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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

Sysco says that independents have recovered in some markets

 By Jonathan Maze on May 04, 2021

The big distributor said that reopened markets are seeing sales above 2019 levels, a strong indication of recovery for the hard-hit sector, says RB’s The Bottom Line.

Financing

McDonald’s learns that a simpler menu is a winning strategy

 By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 30, 2021

Franchisees pushed for years to cut items from the menu, says RB’s The Bottom Line. The pandemic forced the issue and sales have been strong since.

Financing

The long, sad decline of a buffet behemoth

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 23, 2021

The owner of Old Country Buffet merged with Ryan’s in 2006. The company’s bankruptcy-laden history in the years since is a lesson in the dangers of debt and the persistence of zombie chains, says RB’s The Bottom Line.

Financing

8 ways the franchise relationship hurts franchisees

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 23, 2021

A recent report by U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto highlighted several problems in franchising and how it hurts operators. RB’s The Bottom Line looks at eight of them.

Financing

The SPAC party is coming to an end

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 22, 2021

The number of blank-check companies has slowed dramatically amid SEC attention and concern about the unprecedented popularity of the investment vehicles, says RB’s The Bottom Line.

Financing

Expect a lot more business travel by the end of the year

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 19, 2021

More people are traveling for vacations, but business travel remains muted. That could change this summer, says RB’s The Bottom Line.

Financing

The story of the $100M New Jersey deli

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 16, 2021

Your Hometown Deli, which does little business out of a single location, has a nine-figure market cap and has raised a lot of questions, says RB's The Bottom Line.

Financing

So much for restaurant self-delivery

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 15, 2021

We’re unlikely to see major restaurant chains try self-delivery anytime soon after the end of Panera’s service, says RB’s The Bottom Line.

Financing

The restaurant chain bankruptcy wave is not over

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 14, 2021

As the filing by Golden Corral’s second-largest franchisee demonstrates, filings by big operators and chains could still come even as sales improve, says RB’s The Bottom Line.

Financing

Would Burger King’s owner buy Subway? Don’t count on it

By Jonathan Maze on Apr. 13, 2021

Rumors persist of a potential sale involving the sandwich giant, but the brand may not be in a position to do so, says RB’s The Bottom Line.

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