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Dave's Dispatch   
David Farkas has worked for Chain Leader as a senior editor since 1998. With Dave's Dispatch he provides not only plump bits of industry gossip, but news and analysis found nowhere else.


Rumors of closings

Posted by David Farkas on May 7, 2008
Yesterday's Naples Daily News featured an interesting story about swirling rumors that several popular casual-dining spots were about to close. Readers wrote to the paper wanting to know if the rumors were true, and that the economy was to blame. The Cheesecake Factory was among several chains named in the story:

Vito Manarin, one of the managers of the Cheesecake Factory, 2090 U.S. 41 N., said other area restaurants have called looking to hire his staff because they have heard the restaurant is closing.

“No, ...Read More

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Of red meat and smoking

Posted by David Farkas on May 6, 2008

I guess foodservice operators can relax a bit. On Sunday, the USDA's Dr. Richard Raymond declared government inspectors are diligently monitoring country's meat supply. His remarks came just two days after a New York company recalled nearly 300,000 pounds of ground beef, possibly contaminated with bacteria Listeria monocytogenes.

"I want to assure all consumers – both domestic and abroad – that the U.S. beef supply is among the safest in the wor...Read More

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Industries: Operations

Those pesky franchisees

Posted by David Farkas on May 5, 2008
The Cleveland Cavaliers whomped the Washington Wizards on Friday for the privilege of playing the Boston Celtics in tomorrow's quarter final opener. Meanwhile, Papa John's got into the act rather unceremoniously during Friday's game, in the nation's capital.

Note the logo above "crybaby." (Note, too, the fan wearing the t-shirt on his head.)

Number 23 is Lebron James' number, the best Cav's player. The...Read More

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Industries: Marketing

Saint Cinnamon's franchising plight

Posted by David Farkas on May 2, 2008
   Yes, I've been fretting my digital absence from this screen of late. I can offer you no valid excuse except to gripe that work has simply zapped my strength. At least it seems that way whenever I've contemplated turning the ignition on the blog software package that allows me to share vital data with you.

   Case in point (of vital data, that is): Franchising in the Middle East. It's going gangbusters, with restaurant operators rushing in to find deep-pocketed individuals who can throw up a half-dozen units, preferably, in fast-growing, multinational Dubai.

...Read More

Comments (2)

Industries: Expansion

"Too good to be true"

Posted by David Farkas on April 25, 2008

My first and only Pinkberry experience (and impression) was last summer, in a fashionable mall in Huntington Beach, Calif. I was impressed with its sanitized interior, smart-looking employees, sleek menu board (with surprisingly few choices) and "salad bar" of fresh fruit -- blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and pineapple, as I recall. 

...Read More

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Wendy's is sold, finally

Posted by David Farkas on April 24, 2008
At long last Wendy's International Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, has a new owner -- Nelson Peltz, or rather his company, Triarc. Peltz, as many know, has been an "activist" shareholder for three years, griping about how much capital the burger chain dished out given the returns. Wendy's investors got about $25 a share, some six percent higher than yesterday's closing price (who's complaining now?).
 
Today, UBS analyst David Palmer, in a note today on the deal, took the opportunity to apply Peltz's logic to Starbucks:
...Read More

Comments (1)

Industries: Expansion

Pricing with impunity?

Posted by David Farkas on April 21, 2008
Raising prices again? In this week's "MK Table Scraps," Morgan Keegan analyst Robert Derrington assumes operators will continue to pass cost increases onto consumers -- and, perhaps, get away with it.

... Menu pricing appears to remain aggressive for most, with  limited-service (QSR) chains averaging in the 4.4% range and full-service (casual-dining) chain averaging 3.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Restaurant Association. Given the escalating operating costs,
...Read More

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"Repeat patronage intentions"

Posted by David Farkas on April 16, 2008

Far be it from moi to knock the expertise of people with Ph.Ds. (No way, my wife is one.) But I'm still capable of wincing at the research some of them produce, especially under the auspices of a university, where the pressure to "publish or perish" remains intense. Particularly for the nontenured. 

Case in point: A recent study by one Alex Susskind, Ph.D., robustly entitled "Complaint Communication:
How Complaint Severity and Service Recovery Influence Guests’ Preferences and Attitudes." You can read it
h...Read More

Comments (3)

Industries: Operations, Research

Same old, same old integrity

Posted by David Farkas on April 10, 2008
   I came across the following paragraph in a column about the meaning of "integrity." I believe many foodservice executives -- especially marketers -- would agree with the branding expert who wrote it:

Even if someone is paying $6 or less for a snack or a meal, that food should taste the same each time. It should have the same feel in the mouth, be the same size serving, look the same and smell the same. Then you have integrity, and consumers can trust what they are buying.

...Read More

Comments (10)

Industries: Marketing

Starbucks or char-bucks

Posted by David Farkas on April 8, 2008

   A tall, bearded Starbucks employee wandered about the room carrying a tray filled with small cups and looking, in his long apron, like a flight attendant on Southwest. 
   "Anyone want coffee, it's free," he wondered. No, thanks. I'd already swallowed enough to know I didn't particularly like the new brew, which the company was passing out, gratis, most of yesterday. Maybe the paper cup was the problem, but Pike Place Roast tasted burnt and bitter. Like its typical brewed offerings. 
   It's hard to imagine even a slim majority of the 1,000 customers who tested the product liking it. But then, I'm not a regular Starbucks customer. Maybe
...Read More

Comments (2)

Industries: Marketing, Research

McDonald's "gay support" issue

Posted by David Farkas on April 8, 2008

The American Family Assn., a Tupelo, Miss.-based family-values group led by Donald E. Wildmon recently alerted members that McDonald's Corp. was "aggressively supporting" a homosexual agenda. The evidence: the company's VP of Communications, Richard Ellis, joined the board of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (so have executives from IBM, Motorola and Wells Fargo).

...Read More

Comments (5)

Industries: Human Resources

Speaking Spanish

Posted by David Farkas on April 7, 2008

The other day I popped into my favorite Mexican eatery, Mi Pueblo, on Cleveland's west side. I felt lucky for two reasons. One, I was with my oldest daughter who, in two days time, would leave town to start a consulting job in Washington, D.C. (By happy coincidence, she's working with the USDA on food safety issues.) Two, I'd get the chance to practice my halting Spanish.

Las salsas (rojo y verde) y las zanahorias en Mi Pueblo
It's the native language of all the workers at the re...Read More

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