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Includes a list of locations, fun facts, milestones and other company information about Dickey's Barbecue Pit.

Baker bar with potatoes and all the fixings

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Hot off the pit! Here’s where you’ll find Dickey’s latest news!

IN THE NEWS

<div>
  From <a href="http://www.progressivegrocer.com/industry-news-trends/cpgs-trading-partners/spotlight-dickeys-barbecue-signature-buttery-rolls" target="_blank">Progressive Grocer</a> 
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  Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has expanded its products into retail stores with the launch of 10-count packages of its signature buttery rolls, now available in 180 Jewel-Osco stores throughout
  Chicagoland.
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  <br>
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  “It has always been our goal to bring authentic slow smoked Texas-style barbecue and home-style sides across the country, starting with Dickey’s signature rolls in Jewel-Osco grocery stores," said
  Dickey’s Barbecue Pit CEO, Roland Dickey, Jr.
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  "This represents an incredible growth opportunity for Dickey’s and allows our brand to reach more consumers with the signature items that our guests love," he said.
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  Dickey's is also looking to offer other products at retail in the future, including barbecue sauce, polish and spicy cheddar sausage and potato chips.
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In The Spotlight: Dickey's Barbecue Signature Buttery Rolls

<div>
  From <a href="http://www.myguidon.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=19045&amp;Itemid=40" target="_blank">MyGuidon</a> 
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  Barbecue is now available on Fort Leonard Wood.
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  Dickey’s Barbecue Pit officially opened Aug. 27 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Exchange Food Court. 
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  This is the first Dickey’s Barbecue Pit to open on a military installation. 
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  “We are very glad to offer this new facility at the Exchange,” said David Swenson, Fort Leonard Wood Exchange general manager. “We are very excited to have them on Fort Leonard Wood.”
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  Col. Andy Herbst, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Leonard Wood commander, assisted in the ribbon cutting. 
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  “This is important to our Soldiers and our Family members, to (have) quality food.” He said having good dining options help contribute to Soldiers’ and Family members’ well-being.
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  “We really are happy to have Dickey’s here,” he said.
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  Danessa Williams is the franchise owner of the new location. She already operates a Dickey’s restaurant in Lebanon and is now excited to bring the business to the fort. 
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  “Fort Wood is a great, diverse location with Families from around the country,” Williams said. “These military Families are looking for a taste of home away from home, and I am happy to serve those
  who are serving our country.”
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  Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has more than 500 locations across the U.S. – eight of which are in Missouri, said Roland Dickey, Jr., Dickey’s CEO.
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  “We look forward to opening our first Dickey’s Barbecue Pit on a military installation so that we can bring Texas-style, slow-smoked barbecue directly to the people who protect our freedom, and we
  are grateful for their service,” he said.
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  Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, the first 50 guests received gift cards worth up to $50. On Friday, the restaurant gave away goodies and merchandise and even had a radio station on-site
  Saturday to cap off the three-day celebration. 
</div>

Dickey's Barbecue Opens on Post

<p style="">
  From <a href="http://www.fastcasual.com/news/dickeys-barbecue-pit-launches-on-military-installation-base/" target="_blank">Fast Casual</a> 
</p>
<p style="">
  The first Dickey's Barbecue Pit to open on a military installation began service this week in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. As part of its opening celebration three lucky grand-opening attendees
  will win free barbecue for a year.
</p>
<p style="">
  Col. Andy Herbst, U.S. Army Garrison commander at Fort Leonard Wood, cut the ribbon at the grand opening on Thursday, Aug. 27.
</p>
<p style="">
  "Dickey's Barbecue Pit has over 500 locations across the U.S., eight of which are in Missouri," said Roland Dickey Jr., Dickey's CEO in a company press release. "We look forward to opening our
  first Dickey's Barbecue Pit on a military installation so that we can bring Texas-style, slow-smoked barbecue directly to the people who protect our freedom, and we are grateful for their service."
</p>
<p style="">
  Owner/operator, Danessa Williams spent 17 years in the corporate fast food business when she decided to become her own boss. She looked for a franchise that offered quality, delicious ingredients
  served with a side of southern hospitality, and found her niche with Dickey's Barbecue Pit.
</p>
<p style="">
  A Lebanon native, Williams has already opened one other Dickey's store in the area.<br>
  <br>
  "Fort Wood is a great, diverse location with families from around the country," she said. "These military families are looking for a taste of home away from home, and I am happy to serve those who
  are serving our country."
</p>
<p style="">
  The new Dickey's Barbecue Pit in Fort Leonard Wood is located at the Fort Leonard Wood Exchange, Building 487, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
</p>

Dickey's Barbecue Pit launches on military installation base

Dickey's has launched a new partnership with Jewel-Osco to sell our delicious, buttery yeast rolls in grocery stores. This is just the beginning of Dickey's signature products coming to a store near
you. Click <a href="http://www.fastcasual.com/news/dickeys-barbecue-selling-products-in-grocery-stores/" target="_blank">here</a> for the article.

Dickey's Barbecue Selling Products in Grocery Stores

<p>
  <span style=" font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.2px;">From <a href="http://nrn.com/us-second-100/2015-second-100-why-dickeys-no-6-fastest-growing-chain" target="_blank">NRN</a> </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span style=" font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.2px;">Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants Inc. opened its 500th restaurant
  earlier this year, taking Texas barbecue mainstream. The Dallas-based company, which opened its first restaurant in 1941 and began franchising in 1994, now has restaurants in 43 states. The
  LSR/Barbecue chain’s U.S. systemwide sales ranked No. 6 in the Latest Year, falling one place from the Preceding Year. Systemwide sales grew 36.9 percent in the Latest Year, rising to $355 million,
  from $259.3 million in the ...</span>
</p>

2015 Second 100: Why Dickey's is the Number 6 Fastest Growing Chain

<p>
  Dickey's CEO, Roland Dickey, Jr., was officially named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the Family Business category for the Southwest Region. For the full article, check out this <a href="http://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/news/dickey-s-ceo-named-ey-entrepreneur-year?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=RB%20Daily%2007-06-2015%20(1)&amp;utm_content=&amp;spMailingID=49036908&amp;spUserID=MTQ5NDYwMzg2NTMxS0&amp;spJobID=720706282&amp;spReportId=NzIwNzA2MjgyS0">link</a>.
</p>

Dickey's CEO Named EY Entrepreneur of the Year

<p>
  Dickey's Director of Software Analysis and Development, Paula Suarez spoke at the ICX Summit in Chicago to discuss how we accumulate and utilize big data on a day-to-day basis. Check out
  this <a href="http://www.fastcasual.com/articles/tech-in-a-box-how-dickeys-uses-big-data-to-target-marketing/?utm_source=NetWorld%20Alliance&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=EMNAFCC07032015">link</a> for
  the full story.
</p>
<p>
   
</p>

Tech in a Box: How Dickey's Uses Big Data to Target Marketing Strategies

<p>
  We proudly claimed our place under the "Powerbroker" category. For the full list, check out this article <a href="http://www.qsrmagazine.com/reports/2015-best-franchise-deals?page=3">link</a>.
</p>
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</p>

QSR Names Best Franchise Deals for 2015

<div>
  From <a href="http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/july-august/ey-dallas-entrepreneurs-of-the-year-2015?single=1" target="_blank">D Magazine</a> 
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  When it comes to identifying the most dynamic and inspiring businesspeople in North Texas, there are few better “talent scouts” than the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year awards program. Because each of
  the program’s honorees has demonstrated excellence and success, each of their stories contains a nugget of wisdom—if not several of them. 
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  This year, for the eighth straight year, D CEO is proud to present all of the 2015 finalists in the program’s Southwest Region—49 individuals, plus two “iconic entrepreneurs” selected for
  recognition: multimedia mogul Glenn Beck, the program’s Master In Media &amp; Entertainment honoree, and American Airlines Group Chairman and CEO Doug Parker, the program’s Entrepreneur Of The
  Year-Transformation.
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  The 2015 finalists were selected by a panel of independent judges that included former winners and leading chief executive officers. They were: Nitin Ahuja, co-founder and CEO, Entercoms Inc.;
  Chris Cantarella, senior client partner, Korn Ferry; Carrie Freeman Parsons, vice chair, Freeman; Satin Mirchandani, CEO, TractManager Holdings; Steve Valenta, senior managing director, NASDAQ OMX;
  Brian Reinsborough, founder, president, and CEO, Venari Resources LLC; Brian Williams, co-founder and CEO, OneSource Virtual; Gary Wojtaszek, president and CEO, CyrusOne; and Randy Watson,
  president and CEO, Justin Brands.
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  <br>
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  All of the business leaders in EY’s Southwest Region competition were scheduled to be honored at an awards gala in Dallas on June 27. Winners there will go on to compete for EY’s national and
  international Entrepreneur Of The Year awards.
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  <span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Dickey's Barbecue </span>
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  <span style="font-style: italic;">Roland Dickey, Jr., CEO</span>
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  Keeping a 74-year-old restaurant business fresh and appealing is a balancing act, says Roland Dickey Jr., the third generation of the Dickey family to head up the company. “Our heart and soul is
  making great barbecue,” he says, “and we have to make sure that we keep our core values while also making sure that we’re never outdone by our competitors.”
</div>
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  Dickey, whose grandfather, Travis Dickey Sr., founded Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in 1941, was named CEO in 2006. Since taking the helm, he has grown the number of stores from 20 to 500 across the United
  States. He also added online ordering for all its locations and a national catering hotline that now accounts for 15 percent of Dickey’s overall sales.
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  The company sells barbecue sauce and rubs in its stores and plans to add new lines of potato chips and dinner rolls.
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  As always, each store smokes all of its meats on site, including brisket, pulled pork, ham, polish sausage, turkey breast, and chicken, and offers a variety of sides.
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  Dickey regularly checks out the competition by visiting their restaurants, and one thing often stands out. “The food may be good,” he says, “but the atmosphere doesn’t have a good vibe. We want our
  customers to have fun when they visit our stores.” From the music to the rustic décor, Dickey’s stores aim for an upbeat, energetic ambiance.
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  <br>
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  The company, which is looking at expanding internationally, opened more than 100 new locations in 2014 and plans to repeat that this year. 
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  <br>
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  —G.V.
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Dallas-Fort Worth Entrepreneurs of the Year 2015

<p style="text-align: left;">
  To stay competitive in the restaurant market, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is rolling out technology that amasses data from all 500 of its restaurants.
</p>
<p>
  Called Smoke Stack, the tech culls information around Dickey’s point of sale systems, promotions, food purchasing patterns and inventory. Having the data in one location will allow Dickey’s to look
  at what points of its business can be improved.
</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
  <img src="https://rrbi-dbri-boss-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/public/content/post_files/screen_shot_2015-11-03_at_10_06_00_am-1446566838571.png" alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-03 at 10.06.00 AM.png" style="float: none;"><br>
</p>
<p>
  “Our goal with the technology is definitely to use data and make the best business decisions possible, as opposed to spending so much of our time gathering that data,” Dickey’s CIO Laura Rea Dickey
  told the <em>Dallas Business Journal</em>.
</p>
<p>
  Smoke Stack was created by data warehouse solutions company iOLAP, which combined data integration software from Syncsort with capabilities from business intelligence firm Yellowfin and Amazon
  Redshift.
</p>
<p>
  Dickey’s is currently using the software in 175 locations and plans to expand to all 500 restaurants by July 1.
</p>
<p>
  By: <strong>Korri Kezar</strong><br>
  <em>Dallas Business Journal</em>
</p>

Dickey's Barbecue Pit Rolls Out Data Collection Tech

<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  From <a href="https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/navy-veteran-opens-new-dickeys-bbq-washington" target="_blank">QSR</a> 
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  Navy Veteran and professor, T.L. Driver, will open his second Dickey’s Barbecue Pit location on Thursday, June 11 at 11 a.m. in Poulsbo, Washington. Driver opened his first location in
  Port Orchard last summer. To celebrate, he’s hosting a three-day grand opening in Poulsbo, where the first 50 guests will receive gift cards ranging from $5 to $50.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  “Dickey’s Barbecue has taken off in Washington state,” says Roland Dickey, Jr., CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. “Veterans are an integral part of our brand and we’re lucky to have Doc and
  his team expanding our brand in Kitsap County.”
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  On Friday, June 12, guests can receive free t-shirts, koozies, sunglasses, and more with all-day merchandise giveaways.  On Saturday, June 13, radio station 94.1
  KMPS will be onsite from noon to 2 p.m., and the new location is serving up $2 pulled pork barbecue sandwiches. During the event, one winner will be chosen for a $500 gift card and
  three winners will receive free barbecue for an entire year.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  “Being in the barbecue business is exciting and we’re looking forward to celebrating our new store,” Driver says. “Dickey’s Barbecue has been extremely well-received here in Washington and everyone
  is looking forward to having a Poulsbo location.”
</p>

Navy Veteran Opens New Dickey's BBQ in Washington

<p>
  Forbes spoke with Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. CIO, Laura Rea Dickey about how we're using Big Data to drive our restaurant's performance. Check out the full interview <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/06/02/big-data-at-dickeys-barbecue-pit-how-analytics-drives-restaurant-performance/">here</a>. 
</p>

Forbes Interviewed Dickey's CIO, Laura Rea Dickey about Smoke Stack 

<div>
  <h1>
    Dickey’s Barbecue Looks to Cloud for Edge Against Competitors Like Chipotle
  </h1>
  <p>
    By: Steven Norton
  </p>
  <p>
    It used to take Dickey’s Barbecue Pit about a month to figure out if a new menu item met the five requirements needed to become a permanent fixture. With data from its 500 stores now in a
    standard format and location, the process now takes a single day.
  </p>
  <p>
    <img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-5" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-IQ595_0528_c_E_20150528181301.jpg" style="border:none; float:right; height:239px; margin:10px; width:359px">
  </p>
</div>
<p>
  The barbecue chain, which features on-site hickory wood burning pits, sees data as a way to engineer efficiency and profitability into its stores as it goes up against fast-casual competitors like
  Chipotle.
</p>
<p>
  The new system, called Smoke Stack, is an amalgamation of cloud and Big Data tools hosted and delivered by consulting firm iOLAP Inc. Among them are integration software from Syncsort, a business
  intelligence platform from Yellowfin and data warehousing from Amazon Redshift, part of Amazon Web Services. The system pulls data from point-of-sale systems and combines it with information about
  promotions, media buys, food purchasing patterns and inventory data, among other things. Smoke Stack has 175 corporate users and beta testers now, and Dickey’s plans to roll it out to 350
  restaurant operators next week.
</p>
<p>
  A primary element of Smoke Stack is the agent that pulls in data from each store’s point-of-sale systems, many of which have different software versions or data extraction formats. iOLAP first had
  to ensure that data could be uploaded on a schedule, then had to manage it for consistency. That included adding location, date and time stamps on every record.  Smoke Stack also brought
  system-level data concepts to Dickey’s, allowing each restaurant’s individual product codes and other information to map to a common place.
</p>
<p>
  Being able to quickly manipulate varied datasets helps Dickey’s keep stock keeping units (SKUs) low, CIO Laura Rea Dickey said. With eight proteins served only two ways, plus side dishes and
  desserts, Dickey’s tries to cap its SKUs at about 125. Exceptions are made for “local favorites,” dishes that sell well at a certain store or in a particular region, and test items hit the menu
  from time to time.
</p>
<p>
  “Data has driven us to validate that the tighter the inventory, the better,” Ms. Dickey said. “We’re continuing to mine the menu to reduce SKUs as much as possible.”
</p>
<p>
  The chain evaluates menu items and SKUs using five different metrics: brand, quality, profitability, guest response/sales and complexity of preparation. Menu items must meet all five criteria to
  become permanent. The criteria are a mix of qualitative and quantitative metrics, such as hard sales figures, customer surveys and 1-to-5 ratings to measure preparation difficulty.
</p>
<p>
  Chili, for example, fit the Dickey’s brand concept, but it required too many ingredients and too much prep time. It also sold poorly and was eventually pulled from the menu. Before Smoke Stack,
  measuring chili’s performance against the five metrics would have required weeks of loading and querying data followed by a laborious analysis process. Now, those metrics can be cross-referenced in
  a single report. Measurements can be made daily, and Dickey’s can make changes to menu items on the fly to see how they affect performance.
</p>
<p>
  Dickey’s uses Hadoop when it needs to do large manipulations of information not usually needed in the database. In one instance, Dickey’s needed information about what time each POS system
  completed its end-of-day processes, data that’s stored in a configuration file not easily readable by a relational database. Using Map Reduce and a temporary Hadoop cluster on AWS, Dickey’s was
  able to parse and read millions of records in minutes.
</p>
<p>
  Sales data could be viewed on a daily basis before, but now it refreshes every 15 to 20 minutes. That information can now be cross-correlated with marketing data and other metrics daily, Ms. Dickey
  said. Key performance indicators are now reviewed by the corporate team the day before, and the findings drive the next day’s business meetings, operations, marketing initiatives and training
  sessions.
</p>

The Wall Street Journal Spoke with our CIO, Laura Rea Dickey about our Advanced Analytics Solution, Smoke Stack

<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  From <a href="https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/dickeys-training-videos-awarded-four-tellys" target="_blank">QSR</a> 
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc.’s Shift Meeting Training Videos (SMTVs) were awarded four 2015 Telly Awards. The Telly Awards honor the finest film and video productions, web commercials,
  videos, and films, and outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs. Winners of the 36<span style="font-size: 11.25px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span> Annual Telly Awards were selected from more than 12,000 entries from all 50 states
  and five continents.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  Dickey’s Barbecue SMTVs are a daily, branded video delivered to each store with the purpose of communicating, educating, and motivating Dickey’s Barbecue team members, managers, and
  owner/operators. Location views are monitored to ensure all staff is up-to-date on all training methods and store promotions. Each episode reviews a company standard, a FACT focus for a menu item,
  the deal of the day, team focus, and a trivia question.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  “I’m extremely proud of the team who put in the hard work each and every week to write, produce, and publish our SMTVs seven days a week, 52 weeks a year for our over 500 locations nationwide,”
  says Steve Hawter, VP of training for Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. “Video is a proven effective method to streamline content from an organization to the staff on the ground which is essential
  in the restaurant industry.”
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;  font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'DejaVu Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
  The winners included the “Art of Brisket-Prep” SMTV which earned three Tellys for Training Video, Employee Communication, and Cinematography/Videography, as well as the “Grab, Squish &amp; Tickle”
  SMTV which earned a Telly for Employee Communication.
</p>

Dickey's Training Videos Awarded Four Tellys

<p>
  Roland Dickey, Jr. was a panelist on the Franchise Operator's Panel at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago this weekend. Nation's Restaurant News featured the panel. Check it out <a href="http://nrn.com/blog/why-restaurants-should-keep-things-simple">here</a>. 
</p>

Press Room