Taking the Cake: Sundance had pursued Cheesecake Factory for many years

December 15,2014

The Cheesecake Factory had been on the white board over at Sundance Square management for some time.

It was one of more than 1,000 restaurants and retailers that Sundance CEO Johnny Campbell says the company maintains on its “hit list” and speaks to regularly. It’s a multi-tier list, ranging from targets that Sundance believes it should go after now to ones it thinks may fit where Sundance will be years from now.

“Most of them are ones 10 years ago that we knew we could not have supported a reason to come, but we knew one day we would,” Campbell said. The list “forces us to think about the future merchandising of Sundance Square in the context of what we think Sundance Square will look like.”

The Cheesecake Factory, the popular international chain that just opened its first Fort Worth store Dec. 9 in Sundance Square to big buzz, had been on the list for a long time, Campbell said.

“Ten years ago, Cheesecake Factory had absolutely no interest in Sundance Square and probably very little interest in Fort Worth, Texas,” Campbell said.

But downtown has continued to grow, and the opening last year of the new Sundance Plaza, festively lit and ringed with office spaces, restaurants and shops, added to the draw. Sales generated by Sundance’s 500,000 square feet of retail space were up 19.6 percent through October, compared with the same period last year, Campbell said.

The Cheesecake Factory, a $2 billion-a-year Calabasas, Calif., company, has grown to 185 stores from the one that founder David Overton opened in 1978 in Beverly Hills to showcase his mother’s homemade cakes.

The company thinks it fits well downtown with its destination draw, broad appetizer, entree and dessert menu, late-night dining and moderate prices. The restaurant, located in part of the former Barnes & Noble space, faces Bass Hall, providing an easy dining option for theater-goers.

The company’s other stores in the region have done well, said Alethea Rowe, company spokeswoman. North Texas locations include Arlington, Southlake, Dallas, Allen and Frisco.

“There’s nothing like The Cheesecake Factory here, and the revitalization of the area makes it a great area for us to be in,” said Rowe, who was in Fort Worth for training exercises leading to the opening.

The company has experience in urban centers, where about one quarter of its stores are located, Rowe said. Downtown Fort Worth’s publicly subsidized free parking and Sundance’s free valet with merchant validation fill the need for parking, she said.

In a sign of how popular Sundance has become in just the last year, Campbell said, Sundance’s valets parked 375 cars on Dec. 8 (a Monday). Sundance started the service, operated by Fort Worth’s Rent A Frog Valet, during construction last year, and it parked 30-50 cars per day then, Campbell said. Today, it has seven stations.

Sundance has been touting the likelihood that The Cheesecake Factory will do $10 million a year in sales, the company’s per-store average. If it does, that would make it Sundance’s second or third highest-volume restaurant, Campbell said.

“Ten years ago, we were littered with 2 and 3 million dollar [a year] restaurants,” Campbell said. “Today, we’re littered with 5, 6, 10 and 12 million-dollar restaurants.”

Sundance isn’t trolling for a lot of new restaurants. It already has a broad selection of places to eat and drink and is shifting its focus to soft goods.

But The Cheesecake Factory substantially broadens its restaurant offering, Campbell said.

One new example of how Sundance manages its hit list is the departure of the Cabo Grande Mexican restaurant across from the Renaissance Worthington hotel. Sundance’s near-term plan called for leasing to another restaurant, but the longer-term one called for soft goods, Campbell said.

Sundance jumped its near-term plan, he said, and instead signed the 14-store Overland Sheepskin Co., a luxury retailer of jackets, coats, boots and accessories. The store is scheduled to open before Christmas.

The Cheesecake Factory is also a major piece in the pedestrian-friendly revival of the Commerce Street corridor through Sundance Square and south past Bass Hall. The corridor includes new restaurants and stores around the year-old Sundance Plaza and in the adjacent Gainsco Building, for which Sundance handles the ground-floor retail leasing.

“We have totally reawakened a corridor that really was not a strong corridor,” Campbell said.

Sundance is looking for apparel sellers for the 8,700 square feet of remaining ground-floor space in the former Barnes & Noble location, and is open to office and retail tenants for the space above, Campbell said.

Retail occupancy in Sundance Square is 96 percent, Campbell said. Two of the four available spaces are in the new Cassidy Building, which just received its temporary certificate of occupancy, Campbell said.

By Scott Nishimura
snishimura@bizpress.net

Ccf Fort Worth

Inside the Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Inc.
26901 Malibu Hills Road
Calabasas Hills, California 91301
818-871-3000
Numbers of restaurants: 189
Founded: 1972
www.thecheesecakefactory.com

It’s been awhile since The Cheesecake Factory ran staff members to deliver cheesecakes to its first restaurants.

“I’ve heard some stories getting on planes taking cheesecakes as they went along, but those days are gone,” jokes Alethea Rowe, spokeswoman for the 189-store California chain.

Today, Sysco Foods, the company’s food distributor, also distributes the cheesecakes. The Cheesecake Factory, which just opened its latest restaurant Dec. 9 in downtown Fort Worth, is doing $2 billion a year in sales and is a highly sought-after tenant.

What are the top sellers on the menu?
A: On the entree side, Chicken Madeira, Cajun Jumbalaya Pasta, Luau Salad. On the cheesecake side, the Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake Original and the Ultimatte Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake. Layers of cheesecake with layers of red velvet, with cream cheese frosting. It’s the first one we introduced that knocked Strawberry out of first place (in 2009). Now they duel each other for first place.

How was this company founded?
A: David Overton, the founder, his mom had a cheesecake recipe she got out of a Detroit newspaper in the ‘40s. She tweaked it a little to make it her own and started making them. People recommended she go into business. She had a small bakery…but it was never much of a business. David went to law school, convinced his parents to move west. He opened his first restaurant in Beverly Hills, just hoping to be able to sell his mom’s cakes. Without intending to, he launched a successful restaurant.

Are there are any regional variations on the menu?
A: No, other than Hawaii (where) we have more seafood. Beer and wine menus vary around the country.

Are the cheesecakes baked on site?
A: We have two bakeries, one in Calabasas, California, and the other in Rocky Mount, Calif.

How often do you introduce a new cheesecake?
A: At least once a year. Every year on National Cheesecake Day, July 30, we introduce a new cake. This year, it was Lemon Meringue. Twenty five cents a slice (of each year’s sales of the new cake) goes to Feeding America. Sincer 2008, we’ve donated $3.2 million to Feeding America, just from 25 cents a slice.

How far in advance do you work on the new cakes?

 A: Months, years. They were working last summer on next year’s cake. We’re close to maybe knowing what next year’s national cheesecake is, but I can’t tell you yet.

Is it unusual for you to be in urban centers like this one?
A: Seventy five percent (of our stores) are in malls. But we’re in places like the Hancock Center in Chicago, the Prudential Center in Boston, downtown Pasadena, Calif., where there’s a lot of population density. This one is a really great location. It’s such a safe, clean, welcoming environment. It was pretty much a no-brainer. - Scott Nishimura