MEDIA RELATIONS:
Shelley Eastland (713) 502-4658
Deborah Hayden (713) 426-6093
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2003

Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, The Buona Companies Hire Statistical Modeling/Analysis Firm


Houston (April 21, 2003) – Quantitative Analysis (QA) announced today that it recently added two restaurants to its client roster, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Camille's Sidewalk Café and Chicago-based The Buona Companies. QA will analyze trade area and sales data of these companies' current locations. Upon completing the analysis and identifying the important influence factors, QA will develop a customized model for each company to use as a guide to site selection and expansion planning. 

Deborah Hayden, QA's president and founder, said the recent contracts speak to a growing trend among retail businesses and franchise owners to maximize expansion efforts early in the process. "Typically, business owners aren't aware of the benefits modeling can have on expansion plans, particularly in the earliest growth stages," Hayden said. "I see retailers, restaurant owners in particular, starting to value this information. They recognize that quantitative modeling methods bring objectivity to their site selection processes, and ensure the best locations are chosen." 

Camille's Sidewalk Café, a fast-growing restaurant franchise offering quick, healthy cuisine options, currently has 20 operating restaurants nationwide, including locations in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, North Carolina and Tennessee with another 160 units in development. 

According to David Rutkauskas, president and CEO of Camille's Sidewalk Café, "The choice of location is one of the most important decisions a franchise owner makes. While we currently know our target demographics, a model will help quantify that knowledge and provide an objective means of evaluating new sites. Objective forecasting means better sites are chosen, which translates into higher unit sales. This is a key component of unit economics we focus on for our franchisees." 

The Buona Companies, a family-owned Italian beef, pizzeria and catering company, currently operates 10 quick-casual Buona Beef restaurants and their newest concept Joey Buona's Pizzeria, in and around Chicago. The company also operates a Joey Buona's Pizzeria in Milwaukee and the Bret Favre Steakhouse in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with plans to expand the Buona Beef and Joey Buona's Pizzeria concepts into other markets. 

Carlo Buonavolanto, The Buona Companies president and CEO, said modeling lends precision to the company's decision-making process. "We liked the fact that a statistical forecasting model learns from our current locations and their sales performance, instead of starting from scratch. As the number of locations grows, the model will get stronger." 

Houston-based Quantitative Analysis (QA) is an advanced statistical modeling and analysis company formed to help companies use data to make more profitable business decisions. For more information about the company, visit the company's website at www.quantitativeanalysis.com. 

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