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Financing

Fast-food chains’ price-fueled recovery

The Bottom Line: Higher prices, due to demand, labor and commodity costs, has been the primary reason for the sector’s recovery. But how long can this last?

Workforce

Restaurants try ever-bigger lures to recruit and keep general managers

Double bonuses, airplane tickets, six-figure salaries and even their very own restaurant are just some of the perks the industry is offering to slow down turnover in the all-important GM post.

More restaurants are looking at used and refurbished fryers and coolers amid shipping delays and to save on the cost of buildout.

The Bottom Line: Yet another initial public offering, this one from Fogo, shows that the market has shifted considerably toward the public markets.

The Bottom Line: The venerable sandwich has helped turn McDonald’s into a behemoth and paved the way for fast-food breakfast.

Reality Check: More quick-service restaurants are providing ways for guests to tip employees. Heck, even unions are suddenly for it.

The mini golf eatertainment brand, which opened its second U.S. store early this month, is slated to open five more locations next year after securing a $60 million investment last spring.

Taste Tracker: Panda Express upgrades kids’ meals; pizza deals at CiCi’s and Pasqually’s; holiday specials at Chicken Salad Chick, Peet’s, Cinnaholic, Portillo’s and Logan’s; Arby’s does vodka; and more news.

The CEOs of Restaurant Brands International and Firehouse Subs bonded over their early years at Burger King. The result was a $1 billion acquisition and more international growth for the sandwich concept.

The Bottom Line: The CEO of Inspire Brands foresaw changes that would give big companies a huge advantage. That’s exactly what has happened.

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