During fiscal 2002, Smokey Bones BBQ performed very well. Sales more than doubled. Ten locations were added for a total of 19 restaurants in operation in nine states. But there’s much more to come, as we accelerate our national expansion.

With three years of testing and operations experience, we are more convinced than ever of Smokey Bones’ market potential. This confidence is based on three factors:

Differentiated Concept – The “three-dimensional” nature of the concept – barbecue in a sports bar environment with a mountain lodge décor – differentiates Smokey Bones from all other competitors in casual dining, including other barbecue and sports bar concepts.

Market Fragmentation – Barbecue restaurants and sports bars are highly fragmented segments of casual dining, with no dominant player on a national level.

Broad Appeal – Barbecue carries broad appeal across regional and demographic lines, including age, gender, ethnicity and income.

The combination of these factors creates an expansion potential that we believe could become an operating company with at least $1.5 billion in annual sales in the future.

The Smokey Bones team spent much of fiscal 2002 fine-tuning the concept. This included conducting intensive demographic and geographic research.

We also refined our site selection process and paid considerable attention to keeping guest satisfaction ratings at very high levels, even during this period of rapid growth.

Results have been very encouraging. Through our “Fan Survey” mystery shopper program, all Smokey Bones locations have stayed above our high standard of at least 90% overall excellent ratings. While we recognize that each restaurant has opportunities for continued improvement, these results give us confidence that we’re successfully translating our vision of friendly people, great barbecue and an energetic atmosphere to each new restaurant.