The Bottom Line

Jonathan Maze The Bottom Line

Restaurant Business Executive Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze is a longtime industry journalist who writes about restaurant finance, mergers and acquisitions and the economy, with a particular focus on quick-service restaurants. He writes daily about the factors influencing the operating environment, including labor and food costs and various industry trends such as technology and delivery.

Jonathan has been widely quoted in media publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post and has appeared on CNBC, Yahoo Finance and NPR. He writes a weekly finance-focused newsletter for Restaurant Business, The Bottom Line, and is the host of the weekly podcast “A Deeper Dive.”

Financing

Here' why Dutch Bros outperformed Starbucks last year

The Bottom Line: Data from Technomic shows that the drive-thru chain is outperforming its much larger rival on numerous metrics, which may help explain the brands' diverging performances.

Financing

Here's what we're looking for this upcoming earnings season

The Bottom Line: Here are a few key topics we’re watching as restaurant chains start reporting their end-of-year earnings next week, including Starbucks, McDonald’s, the Trump effect, optimism and weather.

The Bottom Line: The closure of 79 Wahlburgers locations inside Hy-Vee supermarkets shows that just because you can open a bunch of restaurants in a short period doesn’t mean you should.

The Bottom Line: The coffee shop giant is making changes in its support staff, joining a long line of big restaurant companies that paired turnarounds with corporate reorganizations.

The Bottom Line: Excessive management turnover at companies can create their own set of problems as new executives look to make their mark. The restaurant industry is loaded with examples.

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual burger chain’s plan to build 1,500 locations, not 450, will fundamentally change what the brand is all about.

The Bottom Line: Crumbl is the latest franchised restaurant chain to reportedly explore a sale after big 2024 deals for Tropical Smoothie and Jersey Mike’s. But the acquisitions market remains mixed.

The Bottom Line: The industry had too many locations in 2019. The pandemic led to a lot of closures. But the industry has been aggressively opening restaurants since 2020.

The Bottom Line: JAB Holdings gobbled up several mostly breakfast and coffee chains from 2012 through 2017. A few of its acquisitions have performed well, but others have stagnated, including the biggest.

The Bottom Line: Peter Cancro was so determined to improve operations at the sandwich chain that he sacrificed revenue and unit growth to get it. It’s a lesson others should follow.

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