Personnel Updates
• Arby’s Restaurant Group (101) has promoted Jim Taylor to President following Rob Lynch’s departure to Papa John’s. Taylor had been serving as CMO of the company prior.
• Biscuitville Inc. (16) has named John Young as Vice President of Technology & Transformation.
• Blaze Pizza LLC (27) has announced that Jim Mizes has retired from his position as CEO. CFO Amanda Shaw has been named interim CEO as the company searches for permanent replacement.
• BonChon Franchise LLC (15) has named Bryan Shin as CFO and Greg Buchanan as Senior VP, Development. Both of these positions are firsts for the company.
• Black Bear Diners Inc. (26) has brought on Tammy Johns as their first Chief People Officer.
• CKE Restaurants Inc. (50) has named Andrew Robinson as their Chief Human Resources Officer.
• Deli Management Inc. (23) announced that their CEO and co-founder, Joe Tortorice, has passed away at the age of 70. Mr. Tortorice had been battling cancer.
• Domino’s Pizza Inc. (66) has brought on Lisa price to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer.
• Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (63) has promoted Peter Green to regional Vice President in the Mid-Atlantic. The company has also hired Maria Hollandsworth as regional Vice President of the West and Jorge Salvat as regional Vice President of the Central Atlantic.
• El Pollo Loco Inc. (21) has announced that Jason Weintraub will serve as Chief Legal Officer effective August 29th.
• Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. (17) has announced the appointment of Dirk Montgomery as CFO. Montgomery most recently served as CFO of Hooters of America.
• Global Franchise Group (17) has promoted Jenn Johnston to Chief Brand Officer and President of Franchise Operations. She previously served as Chief Marketing Officer and COO. To take her place Jim Parrish has been hired to serve as the company’s new COO.
• JINYA Holdings Inc. (7) announced that Vu Nguyen will now serve as Director of Human Resources and Robert Phillips is joining the team as Vice President of Marketing.
• The Madera Group (5) has hired Rudy Sugueti as Chief Operating Officer.
• McDonald’s Corporation (235) has announced that their Manager of Culinary Innovation, Michael Haracz, has left the company.
• Mendocino Farms (16) has announced that Kevin Miles will be replacing Harald Herrmann as CEO. Previously Miles served as CEO of Zoes Kitchen.
• Papa John’s International Inc. (31) has named former Arby’s President Rob Lynch as President and CEO effective immediately.
• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (27) has announced that interim CEO and board chair Pattye Moore will step down from both positions when a new CEO is named. Red Robin has been working with the Elliot Group to aid in their CEO search and expect to make an announcement on that front in the near future.
• Saladworks Inc. (9) has appointed Kelly Roddy to serve as the new CEO of the company.
• Schlotzsky’s Ltd. (9) Has named Beto Guajardo as president. Guajardo previously served as Senior Vice President of Global Strategy at Starbucks.
• Smashburger Master LLC (19) has promoted Carl Bachmann to the role of President. Bachmann most recently served as COO at the company. They also appointed Charlie Sayre to Vice President of Finance and hired Scott Johnson to serve as Vice President of Marketing.
• Straw Hat Restaurants Inc. (6) has appointed Shelly Young to serve as their new Director of Franchise Sales.
• Taco Bell Corp. (41) has announced that Global Chief Brand Officer Marisa Thalberg has left the company. Tracee Larocca (Senior Vice President of Advertising and Brand Engagement) and Melissa Friebe (Senior Vice President of Marketing) will take over affairs related to marketing and brand engagement but the company at this time has stated they will not be looking for a formal CMO.
• Tin Drum Asiacafe LLC (4) has had a bevy of leadership changes. Altaf Popatiya has been named COO, Amisha Popatiya has been named Director of Marketing and Matt Schinelli has been named Director of Business Development.
• Topper’s Pizza Inc. (17) has named Tina Revell to serve as their Director of E-Commerce.
• Twin Restaurant Holding LLC (15) has announced that Mark Ramage has joined the company as Director of Franchise Sales Development.
• Velvet Taco (15) has promoted company president Clay Dover to the role of CEO.
• Willie’s Restaurants (13) has announced that Gregory Lippert will serve as CEO and President of the company.
• Yum! Brands Inc. (82) announced that CEO Greg Creed will be stepping down at the end of the year. Current COO David Gibbs will step into the role January 1st, 2020. The company has also promoted Artie Starrs to CEO of Pizza Hut. In addition, Mark King has been hired as CEO of Taco Bell. The company’s three brands (Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell) now all have their own respective CEOs.
Mergers & Acquisitions
• Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has purchased Fox Restaurant Concepts. FRC will function as a free-standing, wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. As part of the deal; the company also purchased the remainder of North Italia that it had not already purchased from FRC.
• Clyde’s Restaurant Group was acquired by Graham Holdings Co. This move comes after Clyde’s former CEO and co-founder John Laytham passed away in January of this year.
• Elite Restaurant Group has acquired the Gigi’s Cupcakes brand. This is the fourth brand to operate under the company’s umbrella. The company also acquired the remaining Project Pie restaurant locations and will be reopening the locations under their Patxi’s Pizza brand.
• GetFried Franchise USA LLC has been acquired by ZorAbility, Inc. The quick-serve french fry chain will be moving its headquarters from Buffalo, NY to ZorAbility’s home city of Winston Salem, NC.
• Perkins & Marie Callender’s Inc. has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy amid entering an asset purchase agreement with Perkins Group. The deal does not include the purchase of ‘Marie Callender’-branded restaurants. More news to follow as this deal finalizes and the story develops.
• Williston Holding Company has purchased 24 units of Kona Grill Inc.’s Kona Grill brand. Kona Grill Inc. had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April. The company now only owns 3 units of its own brand as it faces a very uncertain future.
Industry Insight
• Arby’s Restaurant Group has announced that they will be bringing a food truck with a special menu to the ‘Storm Area 51’ event happening on September 20th. CMO Jim Taylor has stated “We can’t confirm if there are aliens at Area 51. But, if they do show up, they deserve the best meats on Earth.”
• Chick-fila-A Inc. has revealed that Mac & Cheese will become a permanent addition to their menu. This is the first permanent menu addition for the company since 2016.
• Doctor’s Associates Inc. has announced that, beginning in September, they will test a Beyond Meat-branded meatball sub at 685 of their Subway locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
• Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. has announced that they will start using Beyond Meat ‘sausage’ in one of their breakfast sandwiches. The sandwich will currently only be offered in New York City with plans for a national rollout dependent on its initial success.
• KFC Corporation has announced that they are testing a plant-based ‘chicken’ in a partnership with Beyond Meat at one Atlanta, Georgia location.
• Noodles & Company has said that on August 8th they will rebrand as Zoodles & Company to celebrate National Zucchini Day. On that day customers can swap out regular noodles for zucchini noodles for no extra charge.
• Panera Bread Company has partnered with Uber Eats, Grubhub and DoorDash after previously handling all of their delivery in-house. Although customers can now order through the third party apps; Panera’s own drivers will still be delivering the actual food.
• Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. has sold out of their new chicken sandwich. The release of said sandwich created a media firestorm and started ‘The Great Chicken War’ as some media outlets called it. The company said it is currently working with suppliers but at this time cannot say when the sandwich will return.
• Restaurant Brands International’s Tim Hortons brand has teamed up with Just Egg (an alternative protein company) to test a plant-based egg replacement at their restaurants. Their Burger King brand is also releasing their plant-based Impossible Burger nationwide this month.
• Yum! Brands Inc. has announced that it plans on reducing the amount of antibiotics in the beef at its Taco Bell brand by 25 percent by 2025.
Financial Focus
• CEC Entertainment Inc. will not be taken public as a proposed merger with Leo Holdings has fallen through. No reason has been stated as to why the deal was terminated. CEC was taken private back in 2014.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. paid out over $700,000 to 2,600 employees who qualified for their new bonus system. This system was recently enacted by the company to try and decrease employee turnover.
• Del Taco Restaurants Inc. is at risk of having their stock delisted. This comes amid talks of a sale of the company. The resignation of one of the company’s directors leaves the company short of the number of independent directors required to qualify for listing. The company had stated a few days earlier that it has received interest in purchase from a variety of groups and is considering a sale.
• Denny’s Corporation posted a 3.8% increase in domestic companywide same-store sales. Franchisee-owned restaurants posts a 3.7% increase as opposed to the 4.4% increase by company-owned stores.
• Dine Brands Global Inc. posted a 0.5% decrease in system-wide restaurant sales for their Applebee’s brand. Comparatively, their IHOP brand saw a 2% increase in sales.
• Eat Here Brands LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The company owns six Babalu Tapas & Tacos locations as well as their single unit restaurant Table 100.
• Alexander’s Holdings LLC has announced that it is putting itself up for sale amid pressure from shareholders.
• McDonald’s Corporation posted a 5.7% increase in same-store sales in the U.S. and a 6.5% increase in global sales for Q2.
• Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. is estimated to have made $20-23 million in sales from their new chicken sandwich. The company has sold out of their supply that they thought would last them until the end of September in two weeks.
• Qdoba Mexican Eats was fined $409,400 for over 1,000 counts of breaching child labor laws. The infringements occurred at 22 company-operated locations in Massachusetts.
• Starbucks Corporation revealed in their quarterly filings that same-store sales growth increased 6% last quarter. In addition, global traffic increased 3%.
Real Estate
• Blaze Pizza LLC has signed a deal to develop 7 new locations in Texas and Louisiana.
• Caribou Coffee Co. has announced their ‘Caribou Cabins’ concept. These 600 square feet locations will have a walk-up service counter and a drive-thru but no indoor seating. The company plans on having 5 of these new concepts built by the end of the year.
• Elite Restaurant Group has announced that it has closed 11 of its Daphne’s branded restaurants due to poor sales. All of these locations were in Texas. In addition, Elite acquired the rights to 50 locations of the Project Pie brand that were in development in Asia. These locations will be rebranded under the company’s Patxi’s Pizza brand.
• Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. has announced the signing of a 100-unit deal to be developed in Brazil. This is the company’s first foray in Brazil with the first location opening in early 2020.
• Dunkin Brands Group Inc. has announced a multi-unit deal to develop 10 Baskins-Robbins stores in Upstate New York.
• FAT Brands Inc. has partnered with Croft Ventures LLC to develop 25 locations of their Fatburger brand in Texas. The company has also signed a deal to develop five Fatburger/Buffalo’s Express joint concepts in Pakistan. The company also opened their first New Mexico location of their Fatburger brand.
• The Habit Restaurants Inc. has signed a deal for 7 restaurants in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The company has also announced plans to open 25 locations throughout Cambodia he first of which will open in 2020.
• Huey Magoo’s Restaurants LLC has announced that they recently signed a 6-unit deal to develop locations in South Georgia. The first location is intended to open Q4 2019 or Q1 2020.
• I Heart Mac & Cheese announced a three-unit development deal for the state of Indiana. This will be the company’s first foray into the state with the first location anticipated to open Spring 2020.
• Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation has unveiled the look of their redesigned stores at a location in Concord, North Carolina. The company plans on remodeling 45 more stores with this new design by 2020.
• Marco’s Franchising LLC has announced a deal to develop 15 new stores in the Denver, Colorado area. The company currently has 20 locations in the area.
• Meritage Hospitality Group Inc. has signed a deal, to close at the end of Q3, for the purchase of 10 Wendy’s located in Georgia and Texas. The company has also reportedly entered into a deal with Wendy’s to develop 40 locations within the next 5 years.
• Panera Bread Company has teamed up with HMSHost to help expand their brand into major airports in the U.S. There are two Panera locations slated to open at airports in Charlotte, NC and Salt Lake City, Utah respectively. Various other locations are expected to open in airports and travel plaza locations throughout 2020 and the following years.
• Patina Restaurant Group LLC has stated that it will be closing three of its restaurants: The Sea Grill, the Rock Center Café and Cucina & Co. The restaurants will close at the end of the calendar year when their leases expire.
• Perkins & Marie Callender’s Inc. has closed 10 Perkins and 19 Marie Callender’s locations amid filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and anticipating a sale.
• Potbelly Corporation just signed deals to develop 10 stores in Nevada, 15 in Florida and 13 throughout the Carolinas. In addition, they closed 10 units in Q2.
• Steak n Shake Operations Inc. previously had reported the ‘temporary’ closure of 44 stores with the intent to close all 400 or so company-owned stores and then have them be reopened by franchisees. That number of temporary closures has now risen to 103.
• Sushi Sake, a popular Miami Sushi bar currently with 14 locations, is looking to expand in the Florida, Texas, Illinois and New York areas. To entice potential franchisees they are running a deal that if they commit to opening three locations they will only have to pay two franchise fees.
• Tin Drum Asiacafe LLC is coming to Houston, Texas this year with the opening of the first of five planned locations in the area. The company is also opening the first of three new locations in the Savannah, Georgia area by the end of the year.
• Walk-On’s Enterprises has stated expansion plans to develop 20 new locations to the franchise over the next five years in Georgia. According to their website they also have 12 new locations coming soon in various states in the south and southeast.
• Yum! Brands Inc. has stated that, over the next two years, upwards of 500 underperforming ‘dine-in’ domestic Pizza Huts may close. The intention is to swap out these stores with their ‘express stores’ in order to prompt better future growth as consumer demands change focus to more delivery and takout options.
Technology
• Applebee’s Services Inc. has announced its company-wide partnership with DoorDash for delivery. Applebee’s parent, Dine Brands Global Inc., has pointed out that this is not an exclusive partnership as the Applebee’s brand is largely franchised and alternative delivery options will be dependent on franchisees.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has installed AI-powered voice assistants for ordering at 1,800 of its 2,500 units. The company plans on expanding this technology to all locations by the end of the year.
• Doctor’s Associates Inc., McDonald’s Corporation and Restaurant Brands International’s Burger King are allegedly the first brands to pilot print ads with QR codes that provide readers with real-time offers from brands.
• Domino’s Pizza Inc. has announced the national rollout of their E-Bike delivery program. The program is made possible through a partnership with Rad Power Bikes. The program is intended to go in effective system-wide by the end of the year. The company also unveiled their 33,000 square foot ‘Innovation Garage’ to test new customer-facing technology.
• McDonald’s Corporation is rolling out its new AI-driven digital menu boards at 8,000 drive-thrus throughout the U.S. and 150 units in Australia. These menu boards (developed by Dynamic Yield, who is now owned by the company) suggest additional purchases to customers based on time of day and weather among other factors.
• Shake Shack Inc. has announced a partnership with Grubhub for 3rd party delivery. The company is enacting a pilot program with a few company-owned locations. Based on the success of this, national rollout is expected over the next few quarters.
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 915 companies in the Chain Restaurant Premier Database, with many of those companies’ records updated at multiple points.
