Pinstripes’ leadership team rang the bell Friday to mark the company’s debut on the public market after a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal with Banyan Acquisition Company in late December. The eatertainment concept has already been trading publicly on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol “PNST.”
For founder/CEO Dale Schwartz, the Wall Street ceremony is a big step on this journey that began in 2007, when he opened the first Pinstripes location.
“My vison has always been to build an extremely high quality, world-class brand and scale it. I never had any interest in selling it to a Dave & Buster’s or any other player. Instead, we wanted to build something long lasting,” Schwartz said during a recent interview at the ICR Conference in Orlando.
To do that, he considered taking the concept public about six years ago, knowing it would infuse more capital into the business, help build more brand awareness, and help recruit and retain employees.
“For all of those reasons, going public held a lot of intrigue,” Schwartz said.
So, Pinstripes embarked upon a pre-IPO roadshow in early 2020. We all know what happened then, however. Then Omicron happened. Then the IPO market all but froze last year. Fast forward to 2023, and Banyan entered the conversation and invested $21 million upfront as a “precursor.”
“The SPAC vehicle offered us the perfect opportunity to be a contrarian and strike and capitalize on all the real estate and its significant expansion opportunities and raise some attractive capital now,” Schwartz said.
PNST is now trading and the journey for Schwartz and his team continues. The objective now, he said, is to “put our head down and build value.”
How Pinstripes will do that is by focusing on top and bottom-line optimization at every location. Schwartz said, “all kinds of marketing initiatives” are underway, as well as “exciting new adoptions of technology to stay relevant and fresh.” And yes, the company plans to accelerate its footprint as well. Pinstripes currently has 15 locations with plans to open at least six more in the U.S. this year. Its growth moving forward will also include a global footprint, with its first opening by 2025 or 2026.
“We’re going to start playfully attacking the international market. All the same experiential trends are real overseas and we’re going to strike some exciting partnerships with players that want to grow Pinstripes into cities overseas. And we’ll do that as an asset-light licensing or franchise model,” Schwartz said.
As Pinstripes embarks upon a bullish growth cadence, Schwartz reiterates that the concept will stick to its core competencies – bowling, bocce, bistro (food and beverage). Food and beverage makes up 70% of the company’s sales and is a key differentiator in the competitive eatertainment space, he said. Indeed, its Chicago menu features offerings such as made-from-scratch wood-fired pizzas, gelatos, gnocchi and vodka sauce, lobster mac and cheese, Italian jambalaya, Chicago-style baby back ribs and much more. There are also local beers, handcrafted cocktails, and an Italian/American wine list. Further, its Sunday brunch buffet is popular, averaging about 1,200 covers per location, and the company is now extending that to Saturday to drive more weekend business.
“Our food is that good. The challenge is it’s the exception of the rule for entertainment/dining concepts to have that level of dining,” he said. “We’ve gone to tremendous lengths and as a result, that’s why we are at 70% and why we have so many private events. It means more repeat business.”
Ensuring the brand’s locations remain fresh and modern is also a priority. Pinstripes is currently exploring how to add projection mapping to its locations, for instance.
“Imagine you’re standing on a bocce court and it’s as if you’re standing on the ocean, and when you roll the bocce balls, fish fly out of the court. Or, if all of a sudden, you’re bowling with the Flintstones. If you’re getting married, we can project stunning imagery of the bride and groom,” Schwartz said. “That’s projection mapping. There’s unbelievable things we can do.”
He believes these types of incremental updates will increase visitation and awareness, and the company plans to test projection mapping in a few locations this year.
“We think anyone who’s going to show up and enjoy our venue is just going to eat more and drink more and tell their friends and family. If we can do an extra $1 million in bowling or bocce sales at a venue, that’s pure profit,” he said. “That’s why we’re getting excited.”
Those extra sales will add to Pinstripes’ current AUVs, which are around $8.6 million. New locations are targeted at $9 million-plus because they tend to be located in heavy foot traffic, suburban areas with strong co-tenants.
Though Pinstripes is looking at new growth, marketing, and menu opportunities, Schwartz makes it a point to note that the company’s DNA will never change. Locations will never sell shots, for example, or add the Metaverse or pickleball to its activities.
“The easy thing is to start selling Jell-o shots or adding … curling or ping pong or darts. No,” Schwartz said. “That’s been deliberate. We will stay true to who we are. Sometimes less is more and we want to do what we do well.”
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]