USAToday's Hotspot Directory - So You Want to Be a Hotspot : Do It Yourself: "The Schlotzsky's Story


Austin-based Schlotzsky's Delis, a nationwide chain of franchised sandwich shops, has made both Wi-Fi and free in-store computer stations available to customers in some 30 stores, including all of its 13 Austin locations. The company, tested its first Wi-Fi hotspots over a year ago in company-owned stores, plans to bring the service to as many of its 650 stores as possible, depending on acceptance among franchise owners. Schlotzsky's Director of Communications, Monica Landers, credits Schlotzsky's CEO John Wooley with conceiving of Wi-Fi as a way of integrating Schlotzsky's restaurants into their communities. It was Wooley who insisted the service be free.


'It does great things for the restaurant and costs a lot less than other things we do, like repainting,' said Landers.


Landers also points out the company's mounting of a high-gain Wi-Fi antenna on the roof of a store near a University of Texas dormitory, providing access to the store's 'Cool Cloud' network for residents. And in downtown Austin, Schlotzsky's Wi-Fi signal splashes into the busy Sixth and Congress intersection at the heart of the city, and is accessible from the bar of the Intercontinental-Stephen F. Austin hotel, a block away, says Landers proudly.


But there's certainly more than good will in Schlotzsky's embrace of free wireless. Both Wooley and Landers have been frequent panelists at industry trade shows, and articles about the Cool Cloud have appeared in Wired, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and other publications. All of this has raised Schlotzsky's profile in the crowded casual dining/fast food restaurant market.


For customers, Wi-Fi, along with a row of public access Apple iMacs available for use by those without laptops, is both a destination and a distraction. Besides a turkey sandwich or a pizza, customers find coffee, cookies and other baked good at Schlotzsky's, all of which, the company hopes, will go well with a little time on the Web. Landers says computer users typically spend around 30 minutes in the store, a statistic that has warmed initially skeptical franchise owners. -- By Shelly Brisbin"