, including me, I don't know that it's a franchisee or franchisor, I go for a brand.

普通消费者，包括我自己在内，分不清特许经营店和直营店，大家认的是品牌本身。

And I expect consistent experience, okay?

我要的就是始终如一的体验，对吧？

So I think the problem is re-educating the field, getting the right products in, getting the right advertising and message, getting involved in our communities again.

所以我觉得问题在于要重新引导市场认知、推出合适的产品、做好广告宣传、传递正确信息，并重新融入社区。

I think all of those things are challenges, but challenges that we're gonna eat out, frankly.

我认为这些都是挑战，但坦白说，这些挑战我们都有能力应对。

That's something we've been doing all the time, and we're anxious to get started and get it corrected.

这本来就是我们一直在做的事情，我们已经迫不及待要开始行动，把一切拉回正轨。

来源：英语东