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

The worst practices in franchising

The Bottom Line: Anyone can provide a list of best practices. But these are strategies that franchisors should avoid if they want long-term success.

Financing

Why restaurant sales could stumble this spring

The Bottom Line: Consumers began getting checks from the government last March. That could make same-store sales tougher to come by in the second quarter.

The Bottom Line: While the unionization effort has spread to dozens of locations across the country, analysts’ attention this week was focused elsewhere.

The Bottom Line: The company is trying to get back a business that has yet to recover from the pandemic. But there are labor benefits, too.

The Bottom Line: National Restaurant Association survey data shows customers have more “pent-up demand” for dining in restaurants than getting takeout.

The Bottom Line: The company has not added locations since 2014. After closing another 239 locations in 2021 it has the smallest number of units in 20 years.

The Bottom Line: Large full-service concepts gained market share since the start of the pandemic and are set up for a stronger future.

The Bottom Line: Industry sales were surprisingly strong after a second-half surge. But sales slowed in December after the latest spike in infections.

The Bottom Line: In the 1990s, Burger King tested a Domino’s-branded personal pizza that proved remarkably successful, until the suits got in the way.

The Bottom Line: Tropical Smoothie Café and Coopers Hawk are both reportedly planning upcoming IPOs, adding to a growing list. But some recent offerings haven’t fared well.

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