TheBuzz
BY ERIKA ENGLE
As the dough turns,
CPK has found
success in HawaiiThe Hawaii and Asia region of California Pizza Kitchen Inc. gets a lot of dough from a location once targeted for closure.
The restaurants in Kahala Mall and Ala Moana Center are regularly battling for the No. 1 and No. 2 revenue rankings in the company. Those two stores are looking over their figurative shoulders now as the previously underperforming Pearlridge store's steady, double-digit growth has increasingly contributed to the region's success.
"In the industry right now if you're seeing 3 or 4 percent you're in the upper echelon," said Carlos Delgado, director of operations for the Hawaii and Asia region.
It does half the volume of the Kahala and Ala Moana restaurants, but Delgado said "it's exciting to see a restaurant just doing so well."
The Hawaii region's performance may baffle some CPK operators.
"We've kind of broken the paradigm a little bit," Delgado said.
Usually a California Pizza Kitchen is on the ground floor for walk-in convenience. The Ala Moana store is on the center's fourth level.
CPK usually operates near upscale stores to be near desired customers. The "Kahala (store) has got the demographics but it doesn't have the Guess and Fendi," Delgado said.
The Pearlridge shopper now understands "they're not just going to drop huge money," he said.
At a February conference Delgado won a company ROCK award for a rare second time in three years.
It is named for the core values of the company's culture -- respect, opportunity, communication and kindness and is awarded to one director of operations who is nominated by employees and managers.
Sort of like a teacher encouraging good behavior by catching students doing something good?
"Yeah, that's kind of the idea," Delgado said.
Ala Moana store General Manager Eddie Spencer was presented the "Top Box" award as the company's top general manager for 2002. He joined the company in 1987 as one of the first cooks at the Kahala store and is one of fewer than half a dozen original Hawaii CPK employees.
Contrary to columnist suspicions, the award has nothing to do with a pizza box. It's a spreadsheet reference.
It's presented to an operator based on what Spencer called major measurables, work that a general manager contributes to the company outside the restaurant, and guest satisfaction reports.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com