Franchise restaurant chains are offering a variety of deals at their own locations in an extra effort to boost sales as the holiday shopping season begins this week CNBC reported Saturday.
The tactic is geared toward employees working Black Friday at stores inside malls, who need to be ready for business.
Auntie Annes' experimented with the strategy last year finding it successful to open anywhere from 10 p.m. and midnight in order to accommodate for shoppers taking advantage of late-night deals.
"We saw that sales went up-volume on Black Friday was up 9.04 percent," Bill Dunn, president and chief operating officer at Auntie Annes' Bill Dunn told CNBC. "When I look at the analytics, I find that it's incremental growth.
According to CNBC, the franchise pretzel chain's locations in malls are opening at 8 p.m., similar to the time major department stores, Kohl's, J.C. Penney, and Macy's are scheduled to unlock its doors for pre-black friday shoppers. The evening opening suggests employees will arrive prior to their shifts an hour or two before their shift.
"It should be a day for family-that's my feeling, but I also have to pay bills," Bill Gellert a franchisee of four Cinnabon locations told CNBC. "My rent doesn't change, and (my employees) have to pay bills too." Starbucks is also offering a free coffee to everybody working Black Friday.
Employees who work will receive more money and celebrate Thanksgiving with their co-workers while on the job.
According to CNBC, 38 million people will flock to restaurants at the same time they shop. The number is up from 32 million people in 2011, when the National Restaurant Association did their latest poll.
"It definitely provided a small boost to sales," Anthony Missano, president at Sbarro told CNBC. "It allowed people to take advance of slower times to get to the mall and we benefit from more people shopping."
