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

What is Howard Schultz doing at Starbucks?

The Bottom Line: The company is undertaking a massive overhaul that seems at odds with its overall top-line performance.

Financing

Franchise sales were hot last year as operators cashed out

The Bottom Line: More than 9% of restaurants in the 20 largest franchise restaurant brands changed hands last year. But operators may have missed their chance at historically high valuations.

The Bottom Line: Domino’s, Papa John’s and Krispy Kreme all said challenges across the pond caused weakness in their results. That could portend to slowing global growth.

The Bottom Line: Both companies appear to be getting traction in the suburbs. But they have a big foot in slow-to-recover urban areas.

The Bottom Line: Fast Acquisition will redeem all its shares later this month after a previous deal with Tilman Fertitta fell through, but not before a shareholder files a lawsuit.

The Bottom Line: Consumers are apparently warming to the coffee giant. But the pizza chain is calling it quits in the marke

The Bottom Line: The wars will be fought on mobile phones and in local markets rather than through big national discount deals.

The Bottom Line: While the two chains and their revitalization plans are different, the Canadian coffee brand’s strong second-quarter results give its sister brand hope of a comeback in its U.S. market.

The Bottom Line: Howard Schultz, the interim CEO, says the company has narrowed its search for his successor. And all are on board with the broad-based changes in operations he plans to reveal next month.

The Bottom Line: The restaurateur steps aside as CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, having shown that a fulfilled workforce can yield financial success.

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