Zoup! lunch expands to Troy, Northville

Source: The Detroit News
SOUTHFIELD - Workers in the Troy and Northville area will soon have another choice for lunch when Zoup! opens up its newest locations.

The Ferndale-based company has been looking to expand since it opened its first location in Southfield in 1998, said Eric Ersher, who created Zoup! with partners David Elias and Gary Gilbert. "We've always wanted to be in those markets, both in terms of rooftops and pretty strong office markets," Ersher said.

The Troy location, on Maple east of Coolidge, will open in mid-March. Northville's Zoup!, on Haggerty between Seven and Eight Mile, will open in June, he said.

The company has found its niche catering to office workers in Southfield and downtown Detroit who want something other than a burger and fries. The lunchtime market is significant, according to the National Restaurant Association, which found a typical American eats 2.1 commercially prepared lunches per week. That adds up to 26.7 billion lunches a year. About 80 percent of business at Zoup! comes during lunch, Ersher said. But the company wants to tap into the take-home dinner market, too.

The new restaurants will feature bundled meals that include soup and salad for people heading home after a long day at work. Salads are a new addition to the standard soup, beverages and desserts currently offered, Ersher said.

"We're always listening to our customers and we've had some suggestions for salads," he said. "We think it rounds out the Zoup! concept."

A half-dozen salads will be available each day and, like the soups, the choices will rotate to keep the menu varied.

To inform patrons about menu changes, Zoup! e-mails daily reminders detailing that day's offerings to about 3,000 office workers in Detroit and Southfield, Ersher said.

Customers also can order and pay online, and pick up their meals at a special window. That aspect of the business is growing, with between 50 and 70 online orders each day at the Renaissance Center location, Ersher said.

But finding employees for the new locations has been challenging, Ersher said, echoing the findings of a National Restaurant Association survey that found hiring to be the No. 1 obstacle facing quick-service restaurant operators this year.

"One of the things we do is offer a good benefits package and we pay more, $9 an hour," Ersher said. "We believe we save money through less turnover and we think the customer experience is better."
Source: The Detroit News