Our partner, Copper Still (14301 S. Cicero Ave.), in Crestwood, IL is the latest happy victim of Food Network’s Restaurant Impossible.
Last August, owners Christine and Dominic D’Ambrosio arrived at work and were surprised to find the bar filled with cast and crew, including chef and host Robert Irvine.Christine soon learned that her long time Bar Manager Stephanie had nominated Copper Still as a last resort, hoping to save the new business.
Stephanie expressed she was concerned about the direction of the Copper Still’s success and thought Christine could use help to become a stronger manager and owner.
After the initial shock wore off, Christine and staff got to work. Chef Irvine made hard but effective changes, including renovation the physical space, retraining staff, and adding unique “designer” food items that were instantly popular. Post-filming, Christine realized her current point of sale system worked “okay” but that it didn’t have many of the capabilities that would continue to propel their business forward. She met with Servingintel solution team and was excited about upgrading to a fully-featured system that would manage the operations and help her attract and retain customers.
As a part of Copper Still’s new system, Servingintel integrates a custom marketing smartphone application with the point-of-sale software’s built-in loyalty program. Additionally, being able to capture information on a Vodka of the Month program, smart tax and beverage trapping are adding to Copper Still’s profit line, as a part of their Guaranteed Return on Investment with Servingintel.
“It was important to us to be able to capture our audience, to be able to offer great service as well, but also to be able to offer incentives such as your loyalty program to make sure customers come back to our place. Also, using Smart Tax is going to boost our profits, which is obviously something I would want to see,” said Christine D’Ambrosio.
As for the show Christine says her favorite part of the Restaurant Impossible experience was that, even though it was overwhelming and initially felt intrusive, Chef Irvine and his staff were actually very respectful of her time, her family and her business. Chef Irvine took the time to include her kids in the process, putting one to work on some light construction duty and allowing him watch the filming process and also wishing the other a happy birthday at the reveal party. While she jokingly says she’s not sure she’d ever sign up to do it again, Christine is happy with the results and has marked “appear on reality tv” off her bucket list!
To find out more about Copper Still, visit their website HERE or read more about the episode including upcoming airings, HERE.
To learn how you can get your own Guaranteed Return on Investment, click here to request a free business analysis.
