Jonathan Maze

Editor-in-Chief

Articles by
Jonathan Maze

Page 17
Financing

As it loses customers to grocery stores, McDonald's shifts gears on pricing

The company acknowledged that lower-income consumers are eating at home more often, largely because of moderate price hikes at grocers. Here’s how the fast food giant plans to respond.

Financing

One year later, the economy keeps going strong

The Bottom Line: In late 2022, just about every economist was predicting a recession. Instead, we’ve had a strong economy fueled by a resilient consumer.

Same-store sales rose 4.3% in the U.S., thanks to marketing, operations and its growing loyalty program. But sales came thanks to higher prices rather than traffic. And the chain saw sales challenges in the Middle East.

The Bottom Line: The coffee shop giant said its problems with occasional customers last quarter were “transitory.” Fixing that problem will be a big challenge.

The coffee shop chain sells a lot of gift cards, has plans for late-night delivery and new product introductions. And young people like their beverages cold.

The executive of the pizza buffet chain discusses video games, technology, labor costs and my favorite pizza in this transcript of the most recent episode of the podcast A Deeper Dive.

The sub-sandwich chain, which is being sold to Roark Capital, said its footlong pretzel, churro and cookie are exceeding sales expectations.

A Deeper Dive: Jeff Hetsel, president and COO of the pizza buffet chain, joins the podcast to talk about the brand’s focus on games and what that does to its business.

The coffee shop chain expressed confidence in its key China market despite soft sales there. “We are not interested in entering the price war.”

The Bottom Line: The fast-food giant’s improvement to its burgers is the latest menu upgrade in a bid to keep up with a competitive restaurant market.

The coffee giant reported strong results from its loyalty members, who came into its shops more often and spent more in the process. But everybody else was a problem.

A federal court judge cited the fast-casual chain's "willful disregard" for the litigation in ruling in favor of the giant distributor, which had sued for unpaid bills.

  • Page 17