Westbury, N.y. - 15 December, 2005 -

The work crew taking their lunch break at Nathan's Famous on Old Country Road in Westbury announce their orders three hot dogs, two cheese steaks, one hamburger, four french fries not bothering to look up at the green and yellow overhead menu. They know what's on it. A few moments later they fill their trays and head to their usual table in the back, sitting down to eat surrounded by retro seashore nostalgia. The scene took place earlier this week, but could well have occurred 50 or even 80 years ago, at the hot dog stand Nathan Handwerker set up at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues on Coney Island. The idea was to sell food made of quality ingredients- Handwerker insisted on all-beef franks-at aggressive prices to the hungry masses swarming out of the subway to bathe at this proletarian Riviera. Eighty-four years later, at nearly 200 locations- including one in Egypt, and with expectations of 180 million hot dog sales this year- they’re still doing it. This is a brand recognized by an estimated 95 percent of New Yorkers, and tradition is not taken lightly here. Changes, though, especially over the past year have been transforming the company into a powerful international brand. Ten years ago, under the leadership of president Wayne Norbitz, the eatery icon moved from Manhattan to Westbury. In the years that followed, Norbitz has been implementing a growth policy based not on brick and mortar expansion, but on promoting branded product distribution and strategic acquisitions. The acquisitions have garnered Nathan’s the most press. Next month, the company marks the first anniversary of what is probably the boldest move in its history: the $1.2 million acquisition of the bankrupt Kenny Rogers Roasters Franchise Corp. Kenny Rogers, which emphasized wood-fire roasted chicken cooked in view of customers and attracted strong dinner business, was seen as a good fit with Nathan’s, which is more associated with lunch. Consumers apparently never soured on the chin named after the popular singer, and some restaurant industry analysts predicted with new management it could rebound. A Standout "Within the industry Kenny Rogers had a strong brand presence, and was respected," said Steve Flanagan, who publishes a newsletter on the meat industry and restaurants from Northport. Signs indicate the turnaround is working. Stores that were shuttered are being reopened, including one in Commack and one in Rockville Centre, featuring a new, brighter interior design- and offering menu boards touting Nathan’s products along with Kenny Rogers’ signature roast chicken, ribs, turkey and side dishes. Both the Kenny Rogers and the Miami Subs acquisition, in November, gave the company a strong presence in Florida. And Miami Subs came with the rights to Arthur Treachers, the once-popular fish and chips chain that slipped out of the spotlight in recent years. "Miami Subs owned the rights to co-brand Arthur Treachers," says Norbitz, who discovered this during a visit last year to the chain’s headquarters. "It basically came with the acquisition, I didn’t set out to buy it. I didn’t recognize at first how it would fit in." Nothing fishy about it But fit in, it did. After introducing the fish and chips line in several stores, in a few months Arthur Treachers products were accounting- unexpectedly- for an average 16 percent of store sales- an almost unheard-of surge for a new menu item anywhere. Even more than the acquisitions, however, it is co-branding that Norbitz believes is the financial engine for Nathan’s growth. Eschewing the traditional store growth strategy. Norbitz has been slipping Nathan’s franks into hundreds of new venues, including sports arenas, race tracks, airports, toll roads, convention centers, convenience stores and college campuses. "You can sell hot dogs, or you can sell Nathan’s hot dogs," declares Norbitz. "Why not sell a name consumers already recognize?" Another Norbitz initiative has been to promote smaller, movable branded sales environments, ranging from room-sized kiosks to counter top modules, serving limited menus. That’s paid off too. The company has also made significant inroads into supermarket shelves, now selling seven times as many franks in stores as in its restaurants. With such a marketing strategy, "there is always the concern that customers will stop valuing the restaurant experience," acknowledges the president, who doubles as chief operating officer. "The opposite is happening. Customers enjoy the product at home, but know the taste isn’t quite the same. So they end up coming back to the restaurant, too." Growing up in the business (his family owned Wetsons) Norbitz is intent on not replicating the mistake made by many chains of that era by growing too fast and spending too much on real estate. "I am not of the point of view that growth requires enormous spending on brick and mortar," pronounces Norbitz. "Alternative means of distribution may be the predominant marketing exposure for the brand, and the predominant source of revenue for the company." Out of Brooklyn, but... Although Nathan’s made the move from Brooklyn to Long Island a decade ago, many customers continue to associate the brand name with the borough’s Golden Age of egg creams and Ebbets Field. The company has burnished nostalgia. It continues to operate the flagship Coney Island restaurant, which every year holds an unapologetically hokey July 4 hot dog eating contest. Nathan Handwerker was named to the New York City 100 by the Museum of the City of New York, a fact that the company publicized, emphasizing the immigrant from Poland was joining such bluebloods as Andrew Carnegie and Brooke Astor. The value of the brand names is not lost on Norbitz, who came to work for Nathan’s in 1975, when the company acquired his family’s restaurant chain. When it moved to Westbury, he made it a point to find a place of honor to hang a reproduction of a photo taken soon after Handwerker had opened his hot dog stand. Looking uneasy at the thought of keeping their customers waiting, the Handwerkers and employees pose for the camera, looking proud, tired and a bit wary. The founder proudly holds his new son, Murray. Norbitz lets a visitor know he once worked briefly under the son, when Nathan’s acquired his family’s hamburger chain. "When I started at the store in Coney Island, Murray was still there," Norbitz intones, his voice filling with nostalgia. "It was Murray," he intones, ‘who taught me how to grill Nathan’s hot dogs."

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