More Articles By David Farkas, Senior Editor
- Why Restaurant Customers Are Pulling Back Spending
As the economy tanks, shrinking the job market and submerging 401(k) plans in the process, consumers are pulling back spending, according to three recent surveys. Yet when it comes to explaining the drop in restaurant visits, the reasons are less clear. More - New FDIC Rules Apply to Risky Sweep Accounts
All the talk about bank failures is prompting attorney Gary Schildhorn to send out a warning to treasury departments: Review your sweep contracts with your banker. He says restaurant companies that rely on banks for this service--and many do--should carefully review where their deposits are going. More - Loan Covenants: Breaking the Rules
As operating performance declines and prime costs rise, a growing number of chains are breaking lender covenants. Chain Leader recently asked Allan Hickok, managing director for investment bank Houlihan Lokey in Minneapolis, to explain this worrying trend. More - Popeyes Is Starting Over in Panama
Given the thriving Panamanian economy, franchisee Landmark International Holdings believes the time is right to expand Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits in Panama. To prepare the company has expanded the menu, implemented motorcycle delivery and launched an image-building campaign. More - Sweet Deal: Red Mango's Expansion
Red Mango is ready to roll out its brand of tart frozen yogurt with a simple and so far profitable business model, veteran executives and expansion in existing markets that have educated, active populations. More - Restaurant Valuations to Fall Further
As an uncertain week begins, a week that sees Congress voting on a $700 billion bailout proposal of the country's largest investment banks, Chain Leader sought out New York-based money manager Roger Lipton for a restaurant perspective on the financial crisis. More - Panera and Chipotle Stocks Take a Fall
Stock prices at two of the country's most successful fast-casual chains recently displayed the ups and downs prevalent in a battered economy. More - How to Buy a Restaurant Company
Dick Holbrook, who with business partner and fellow restaurateur Sam Haddock invested an undisclosed amount of "personal equity" in Atlanta-based J. Christopher's, says to invest in a concept with strong financials and potential. More - Shells Files for Bankruptcy, Closes Stores
Tampa, Fla.-based Shells Seafood Restaurants filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday and closed eight of its 22 units. The company will continue to operate its remaining restaurants while reorganizing finances and being protected from creditors. More - Enduring Truth: The Importance of Strong Management
After 20 years of underwriting restaurant deals, Rod Guinn has left the business to “embark on new adventures.” Before going, the veteran financier, most recently head of Wells Fargo Foothill's Restaurant and Hospitality business, shared a few of the timeless lessons he learned about the importance of strong management. More - New Parameters for Payday
Wage and hiring trends remain a subject of abiding concern among restaurant executives, who are adjusting their companies' compensation practices for hourlies, managers and C-level executives to absorb the impact of the economic slowdown. More - Value Keeps Customers Coming to Bojangles'
Despite increasing menu prices four times in the last 12 months, the fast-food chicken chain says its perceived value has helped increase traffic and same-store sales. More - The Palm Bonuses Depend on Diversity
Ten percent of a Palm restaurant's management team bonus is the result of how much the unit has increased market share in new demographic groups, kept a diverse employee base, and trimmed staff complaints relating to racial, ethnic or gender issues. More - A Successful Promotion Tests Polly’s Pies’ Limits
During a 56-day period from May 13 to July 7, Polly's Pies sold 12,000 dozen cookies. The restaurant chain told customers it would send a dozen cookies to the troops in Iraq for every dozen purchased. In short, it promised to bake another 12,000 dozen. More - A Purchase Agreement Is in Your Best Interest
A purchase agreement isn't the sexiest part of a deal, but it remains vital, contends mergers and acquisitions specialist Mark Kaufman, whose Atlanta-based law firm, Sutherland, has worked on many restaurant acquisitions, including the sale of RTM Restaurant Group, Arby's largest franchisee, to Triarc. More - Double Duty: Cross-Utilizing Ingredients
Chains such as First Watch and McCormick & Schmick’s are focusing on cross-utilization and trimming SKUs to deal with rising commodity costs and slumping sales. More - The Price Is Right for bd's Mongolian
Kinderhook Industries, a New York private-equity firm, acquired the assets of bd's Mongolian Grill, a 30-unit chain headquartered in Ferndale, Mich., in May. We caught up with new bd's Chairman Clyde Culp, an industry veteran who arranged the deal, and grilled him about financial trends at the stir-fry concept. More - Consumers Say 'Make Me an Offer'
The dining public is cutting back visits to restaurants as food and gas prices rise. But research shows that consumers are not necessarily giving up on eating out but choosing restaurants more carefully. The price-value proposition seems to determine whether they dine out and how much they spend. More - Lawsuits Allege Inaccurate Nutritional Info on Menus
Applebee's and Brinker International have been accused of serving dishes with more fat and calories than touted. The threat of such class-action lawsuits could deter restaurants from adding nutritional information on their menus. More - Taco Bell's Value Menu Pays Off
Taco Bell's new value-menu, dubbed "Why Pay More," has played a significant role in boosting same-store sales at the Irvine, Calif.-based QSR. More
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