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Technology

5 surprising tech developments from the first half of 2024

Tech Check: The year has been defined by head-turning moves from unlikely players, including Grubhub, C3 and American Express.

Financing

The broken promise of fast-casual pizza

The Bottom Line: The potential bankruptcy filing of MOD Pizza further illustrates the sector’s challenges, which have worsened coming out of the pandemic.

Reality Check: We've lived through the cat cafe craze. The next evolutionary wrinkle could be a proliferation of restaurants where dogs roam free.

Nancy Kruse: RB's restaurant menu trends columnist dishes on the carrot, which is inexpensive, readily available and versatile.

Members of the Fast Food Council, the new body empowered to set pay, say the model may need considerable tweaking to realize its promise.

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual pizza chain's apparent downfall may color the industry's condition more than Red Lobster. But MOD was a victim of its own decisions.

The casual-dining chain is using an AI tool that can pinpoint sales weeks in advance, allowing managers to make smarter staffing decisions.

The Bottom Line: Frozen yogurt and better burger chains dominated growth a decade ago. Their differing long-term results are instructive for today’s hot restaurant sectors.

The Bottom Line: It’s been a tough year for many restaurant chains so far in 2024, and stock prices reflect that difficulty.

As the market leader closes restaurants across the country, innovative upstarts, steakhouses and even grocers could be in line to benefit. But can anyone unseat the king?

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