Schneps Media Insights:
How a Local CEO
Pivoted In Pandemic
By Brian Keith
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,20 OCTOBER 16-22, 2020 BTR
File photo
City acquires BX
based bus carrier
Pushes forth with school bus oversight
BY MARK HALLUM
The City of New York has acquired
the 1,000 fl eet Reliant Transportation
school bus company as part its
attempts to bring the logistics of busing
of public school students under one
umbrella group for oversight.
After incorporating NYCSBUS
(New York City School Bus Umbrella
Services) as a nonprofi t to manage
drivers and other assets, the Department
of Education believes it will have
greater control over new acquisitions
such as this, but doubts have risen in
the past around the notion of the city
handling it’s own busing rather than
enlisting private contractors.
Reliant Transportation mainly
specializes in connecting 950 special
needs students to schools, which
accounts for up to 10% of the DOE’s
school age busing network, according
to the mayor’s offi ce.
“We are doing everything we can
to guarantee safe, fast, and reliable
bus service for the students who need
it most,” de Blasio said in a statement.
“This agreement delivers on that
promise and makes a lasting investment
in our school communities for
years to come.”
Rumors that the city would be acquiring
bus companies from contractors
came as a surprise to some in the
industry who questioned how the DOE
would begin to manage the logistics on
their own, especially after spending up
to $700 million on contracts through
June despite a $827 million in budgetary
cuts to the education department.
Instead of getting paid through
June, however, funding was cut off to
bus companies in March not long after
the city Comptroller Scott Stringer
issued a letter pointing out the fact
the DOE was still spending money on
transporting children despite schools
being closed due to COVID-19.
The timing of the letter and funds
being swiftly cut off was coincidental,
according to a source.
Corey Muirhead, who runs Logan
Bus Company, told amNewYork
Metro in May the funding was suddenly
cut off in March, leaving the
business no choice but to layoff employees
who represent up to 16,000
jobs in the city.
According to the mayor’s offi ce,
NYCSBUS will offering jobs to all the
employees of Reliant and allow for organized
labor negotiate a collective
bargaining agreement.
“So many of our students rely on
yellow bus service to get safely to and
from school, and this is an important
step in securing that service for
our students in the years to come,”
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza
said in a statement. “This is a
long-term investment that will gradually
phase in and provide greater stability
and oversight in school bus service
in the years ahead.”
The deal between the city and Reliant
is scheduled to formally close by
the fi rst quarter of 2021 and will until
then be under contract from the city.
George Tenedios,
CEO and co-founder
of fresh&co, doesn’t
sleep well. The insomnia
started in March, when
the pandemic forced
him to shutter all 19 of
his fast-casual, locally
sourced fresh-food
restaurants.
“The thought of
losing the brand entirely
continuously runs through my head,” said Tenedios, who tried to stay open
but hemorrhaged to less than one percent of sales in a matter of days. With
his team of 950 employees reduced to a skeletal crew of five, it took him
60 days before reopening, slowly.
“I keep imagining what the landscape will look like if all independent
operators can’t afford to re-open in the next six months and stay alive,”
he said.
Yet Tenedios has found some jewels in the gloom that have quelled his
anxiety, at least a bit.
THE FACELIFT
“One major opportunity we’ve found is to streamline the menu,” he said.
“We were forced to dive into our purchasing and sales data and determine
what the popular items were, and what were not so popular – and reduced
our menu by 15 percent, which will be permanent.”
Tenedios’ methodology translates to most businesses: Identify your labor
intensive items, low volume items, and high cost items, take one or all of
three of these categories and pull your product mix, or purchasing data
and compile a list. “These are the items that you should be removing ASAP,
even if it’s just a five percent reduction,” he said.
His company’s marketing underwent a facelift too. “There are no guerilla
tactics anymore with marketing,” he said, “no one wants to touch anything
– now it’s all digital.”
So Tenedios stopped producing print flyers and promos and has poured
resources into his email list – he’s cleaned and segmented it by zip code
so he can send location-specific announcements. He’s also upgraded the
restaurants’ smartphone app. By drilling down into data and identifying
multiple customer tiers, he’s increased the loyalty rewards program, while
also implementing point of sale technology that’ll make it easier for app
users to get their meals more efficiently.
LESSONS LEARNED
With hindsight, Tenedios says he would have done things differently, or
course. “In May when we began reopening our locations, I probably should
have opened fewer stores,” he said. “We could have focused more on a
few strategic locations around Manhattan, and honed in on the existing
population of the city.”
He’s had to permanently shutter five locations, and expects that another
four will fail. He’s still only at 10 percent of pre-COVID sales, with about 25
percent of team members back on payroll.
But he’s banking on New York’s resilience. “We’ve gone through it all
before, 9/11, the recession – everything goes into shambles for a time
and then we bounce back,” he said. “Once the political season and the flu
season is over, New York City will be back.”
He’s still anxious, of course, if only because he can’t stomach the idea of
the city devoid of a fast casual, fresh food option. “NYC’s fast casual scene
filled with only the big commercial and fast food chains?,” he asked with
comic effect, “it makes me sick!”
Schneps Media Insights shares insights and innovations that help New York’s
top local businesses succeed. Read more at SchnepsMedia.com/insights.
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