Home Town Home Team: MOOYAH COO Encourages Those Around Him to Take Part in the Community

Being a leader is something that comes naturally to MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes* COO Michael Mabry. From his weekly notes to the corporate team and franchise system providing advice and praise to his "happy socks" that have become both a calling card and a way to inject some fun and unity into the 100-unit restaurant system, Mabry is one of those leaders that just inspires those around him. 

But that inspiration doesn’t just exist inside the walls of MOOYAH. It radiates out into the 100 communities it serves, touches every Guest (the brand doesn’t call them customers), and in turn allows them to be a hometown brand not only in its headquarter city of Dallas, but throughout the country.

To identify this feeling, Mabry came up with the Home Town Home Team philosophy, which encourages the system to be an active part of their Guests’ daily lives. But to accomplish this, Mabry needed buy-in from each of the brand’s franchisee partners to be the advocate on the ground and align this feeling throughout the system.

“Our franchisees are first introduced to this idea at our corporate training restaurant, where the Home Town Home Team initiative was born. And now, we have taken this idea and even materialized it so that franchisees and Guests can feel that sense of community,” said Mabry.

One way MOOYAH has done this is with a community board, which is mounted to a wall off the dining room where Guests can congregate and learn about what’s going on in the community. These boards are designed to feature three posters with important messaging, like local news, MOOYAH Rewards App information and fundraising information.

In addition, MOOYAH established a local store marketing program under the Home Town Home Team initiative. Each franchisee pays a weekly marketing royalty that is based off sales. But to encourage localized marketing efforts and fundraisers, MOOYAH gives back 25 percent of that royalty to the franchisee to put into local efforts they come across in their individual communities.

Through these action items, MOOYAH is not only creating a culture of community-first, but also allowing business owners the opportunities to customize their restaurants and focus on community initiatives that mean most to those specific locations.

“We are a family-centric brand that attracts like-minded franchisees who are already a part of their community,” said Mabry. “Home Town Home Team is our philosophy to keep our restaurants local-minded, and through some of these initiatives we’re just creating the plan to feature and showcase it daily.”

Initiatives like Home Town Home Team have driven MOOYAH’s growth, with the brand celebrating its 100^th new store opening earlier this year and putting into place a strategic plan to continue that momentous growth into 2017.