A turnaround continued to elude the Famous Dave’s full-service barbecue chain in the first quarter, with same-store sales for company-run restaurants falling 7.7 percent and comps for franchised units slipping 6.1 percent.
Store-level margins for company units ebbed to 2.1 percent.
Officials of the chain attributed the sales declines to “close managerial control of our marketing spend.”
Net income for the quarter increased more than fourfold, to $830,000, despite a 17 percent decline in revenues, to $23.5 million.
Year-ago comps for company stores fell 5.9 percent, a result of menu changes “that were not received well by our guests,” the company said.
Those shifts included changing portion sizes and dropping such guest favorites as the cornbread provided with the meals.
The old management team was pushed out in June 2015. Adam Wright was named CEO in December.
“We now have a new leadership team in place that is laser focused on improving performance, and shares the board’s sense of urgency,” Wright said in a statement about the first-quarter results. “While we are confident and focused on a refreshed direction of the company, the changes will take time.”
Headquarters has reversed many of the in-store changes made by the prior regime and has refranchised a number of stores.
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