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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

Wawa is outperforming fast-food restaurants

 By Jonathan Maze on Jan. 04, 2023

The Bottom Line: Consumers’ shift to value could be turning them onto convenience stores, and the Pennsylvania-based concept is apparently leading the way.

Financing

In a tough year for stocks, investors bet on big chains

 By Jonathan Maze on Jan. 03, 2023

The Bottom Line: The largest chains fared best in a tumultuous 2022 on Wall Street as recession fears and inflation led investors to flee for safety.

Financing

The year in charts

By Jonathan Maze on Dec. 22, 2022

The Bottom Line: Costs soared, menu prices rose, but consumers kept spending. Here’s a look at the restaurant industry’s 2022 in a few key charts.

Financing

Why you should not sleep on Insomnia Cookies

By Jonathan Maze on Dec. 20, 2022

The Bottom Line: The late-night treat chain wants to be able to deliver warm cookies to 95% of the U.S. and has the unit economics to justify expansion. But it must first navigate a competitive cookie market.

Financing

Consumers are still spending on food

By Jonathan Maze on Dec. 16, 2022

The Bottom Line: Despite high prices, people are not cutting back on food spending. And restaurants remain a strong source for consumers’ dollars.

Financing

A New York college student shines a light on fast food prices

By Jonathan Maze on Dec. 12, 2022

The Bottom Line: Fast Food Index shows prices at McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell and Chipotle by ZIP code. It shows a wide range of prices for the same product.

Financing

How is the economy faring? That depends on your perspective

By Jonathan Maze on Dec. 08, 2022

The Bottom Line: Consumer spending continues to grow this holiday season, but it’s slowing, and businesses are more cautious, large banks told investors this week.

Financing

Tim Hortons goes small to make it work in the U.S.

By Jonathan Maze on Dec. 07, 2022

The Bottom Line: The coffee chain’s parent company still believes the brand can work south of the Canadian border, but it first had to change.

Financing

So much for Freshii being worth $1B

By Jonathan Maze on Dec. 05, 2022

The Bottom Line: Investment bankers initially pushed the healthy fast-casual franchise as a $1 billion brand. It never came close to that. And then the pandemic hit.

Financing

For Starbucks, unspent gift cards become a big business

By Jonathan Maze on Dec. 02, 2022

The Bottom Line: As customers returned to Starbucks, revenue from unspent gift cards did, too, providing the coffee giant with a weird and profitable source of funds.

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