The Restaurant & Foodservice DataTrac is a monthly feature designed to keep you informed of changes in the industry. All applicable developments are reflected in CSG products. The numbers you see in (parentheses) in the “Personnel Updates” section represent the number of contacts for a given company contained within our Restaurant Franchisee Premier Database.

Personnel Updates

• CEC Entertainment (17) named Mahesh Sadarangani President of the Peter Piper’s Pizza brand.
• Chanticleer Holdings (8) named Fred Glick President.
• Checkers Drive-In Restaurants (30) brought in Bob Baker as CFO.
• Cicis (12) named Toni Bianco as its new COO. Bianco most recently served as President and COO of Fatburger North America.
• Coolgreens (7) named Mark Ramage as VP of Development. Ramage most recently held a similar position at Wingstop.
• Cowboy Chicken (6) named Kip Kolow, Co-Founder of Boston Market, as its new Chief Strategy Officer.
• Dairy Queen Corporation (25) hired Julie Davis as its new Director of Franchise Development.
• Dickey’s Barbecue Pit (17) named Jim Perkins VP of International Sales.
• E&G Franchise Systems (7) added Stephanie Schon as COO.
• FoodFirst Global Restaurants (22) named former Darden exec David Pickens President and COO of Brio Italian Mediterranean and Bravo Fresh Italian.
• The Habit Restaurants Inc. (12) named former Jack in the Box Chief Marketing Officer Iwona Alter Chief Brand Officer, a newly created position within the company.  
• HRI Inc. (38), parent company of Houlihan’s, brought in Terry Harryman as CFO, Bill Leibengood as Chief Marketing Officer, and Chad Devorak as Senior VP of Operations.
• Kona Grill Inc. (11) named Marcus Jundt and Steven Schussler as co-CEOs.
• Logan’s Roadhouse (9) promoted Tim Kaliher to President.
• Long John Silver's (22) named Blain Shortreed COO.
• Pei Wei Asian Diner (7) promoted Chris Andrews to the newly created position of Chief Information Officer.
• Punch Bowl Social (10) named Sheamus Feeley Chief Culinary and Beverage Officer.
• Red Robin (38) promoted Controller Dave Hansen to Chief Accounting Officer.
• Salsarita (5) brought in Shannon Glaser as its new VP of Franchise Development.
• Sonic (50) CEO Cliff Hudson is retiring, and President Claudia San Pedro will lead the chain after its acquisition by Inspire Brands is finalized in December. 

 Financial Focus

• Sonic FYE 8.31.18 wasn’t stellar with system same-store sales down 0.3%, but the company bounced back in the fourth quarter with system same-store sales up 2.6%.
• Sweetgreen announced a $200M round of financing that places the value of the chain around the $1B mark.
• Taco Bueno filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 

Industry Insight

• Burger King completed roughly 100 renovations in Q3 using the “Burger King of Tomorrow” format and plans on undertaking “hundreds more” in Q4. Burger King is putting renewed emphasis on its remodel program as same store sales have been down recently.
• Chicken Salad Chick opened its 100^th store.
• Church’s Chicken formed an Excellence Advisory Council (EAC) to work with Church’s Independent Franchise Association (CIFA). The EAC will be comprised of U.S.-based franchisees and corporate leaders and address key business initiatives, opportunities for the brand and ways to overcome challenges.
• Denny’s will franchise approximately 100 company stores in the next 18 months.
• El Pollo Loco plans a brand relaunch in early 2019.
• FoodFirst Global Restaurants relocated its headquarters to Orlando and renamed its chains to Brio Italian Mediterranean and Bravo Fresh Italian.
• Honeygrow announced it will close five locations and put further expansion on hold. The closures include all 3 Chicago stores, the company’s only DC location and a NYC Minigrow.
• Moe’s Southwest Grill plans for a brand refresh that will include an updated logo, restaurant design and new menu items.
• Panera announced that digital channels now generate 33% of its total sales.
• Papa Gino's Holdings Corp. closed a combined 90 Papa Gino’s Pizzeria and Dangelo Grilled Sandwiches locations and entered bankruptcy as it prepares to be sold to a private equity firm.
• Papa John’s closed 51 net stores in Q3.
• Papa Murphy’s is exploring strategic alternatives, which could include a sale.
• Wingstop mobile and digital orders are current 30% higher (about $5) on average than non-digital orders.
• Zoe’s Kitchen, which is in the process of being acquired by the CAVA Group, will close 10 restaurants by the end of the year. 

  Mergers and Acquisitions

• Arc Restaurant Group (Dick’s Wings) will acquire the Titled Kilt chain in a deal that will close in the first quarter of 2019.
• Bojangles has agreed to be purchased for $593M by Durational Capital Management LP in a deal that will take the company private and close in the first quarter of 2019.
• Elite Restaurant Group finalized its acquisition of fast-casual chain Noon Mediterranean.
• Cheesecake Factory plans to acquire the North Italia concept from Fox Restaurant Group in the second half of 2019. Cheesecake Factory already has a stake in the chain and has been funding its expansion.

 Real Estate

• Chicken Salad Chick opened its first Arkansas location in Jonesboro. The concept also entered the Houston market and plans two additional locations there in 2019.
• Fazoli’s opened its first store in Oregon (Woodburn).
• Legendary Restaurant Brands brought Bennigan’s back to Ohio with the opening of a store in Steubenville.  

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 11,000 companies in the Restaurant Franchisee Premier Database, with many of those companies’ records updated at multiple points.