A Historic Landmark Reimagined

Denver Union Station is no ordinary hospitality venue—it's a historic landmark that has been thoughtfully revitalised to serve as a central hub for diverse dining experiences. We sat down with John Mark, the Director of Business Operations for City Street Investors.

This iconic building houses a collection of distinct concepts: "We became part of the team that came together to sort of revitalize and reintroduce this building to Denver. So all of the businesses here, Americana style concepts, locally owned and operated. So terminal bar underneath us is sort of the everyman's bar. We're sitting here in the cooper Lounge, which is a throwback to the sort of rail car, dining car on the orient Express. We have a wonderful coffee shop called pig Train, a milk box ice creamery and so we have ultra mercantile dining and provisions, James Beard award-winning chef. Alex Seidel owns and operates there."

Multi-Vendor Magic

The unique structure of Denver Union Station, with its multiple venues under one roof, presented both opportunities and challenges that me&u was uniquely positioned to address.

"I think one of the competitive advantages for me&u is the multi-vendor ordering opportunities. All of the meal periods that we offer all in one platform. So you scan onto the QR as a guest and you can choose your own adventure. Maybe you had a wild night out of the town, need a little hair of the dog and a Bloody Mary from Terminal Bar. Fantastic. It's all right in there for you. You don't need to jump around. You don't need to get up out of your comfy seat. We will bring it to you."

This multi-vendor capability also extends to the back-office functionality: "The way that the back end of me&u is structured and the ability to run the finances through all the individual channels is one of the biggest reasons why we ultimately landed on this platform. It allows a customisation that we just didn't find with any of the other vendors."

Operational Resilience

Beyond convenience, me&u provides operational benefits that help maintain service standards even during challenging situations.

"You know, if it's a busy, busy evening and maybe we understaffed or maybe somebody called out, part of the huge value add of me&u is to create a level of consistency for our guests. And so me&u allows our guests to self-direct to a certain extent and get things started."

This self-service capability also ensures revenue is maximised: "It also allows us to not miss the sale. And missing the sale is a huge part of something that we just can't afford to do."

Measurable Business Impact

The implementation of me&u has delivered concrete financial benefits that have won over even initially sceptical staff members.

"This is a really simple tool. It actually does drive revenue. It has increased, demonstrably increased the per person average in their sections. By extension, variable tips have increased. And so if people will stay with something long enough to see the downstream results of the implementation, they're going to be really enthusiastic about it they're going to be really pleased with the outcomes that they will see manifest."

Hospitality-First Support

What particularly impresses John Mark is me&u's approach to customer support, which aligns with hospitality industry expectations for immediacy and effectiveness.

"Another one of the great aspects of the me&u platform for us that we've experienced so far is just a really unprecedented level of account management support from the me&u team. The normal experience for us is to put in a support ticket and then really keep your fingers crossed that that support ticket is seen in a timely manner, responded to in a timely manner, because I'm not reaching out because I need help with something in 72 hours. I'm reaching out because I need help now."

This responsive approach has consistently delivered: "me&u has done a tremendous job providing that instantaneous support, instantaneous solutions to problems in the moment as they arrive."

A Hospitality Company First

For John Mark, what truly sets me&u apart is its hospitality-centric approach to technology: "There's just a palpable sense around the whole me&u company that, as I said earlier, it's a hospitality company that offers a tech solution and not the other way around. And that's who we want to do business with."

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