Personnel Updates
• &pizza (16) has promoted Andy Hopper to president and COO. Hopper previously served as Chief People Officer for the brand. Chef Erik Bruner-Yang has also come on board as Executive Chef and John Reepmeyer will serve as the company’s CFO.
• Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (94) has announced that Joseph Kadow, Chief Legal Officer, Executive Vice President and Assistant Secretary will be stepping down from his role after a 25-year tenure with the company. He will be succeeded by Kelly Lefferts who currently serves as Group Vice President, U.S. General Counsel and Secretary.
• BonChon Franchise LLC (8) announced that former Wingstop CMO Flynn Dekker would be taking over as CEO.
• Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. (31) has named Minh Le to serve as the company’s first Chief Information Officer.
• CraftWorks Holdings (14) has named former Dick’s Last Resort CEO Marc Buehler to serve as president. Fellow industry veteran Jim Lebs joins him as CFO.
• Disruptive Restaurant Group (9) has named two new executives. Nate Appleman has been appointed COO for Umami Burger and John Polizzi will now serve as VP of Operations for the entire restaurant group.
• Diversified Restaurant Holdings Inc. (6) has announced that president and CEO David Burke and CFO Phyllis Knight have stepped down from their positions. Founder and chairman of the board Michael Ansley will serve as interim CEO. Controller Toni Werner will take on the role of interim CFO.
• Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (70) has named Stephanie Lilak as Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior VP.
• The Epicurean Group (4) is returning to the hands of Stanley Dickson Jr as owner and CEO. Dickson had sold the company to financial advisor Ryan Moore back in January. Moore has chosen to walk away from the company and allegedly terminated all of its employees.
• Focus Brands Inc. (34) has tapped Jason Gronlund to serve as Executive Chef for their Moe’s Southwest Grill brand. Gronlund was formerly the Culinary Director of Hard Rock Café.
• Freshii Inc. (17) has named Daniel Haroun as their new CFO. He will assume the role on Aug. 26 after previously serving in a senior management position at Restaurant Brands International.
• The Habit Restaurants Inc. (14) has named Brandon LaChance Vice President of Digital Marketing.
• Little Greek Franchise Development LLC (5) promoted Bryan St. George to COO. St. George was previously serving as Vice President of Operations and Development for the company.
• Luby’s Inc. (30) has named David Greenberg as Vice President of Marketing and John Holzem as Vice President of Information Technology
• McDonald’s Corp (236) announced that Silvia Lagnado will step down as CMO in October. The company has not named a successor. Bob Rupczynski was named Senior VP of Marketing Technology for the company and Colin Mitchell was promoted to Senior VP of Global Marketing.
• Papa John’s International Inc. (33) has appointed Jim Norberg to serve as its Chief Restaurant Operations Officer. Previously, Norberg spent 30 years working at the McDonald’s Corporation.
• Qdoba Mexican Eats (18) has named Katy Velazquez to serve as Corporate Executive Chef. She previously served as executive chef at Puesto.
• Rave Restaurant Group Inc. (15) has terminated now former CEO Scott Crane. Company president Bob Bafundo has been named “principal executive officer” but no formal successor to Crane has been named.
• REGO Restaurant Group (16) has named Thomas Harper to serve as the group’s Vice President of International Development. Tom Kurrikoff has been named CFO.
• Superfood Holdings LLC (2), the newly formed parent company for health food brands Project Juice and Beaming Organic Superfood Café, has named Clay Sanger as CEO.
• Yum Brands Inc. (80) has appointed Chris Turner to serve as CFO. He succeeds Yum president and COO David Gibbs.
Mergers & Acquisitions
• Brinker International Inc. has announced plans to buy 116 Chili’s Grill and Bar restaurants from current franchisee ERJ Dining. The deal is expected to close in Q1 2020.
• HOA Restaurant Group LLC has been acquired by Nord Bay Capital and TriArtisan Capital Advisors for an undisclosed amount.
• International Coffee & Tea LLC is said to be acquired by Jollibee Foods Corporation for $350 million. This move is in an effort to bring Philippines-based Jollibee dominance in the Asian market for coffee.
• Jack’s Family Restaurants Inc. is set to be sold by its parent company Onex Corporation at the end of Q3 to an as-of-now undisclosed buyer. More details to follow.
• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. has received a formal offer from Vintage Capital Management LLC to buy the company. The proposal is being reviewed and more information will follow if the deal is accepted.
Industry Insight
• Ben & Jerry’s Franchising Inc. has announced that, once regulations are in place via the FDA, they will release CBD-infused frozen treats.
• Blaze Fast-Fired Pizza has announced that they are releasing four ‘Lifestyle-focused’ pizzas based around popular diets. They will now be offering: Keto, Protein, Vegan and Vegetarian branded pizzas. In addition, they will be launching both a ‘Keto’ crust and a cauliflower crust.
• Cornerstone Restaurant Group unveiled its full-service restaurant in collaboration with homeware retailer Crate & Barrel dubbed ‘The Table at Crate’ in one of their Illinois stores. The restaurant is headed by Executive Chef Bill Kim.
• Dig Seasonal Market recently rebranded to drop the “inn” from their name. The company’s founder and CEO said the name change is in an effort to better position the company for growth.
• Doctor’s Associate’s Inc. has begun offering ‘low-calorie’ milkshakes in key test markets. The shakes will be made using Halo Top Creamery ice cream. In a competitive move; they have contrasted the nutritional information for their shakes against those of rivals such as Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs. They have also released a limited-time offering of sandwiches on ciabatta bread.
• Fuel Space a restaurant concept developed by retailer Lululemon opened in one of their Chicago stores. In sticking with the brand’s message; the menu is comprised of quite a bit of health-conscious fare as well as some ‘cheat-day’ indulgences such as chocolate-covered bacon.
• The Kroger Co. has announced plans to open a bar and food hall adjacent to its headquarters in Cincinnati this September. The food hall will house five vendors including local restaurants as well as Kroger’s Kitchen 1883 Café and Bar.
• Starbucks Corporation has opened its first ‘Starbucks Now’ express café in China. The café emphasizes mobile orders and delivery customers. The company has also stated that it plans on rolling out its delivery service in conjunction with Uber Eats throughout the U.S. in early 2020.
• SWH Mimi’s Café Holding Compnay Inc has rebranded their 77 Mimi’s Café locations as ‘Mimi’s Bistro + Bakery’. The company believes this will help further position the French-inspired nature of the brand.
• Which Wich Inc. has announced that, starting this month, locations will be offering crinkle fries. The chain is installing vent less fryers to cook the new product and were quick to point out that other major sandwich shops, such as Subway and Jimmy John’s, do not offer fries.
Financial Focus
• CEC Entertainment Inc. posted an increase of 0.4% in same-store sales for Q2. This comes as the company prepares to go public again in a proposed merger with Leo Holdings Corp.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill hit an all-time high stock trading price of $759. This comes after the company was trading as low as $255 a share just last year. Chipotle also posted same-store sales up 10% for Q2.
• Cooper’s Hawk Holding Inc. has received an undisclosed investment from Ares Management Corporation in order to help fund their continued growth. Private Equity firm KarpReilly also sold their minority stake in Cooper’s Hawk as part of the deal.
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. has entered a partnership with Punch Bowl Social to invest up to $140 million in their brand. Cracker Barrel will have a non-controlling stake in the company. The partnership will help provide funding for future growth in Punch Bowl Social’s experiential restaurant concept.
• Domino’s Pizza Inc. released that same-store sales growth was 2.1% for Q2. This number represents the slowest pace in 7 years for the company.
• Fazoli’s Restaurant LLC has stated that sales and traffic of their remodeled stores have seen 12% growth since their brand reboot. The company has stated that all of their units will be upgraded to this new design by 2021.
• McDonald’s Corp has stated that since the introduction of their ‘fresh beef’ Quarter Pounders a year ago average sales of the burger have increased by 30%. The company also stated that in Q1 2019 they sold 40 million more Quarter Pounders than in Q1 2018.
• Luby’s Inc. posted a net loss of $5.3 million for their third quarter. This comes on the heels of the company closing 30 units amongst their brands over the past year in order to try and bring the company back to a profitable standing.
• Restaurants Unlimited Inc. has declared bankruptcy and closed 6 units. They have been actively looking for a buyer the past three years to no avail. They now currently operate 35 locations nationwide.
• Slim Chickens received funding from Atlanta-based private equity firm 10 Point Capital in order to help reach the company’s goal of opening 600 new units over the next decade. The company currently has development deals for 350 locations.
Real Estate
• Boston Market Corporation has closed 45 units in the past month bringing their store count down to 454.
• The Crack Shack has announced that they are expanding beyond their native California. A location in Las Vegas is planned to open by year’s end for the ‘upscale’ fast-casual brand.
• Doctor’s Associate’s Inc. has created an initiative in which about 40% of their nearly 25,000 U.S. locations will be remodeled by the end of 2020. Franchisees that take advantage of this initiative will receive grants to fund about 25% of the remodeling costs.
• Glory Days Inc. has signed a development deal to open 8 new locations of their Glory Days Grill restaurants in key markets in North Carolina over the next few years.
• Newk’s Franchise Company has signed an 18-unit development deal for 10 Dallas area locations and 8 in Oklahoma City.
• O’Charley’s Restaurants closed 8 locations this month. A specific reason was not noted for these closures. This marks 20 closures for the franchise since 2016.
• Punch Bowl Social is expanding its ‘experiential lifestyle brand’ to 17 locations with a new opening in Dallas. This is the second location that the Denver-based chain currently operates in Texas.
• Restaurant Brands International revealed that it has signed a deal to develop 1,500 locations of their Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen brand in the People’s Republic of China.
• Tropical Smoothie Franchise Development Corp. opened 58 new locations in the first half of 2019 as well as signed 75 franchise agreements. At the beginning of 2019, the company stated they aspire to open 130 cafés and sign at least 175 franchise agreements by the end of the year.
• Wingstop Restaurants Inc. has just signed an agreement to relocate their headquarters from Dallas, Texas to Addison, Texas. This move is in accordance with their long-term expansion strategy.
Technology
• DD IP Holder has continued its test of self-serve kiosks in some of their Dunkin’ branded stores. The company has already tested some of these kiosks in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Rhode Island as well as adopting this model in a California store this month.
• Domino’s Pizza Inc. has started testing out cashless payments at five stores in Australia. Patrons will be able to use contactless payments such as Apple Pay and PayPal as well as normal credit cards and a few other means of exchange. The company also plans on implementing GPS tracking technology to delivery orders in order to compete with the functionality of third-party services such as Uber Eats.
• Firehouse Restaurant Group Inc. unveiled a new look for one of their Jacksonville, Florida locations dubbing it their “Restaurant of the Future” prototype. The restaurant has been redesigned to streamline the customer experience with a designated area for to-go orders and more prominent ordering areas.
• McDonald’s Corp. has announced that they no longer will only offer delivery exclusively through Uber Eats. They will now be testing out using Uber Eats fellow third-party delivery service Doordash in order to better serve their customers. A pilot program is launching this month in Houston for 200 stores.
• Papa John’s International Inc. has received the highest marks of any company by the American Customer Satisfaction Index for their mobile app. As mobile ordering continues to gain prominence; having a reliable app is more integral than ever for companies in order to remain competitive.
• Roti Mediterranean Grill has announced their adoption of solution provider Brightloom’s (formally Eatsa) technology. Brightloom’s integration is said to improve multiple facets of the fast casual brand’s experience including streamlined ordering and pickup as well as increased data analytics.
• Starbucks Corporation has invested an undisclosed sum in the newly rebranded Brightloom (formally Eatsa) tech company. The deal is in an effort to combine Starbucks proprietary marketing software with Brightloom’s digital ordering and pick up systems. This union will create an all-in-one digital solutions platform.
• Yum Brands Inc. has decided to test cubby shelves in one of their Pizza Hut locations. These cubbies would allow customers to place a pick-up order and retrieve their pizza from their respective cubby without having a need to interact with any Pizza Hut employees. The cubby system was developed by Brightloom.
Just because we don’t mention it here doesn’t mean it didn’t happen – or we didn’t capture it. In the past four weeks, we’ve updated more than 885 companies in the Chain Restaurant Premier Database, with many of those companies’ records updated at multiple points.
