{"id":11206,"date":"2018-12-19T09:42:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T14:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom.chainstoreguide.com\/?p=11206"},"modified":"2018-12-19T09:42:03","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T14:42:03","slug":"datatrac-restaurant-foodservice-december-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/2018\/12\/datatrac-restaurant-foodservice-december-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"DATATRAC: Restaurant & Foodservice \u2013 December 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Personnel Updates<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2022 Aurify Brands (17) <\/strong>named former Starbucks<\/strong> exec Becky Mulligan as CEO of the Little Beet <\/strong>concept.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ballard Brands (20) <\/strong>named Bill DiPaola as its new COO and Leslie Monson as Chief Marketing Officer.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Cava Group (16) <\/strong>completed its acquisition of Zoe\u2019s Kitchen<\/strong>, making Ron Saich the Chairman of the combined companies and Brett Shulman CEO. Zoe\u2019s CEO Kevin Miles left the company.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Chipotle (51) <\/strong>named Tabassum Zalotrawala as its new Chief Development Officer and Roger Theodoredis as Chief Legal Officer.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Church\u2019s Chicken (64) <\/strong>brought in Alan Magee as VP of Digital Marketing and Technology.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Dunkin\u2019 Brands (80)<\/strong> promoted John Varughese to VP of International.<\/p>\n

\u2022 El Pollo Loco (18) <\/strong>named Hector Nunez Chief Marketing Officer and Jennifer Jaffee Chief People Officer.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Esquared Hospitality (27) <\/strong>named Patrik Hellstrand CEO of the By Chloe <\/strong>concept.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Friendly\u2019s (15) <\/strong>appointed Ed Valle, formerly of El Pollo Loco<\/strong> as Chief Marketing Officer.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Metro Diner (13) <\/strong>named Stanley Goodman COO and John Kunkel CFO.<\/p>\n

\u2022 PJW Restaurant Group (8) <\/strong>promoted Jim Fris to CEO. He takes over leadership of the company from founder Bob Platzer who assumed the title of Executive Chairman.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Potbelly (18)<\/strong> named Tom Fitzgerald as its new CEO while promoting Julie Younglove-Webb to the newly created position of Chief Restaurant Operations Officer.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group (10) <\/strong>named Jennifer Beougher as its first CFO. Beougher was most recently VP of Financial Planning at Cracker Barrel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Smashburger (16) <\/strong>named Jose Minana as President upon Jollibee<\/strong> taking full ownership of the concept. Founder Tom Ryan remains as CEO.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Twin Peaks Restaurants (14) <\/strong>named Alex Sadowsky as its new Executive Chef.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Uno Restaurant Holdings (24)<\/strong> CEO Louie Psallidas stepped down. Jim Ilaria takes over as CEO. Ilaria is the former CEO Potomac Family Dining Group, <\/strong>a 60+ unit Applebee\u2019s <\/strong>franchisee.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Upward Projects (12)<\/strong>, which counts Postino Wine Cafe<\/strong> amongst its holdings, named Alex Taylor to the newly created position of COO.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Your Pie (10)<\/strong> brought in Dave McDougall, the former CEO of Backyard Burgers, <\/strong>as COO.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Yum Brands (98) <\/strong>named Target CEO Brian Cornell as its non-executive chairman.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Zoe\u2019s Kitchen (14)<\/strong> CEO has left the company following the closing of Cava Group\u2019s <\/strong>acquisition of the company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Financial Focus<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2022 Good Times Restaurants Inc<\/strong>. released its FYE 9\/25\/18 results. Total revenues increased 19% increased 25% to $99,240,000 for the year, which reflects the addition of 9 new Bad Daddy\u2019s <\/strong>restaurants during the year. Same store sales for company-owned Good Times<\/strong> restaurants increased 4.2% for the year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Industry Insight<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2022 Brinker International<\/strong> opened its first nontraditional Maggiano’s Little Italy<\/strong> location at DFW International Airport.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Chick-Fil-A <\/strong>partnered with DoorDash to offer nationwide delivery.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Crafthouse Franchising LLC <\/strong>a 3-unit beer-focused concept in Virginia signed a deal with American Development Partners to franchise the concept beginning in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Dave and Busters\u2019s <\/strong>opened 14 units in 2018 and has another 12 in development.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Good Times Restaurants Inc<\/strong>. will open 5 restaurants in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jack in the Box <\/strong>will remodel approximately 80 stores in 2019, and by the end of 2021, the company will have upgraded 80% of its drive-thru lanes. The company plans on opening 25-35 new restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jack in the Box <\/strong>is dealing with franchisee tension on a number of fronts. The newest is the company\u2019s move to ask property owners to transfer lease agreements from Jack in the Box Inc. to a new subsidiary to increase the company\u2019s credit worthiness. As well, the franchisee association filed suit against the company over its marketing fund and remodels.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Madera Group<\/strong> completed a $21 million round of funding to fuel expansion of its Tocaya Organica<\/strong> and Toca Madera <\/strong>Mexican concepts.<\/p>\n

\u2022 McDonald\u2019s <\/strong>pushed back the deadline for remodeling all 14,000 US locations from the end of 2020 to 2022 amid franchisee protests. The company estimates that half of its store remodels will be complete by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 MOD Pizza <\/strong>opened its 400th<\/sup> location.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Mountain Mike\u2019s<\/strong> plans to open 25 new units in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Starbuck\u2019s <\/strong>is rolling out delivery to 2,000 US stores in early 2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mergers and Acquisitions<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2022 Applebee\u2019s <\/strong>bought back 69 stores in North Carolina and South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Cava Group Inc<\/strong>. completed its acquisition of Zoe\u2019s Kitchen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Fat Brands <\/strong>acquired Yalla Mediterranean<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Inspire Brands <\/strong>closed its acquisition of Sonic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jack in the Box<\/strong> is officially for sale.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jollibee <\/strong>acquired the remaining 15% of Smashburger <\/strong>that it previously had not owned.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Real Estate<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2022 Chicken Salad Chick <\/strong>will expand to Ohio and Illinois in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Cousins Subs <\/strong>plans to enter expansion mode, targeting Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul for expansion in coming years. They\u2019ll kick off first in Chicago with about a half-dozen stores slated to open in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Habit Burger <\/strong>will expand to Chicagoland with a 20-unit deal for stores in Illinois and Northwestern Indiana. The first location will open in the 2nd<\/sup> half of 2019.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Metro Diner <\/strong>will expand to New Jersey and South Carolina next year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group<\/strong> will debut a new concept in 2019. Ruby Sunshine<\/strong> will feature all-day New Orleans inspired brunch. One Louisiana and two Tennessee locations are on tap next year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Texas de Brazil <\/strong>opened its 60th<\/sup> restaurant and first in Washington state with a location within the Tacoma Mall.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Technology<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2022 Pizza Hut<\/strong> will acquire QuikOrder, an online ordering platform, in a move to boost its digital business.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Shake Shack <\/strong>released its new mobile app and introduced nationwide web ordering.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sweetgreen<\/strong> plans to invest a large portion of the $200 million it raised in its last funding round on technology, including delivery systems and blockchain technology to provide supply chain transparency. The current round of investment values the company at $1B.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Taco Bell <\/strong>will begin installing ordering kiosks in 2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just because we don\u2019t mention it here doesn\u2019t mean it didn\u2019t happen \u2013 or we didn\u2019t capture it. In the past four weeks, we\u2019ve updated more than 10,000 companies in the Restaurant Franchisee Premier Database, <\/strong>with many of those companies\u2019 records updated at multiple points.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Personnel Updates \u2022 Aurify Brands (17) named former Starbucks exec Becky Mulligan as CEO of the Little Beet concept. \u2022 Ballard Brands (20) named Bill DiPaola as its new COO and Leslie Monson as Chief Marketing Officer. \u2022 Cava Group (16) completed its acquisition of Zoe\u2019s Kitchen, making Ron Saich the Chairman of the combined… Continue reading DATATRAC: Restaurant & Foodservice \u2013 December 2018<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"post-template-no-sidebar.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-11206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-restaurant-foodservice","tag-eupdate","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}