DRUXY’S and all of our suppliers work diligently to provide quality, fresh, healthy and safe meals. Shuld we find a product that is not up to standard we would remove it from sale immediately.

Thank you to all our customers for your continued loyalty.

We received replies with many great ideas that made it hard to choose a clear winner.  The ideas ranged from improved online security, to gift cards with your salad eating face on them to ideas that involved greater interaction rather than just freebees.  So suffice it to say, we were very happy with the responses. Happy enough that we have decided to thank more than just one winner.   We have selected seven people whose entries we felt deserved special recognition.  Of course there has to be a winner:

• Michelle Richardson, with a creative proposal to run ongoing, online contests that challenge our customers to develop a greater knowledge of our brand, will receive the $250 top prize.
• Nic Weber, with an extremely well thought out answer covering the technical aspects of online distribution, will receive a $100 gift card.
• Edmund Leong, who gave us the individualized gift card idea, will be receiving a $50 card. And,
• Jennifer Liu, Manoj Oomen, Andrew Kha, Eric and Raymond Jean will each get $25 cards for their great responses.

I will contact each of the prize winners to get you your DRUXY’S Cards as fast as possible. To everyone else that didn’t win, thank you so much for your time and effort on this promotion. We greatly appreciate having such great followers and customers who care enough to participate in our improvement. You can be sure that we’ll be back with more promotions and contests to challenge you in new ways very soon.

Regards,

Cobi Druxerman

We apologize for the problems that some of you have encountered with this coupon and hope that our solutions have worked for you. Despite our best intentions to deliver a FREE Salad Coupon to as many potential customers as possible we encountered a number of problems.

• Emails with coupons were not received by some followers
• Inconsistent printing of coupons lead to failed scans
• Scanners were not able to read some coupons
• Some restaurant staff handled the coupons and customer concerns poorly
• Customers who, with good intention, copied their coupon and shared it with a friend (each code was distinct so the coupon would only work once)
• Abusers tried to game our system by creating counterfeit coupons
• Some customers realized that if pushed, our staff might accept a duplicate or counterfeit coupon.

While we have worked hard to resolve all of these issues, the system is in no way perfect. Thank you to all of our followers who shared their experiences with us. This feedback helped us improve the system and train and motivate our franchisees, managers and staff.

The outstanding issue of abuse by a select few users, however, continues to be a major hurdle that is leading us to question whether promotions like this should be continued in the future. I would rather not end this process because of the actions of a few people.

So here is your opportunity to help us find a solution. I challenge you to come up with a better promotion method. The person or group of people that propose the best promotion system, one that will eliminate abuse and reward followers, will be the winner of this challenge. The winner will receive a DRUXY’S Card loaded with $250 to use as she or he would like, and everyone will get the benefit of the great promotions that we will be able to run. This challenge will run until March 31st, at which point we will judge all of the entries and announce a winner. We are open to any and all ideas, so get creative and email your entries to marketing@druxys.com.

Thank you and good luck!
Peter Druxerman, Vice-president, Marketing

Toronto, ON: How many toppings can you handle? That’s the question being asked by Druxy’s Famous Deli as they launch their Fresh Deli Revolution. Druxy’s is putting diners into the driver’s seat by allowing them to choose from 50 fresh sandwich and salad toppings at no additional cost. Dress up old favourites like old-fashioned smoked meat and corned beef or build your own sandwich or salad from scratch; whatever you choose, it’s done your way! So far, Druxy’s has put this “design your own” concept to practice in 25 of its 48 locations.

“We want to give our customers the power of choice with the addition of dozens of fresh ingredients and the ability to design your own sandwiches and salads, Druxy’s truly has something for everyone,” said Peter Druxerman, Vice-President of Marketing for Druxy’s Famous Deli. “The focus is on serving fresh food fast and ensuring that every Druxy’s visitor gets exactly what they’re looking for.”

Druxy’s is inviting its customers, old and new, to check out their revolutionized menu. Another new twist on an age old idea is grilled cheese. But DRUXY’S has added a new twist with premium cheeses like blue and brie, deli meats and tons of veggies. This traditional comfort food has been brought back as only Druxy’s could!

Since its opening, Druxy’s has continually evolved to meet customer needs. The Fresh Deli Revolution and a partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Health Check Program are prime examples of how the fast-casual dining chain has met those needs. Druxy’s now offers one of the largest selections of health check approved choices of sandwiches, salads and soups. Druxy’s also caters to the needs of many customers with dietary restrictions including lactose-free, gluten-free and vegan diets.

Soon, the Fresh Deli Revolution will be offered at all of Druxy’s 48 current locations with two new locations opening in June, one in Niagara Falls and the other in Newmarket’s Southlake Regional Hospital. To date, the feedback has been outstanding. “Customers are telling us, ‘It’s like being a kid in a candy store. There are so many fresh choices and the value is amazing! You can eat something different everyday at Druxy’s.’ You’ll have to come see for yourself, but we really do have all the toppings you can handle.” Said Druxerman.

About Druxy’s Famous Deli Sandwiches:
Founded in Toronto 33 years ago, Druxy’s is Canada’s premiere chain of quick-service delicatessen restaurants. 48 locations are found primarily in health-care facilities, office towers, shopping centres, museums and airports throughout Southern Ontario (Toronto, Ottawa, Niagara, Hamilton and Peterborough) and in Calgary, Alberta. Since 1973, Druxy’s has been family-owned and operated. For more information, please visit www.druxys.com.

Peter Druxerman, Vice-President of Marketing for Druxy’s Famous Deli is available for interviews.
Katie Hockton, theadlibgroup T: 416.447.9686/800.467.7531 E: pr@theadlibgroup.com

I just wanted to let you know that the new pricing is absolutely ridiculous in some cases. I could not believe it when I went to purchase an egg salad sandwich with no additional toppings and the register ran up $5.09 instead of my normal $4.15. I would like to know what the price difference of $0.94 is for. I did not get anything extra or different so why am I paying more? Neither eggs nor mayonnaise have increased in price; I think that Druxy’s is trying to rip off the working people.

Where I work, there is a Druxy’s location. Myself and my colleagues usually have breakfast and lunch at Druxy’s; well no more. I have decided to boycott (I would rather not have anything to eat) than pay these ridiculous prices. I will also ensure that the number of departments that do order catering from Druxy’s stop and find something that is more economical.

With this economy, I would think that Druxy’s, knowing that their demographic is the working class where the majority of companies have not given their staff an increase in pay, would have kept the mostly reasonable pricing from before.

I also think that it is ridiculous that to get 1 oz of protein added to a salad, it is an additional $2.00 to get what is actually a slice of meat cut into 4 portions to make up the ounce.

I understand that businesses need to make money, but I think that Druxy’s has gone way too far. My mouth is big and I will be expressing my views to all.

Marcia C.
________________________________________
Marcia

Thank you so much for spending the time to share your feelings with me. Truly you care and would rather be a DRUXY’S customer than boycott. And I truly appreciate your concerns.

Please understand that the last time DRUXY’S took a price increase was in June 2005. We had planned an increase for June 2008 but the recession was beginning and we decided that it was an inappropriate time to take a price increase.

Since our increase of 2005 several things have changed;

1. Minimum wage has increased 38% from $7.45 per hour to $10.25 per hour. This has increased our labour costs from 24% of sales to 33.1% of sales, 9.1%.

2. Rent in our restaurants rises at the cost of living, so over these five years, our rent has increased 9.6% from 15% of sales to 16.4% of sales, 1.4%.

3. Our food costs have been affected by the huge variability of commodity prices with coffee, sugar and other commodities increasing dramatically and items that are affected by energy, like paper products increasing even more. We have found that our food and paper costs have increased on average from 32% of sales to 39% of sales, 7%.

4. Power, taxes, legal fees and everything else has gone through the roof. Fortunately they represent only 5 – 10% of sales and have increased only 1.5% on average.

5. In total our costs have risen by 19% of sales. In an industry where profits as a percentage of sales ranges from 10 – 20%, we have taken a huge hit. A hit in costs when sales decreased due to the weak economy.

We were faced with two choices. Dramatically reduce our costs by changing the quality and quantity of the products we serve our customers or adjust our prices to regain some of the cost increases we had incurred over the previous 5 years. We were not happy with either choice, so we made a major redesign of our service delivery system and products to allow customers to design their own sandwiches and salads, adding as many of our now 50 toppings as they wished, including 10 varieties of cheese (with choices that include premium cheeses like brie) and veggies such as avocado and artichoke hearts, all for one price. There is no extra charge for cheese, avocado or any of our toppings except for bacon. We even moved to fresh sliced breads that increased the freshness of our breads but reduced the number of sandwiches we get from a loaf from 11 to 8.

Please realize that raising prices is a very serious issue to us. I am sorry that you were affected so greatly but you can now have so much more on your sandwich. While you may not want these extra toppings we want to encourage you to do so, so that you can make your sandwich better, healthier with more fiber and tastier with new sauces and toppings.

There was an issue in your note that had bothered me. We raised the price of our egg salad sandwich from $3.95 to $4.50, an increase of $0.55, not $0.94. Any purchase in a restaurant below $4.00 is subject only to the 5% GST. The egg salad sandwich therefore had an after tax cost of $4.15 at our old prices. Any purchase over $4.00 is subject to 5% GST and 8% PST. Our egg salad sandwich therefore now has an after tax cost of $5.09. Due to taxes, the cost of the sandwich increased $0.94, $0.55 due to our price increase and $0.39 due to taxes. I know that this doesn’t change the facts, but the issue of tax thresholds added to the issue. If we had raised the price just $0.06 to $4.01 your after tax cost would have risen $0.38 to $4.53.

Separately, I am concerned by your comment about 1 oz of protein on a salad for $2. Our policy is 2 oz of protein and as many veggies as you wish. I will follow up with the restaurant in your building to ensure that 2 oz. is in fact served to all customers.

For 33 years my brothers and I have run this company with only one goal and that is to give our customers the very best sandwiches and salads we can at a fair price. When I look at our competitors I am confident that we offer better quality and lower prices. Whether you are looking at a Subway sub, a pita from Pita Extreme, a sandwich from Sandwich Box or a salad from Freshii, their base prices are higher than DRUXY’S and they charge for extra ingredients beyond the 4 or 5 that they allow. And nowhere do you get a cheese burger for the same price as a regular burger.

The only thing I can say is possibly our father instilled in us an inappropriate philosophy for today’s world. He always felt that serving the best at a fair price is better than compromising just to save money. We feel that it matters to customers what they eat. If not, we are wrong and will fail. But at least we will fail knowing that we gave the very best to our customers.

I thank you again for giving me this opportunity to explain our situation. I truly apologize that our prices increased but we were against the wall and had no other acceptable option.

I thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Peter Druxerman
Vice-president, Marketing
DRUXY’S Inc.
________________________________________
Hi Mr. Druxerman,

I thank you for taking the time to respond to my concerns with such detail. I obviously did not think of what went into the costs of your products in order to sustain the quality of food provided and of course the government has to get their share (as if everyone does not pay enough taxes as it is).

I now fully understand what goes into the pricing and would like to retract my previous statements. I will stop my boycott and ensure that others are aware of the details that you sent to me.

Again, I appreciate the time you took and explain the reasoning behind the increases and I look forward to patronizing Druxys again.

Thank you so much.

Marcia C.

• First, our landlord at Buttonville Airport decided to renovate the lobby of the airport.  Our restaurant is in the lobby so this renovation involved us.  The landlord hired Spinning Wheel Design led by Peter Tillmann to do the redesign.  In reviewing our current look, Peter made it very clear that we needed a change, not only at Buttonville but at all our restaurants.  Peter was straight and to the point.  Our restaurants were a hodgepodge of colours and posters that distracted customer attention from the most important  element, our food.  Peter wanted our seating area and counters to be subdued with white walls, white menu boards and pictures of our food to accentuate our fresh food on display. 
• Second, we began an agency review to help us determine what direction our marketing should head.  We spoke to a few agencies.  Each suggested that we remove all of our various posters and menus from our restaurants because they were distracting attention from our food.  They recommended white menu boards that focused on our food.  This common theme intrigued us.
• Third, our restaurant at Commerce Court was significantly underperforming.  We needed a dramatic increase in sales.  We thought that it might make sense to encourage customers to design their own salads rather than choose from the 10 – 15 premixed salads we were offering.  This is the way we have always presented our sandwiches to customers but we had never applied this to our salads.  We picked as many vegetables, cheeses, proteins and seeds that we could fit into our displays, 54 in all, and let customers choose what they wanted.  We were amazed at what happened!  Customers said that it was like being a kid in a candy store, they loved the presentation of our fresh food and the freedom to choose what they wanted.  And they loved that no matter what they chose it was always the same price.  Sales sky-rocketed and we realized that we were on to something.  Then we added all of the fresh new items to our sandwiches and encourage customers not to have just a corned beef sandwich with mustard on rye, but rather to choose their fresh sliced bread, then their protein, veggies, sauces and anything else they wanted from our displays.  Sales of sandwiches went crazy.  And for breakfast we promoted grilled cheese sandwiches with 11 freshly sliced breads, 10 cheeses and all of our veggies and meats.  Another home run.

So we brought Spinning Wheel Design on board, hired a new advertising Agency, The AdLib Group, and threw our experience at Commerce Court into the mix.  DRUXY`S Fresh Deli Revolution was born.  A new store design that focused on our food, service that encouraged customers to design their own sandwiches or salads, new marketing that featured our fresh food and even a new logo.  After 33 years we dropped the man and meat logo and replaced it with a clean new logo!

Thinking back, it is hard to believe that over the past 12 months we have totally revamped our 33 year old company.  11 of our restaurants have taken on the new program, 5 more restaurants are being converted each week.  We have 2 new locations coming on stream in May.  Our future has never looked brighter.

The lesson here is that even if you think that change is not necessary, even if you have had long term success, better times are around the corner.  Look outside yourself for fresh ideas and see the greatness that is waiting for you.  The old adage, if you continue to do the same things, you will continue to have the same results has never been truer.  If you do everything differently a whole new world is waiting for you.

By definition deli or delicatessen means “delicacies” or “fine foods”.  The word originated from the Latin delicatus, meaning “giving pleasure, delightful, pleasing”.  For centuries people found great pleasure eating the foods from the delicatessens of Europe and now North America.

In Canada and the United States most delis served sandwiches made to order behind the counter.  They also prepared salads and some ethnic hot foods.  Delicatessens came from a variety of cultural traditions.   Most numerous were Jewish delicatessens, both kosher and “kosher style”.  As a result of this, those that specialized in Italian or German cuisine were called “European Delicatessens.”

When immigrants from Europe settled in Canada and the United States they set up small stores selling pickled and smoked pork and beef.  When Eastern European Jews began immigrating to New York by the thousands in the late 19th century, they carved out their own niche with Pastrami, Corned Beef, Smoked Meat and Salami.  Jewish delis began to predominate.  By the 1930s, New York City alone had at least 1,500 kosher and kosher style delis.

Originally, delis cured their own corned beef and pastrami, made their own pickles and used bread from a neighboring bakery.  Now, few make their own ingredients.   The original deli was a convenience store, a neighborhood grocer, a place to go for sandwich meats and kosher foods.  It was a neighbourhood gathering place.  Each deli had its own personality, a deli shtick (shtick is Yiddish meaning comic theme or gimmick).  Old Jewish delis were famous for their rude waiters, the yelling back and forth behind the counter, the motion and noise of the staff preparing and delivering meals.  Delis had a life and a personality that made them fun.

The best delis had a master cutter, not a slicing machine.  When a brisket of beef was steamed for a long time, as with a good piece of pastrami once it has been cured and smoked, it would tear apart if not cut by hand.  Unfortunately many sandwich shops use a round cut of beef rather than brisket as it is easier to slice and much less expensive.

Today, delis have to face concerns that might have been overlooked in the past.  Cured meats and pickles are delicious, but they are full of salt and fat that makes  them unhealthy.  And preparing foods that meet traditional standards are expensive, a corned beef sandwich can fetch hefty prices of as much as $17.

The pairing of slowly steamed corned beef or pastrami brisket, hot crusty double-baked rye bread infused with caraway seeds and topped with mustard is considered by a true purist to be the perfect sandwich.

DRUXY’S takes pride in its Jewish Deli routes.  We hold to the tradional way of preparing our sandwiches from briskets and slicing steaming meats to order for each sandwich.  We  see fun interaction with customers as key to building a lasting relationship.  And we take pride in the quality of our food and how we prepare it for our customers.    But we are also searching for new, fresh, quality products to compliment our traditional menu to meet the needs of toaday’s customers.

* Information in this bog has come from Wikipedia and the website of David Sax, a real deli fanatic.  David authors a website, www.savethedeli.com and has written a book, Save the Deli, on the decline of the Jewish delicatessen.

To support our healthy menu we contacted the Heart and Stroke Foundation to see if we could participate in their Health Check Program.  We now have 8 sandwiches and 5 soups that have been certified by the Heart and Stroke Foundation.  These sandwiches have a minimum of 10 grams of protein and 2 portions of vegetables and less than 950 mg of salt and 10 grams of fat.

If you truly care about what you eat then DRUXY’S offers many options that will offer you a balanced and healthy meal.  Check out our Health Check sandwiches on our website and for catering consider our Health Check Sandwich Tray.

Enjoy and be healthy!

The recent economic turmoil has challenged us all.  We realized that we had to push the envelop to ensure that we were doing the very best for our customers and stay current while upholding our deli tradition.

Three months ago we contracted with Spinning Wheel Design, to evaluate our restaurants and determine a new look and direction for the future.  Spinning Wheel is at the forefront of food and retail design but more importantly understands the value of tradition.  I am proud to announce that Spinning Wheel has been able to combine the best of both worlds in our new restaurant design.  The focus of the design is a clean, fresh look that focuses on our food while making the customer experience more comfortable.  We are excited that our first 2 renovations will be done later this month at 1200 Eglinton Avenue East and at Buttonville Airport.

To tie in with this new design we felt it was necessary to retool our marketing and have contracted with The adLib Group to be our new agency.  They too have reviewed our past and will be focusing our marketing around the catch phrase “Fresh Deli Revolution”.  This combines our effort to be true to our deli tradition while taking this tradition into a new more modern era.

While the past has been good to DRUXY’S and our loyal customers, the future is brighter than ever with many projects ahead.