Mark
Bright
Coupons Are Cool Again
Backstory: My company, City Shuffle, publishes The Diner's Deck -- a dining guide for Manhattan and Brooklyn that's in the form of a deck of cards and in which each of the 52 cards doubles as a $10 voucher at the restaurant it describes. (Also The Bar & Lounge Deck - same concept, but for nightlife.) They're coupons, basically - but very attractive ones that require no ripping or clipping and that recommend truly special restaurants like il Buco and Little D Eatery...
Uncommon Economic Indicator: Sales of the Deck were up this past holiday season by almost 30% from the previous year and now most of the participating restaurants are reporting about a 100% increase in card usage. They're seeing twice as many cards as this time last year. About one card a day. What makes us even more encouraged about our business is that restaurateurs are saying that check averages among Diner's Deck users are quite good, leading one chef/owner to conclude that folks who may have eschewed using restaurant certificates in the past are finding less stigma attached to using them these days. Of course, I like to think our beautiful packaging and nice list of participating restaurants has something to do with it too!
300 East 39th Street , NYC, NY 10016
