Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
Frisch’s Big Boy, the statue that invites hungry diners into the restaurant, has gotten a makeover. Gone is the paper hat—all the better to see his Elvis-like hair—and the bright-red lips. Striped overalls have replaced the vintage red-and-white checked version. He’s also stronger. Instead of using two hands to show off the Big Boy hamburger, he holds it high over his head.
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
After being purchased by TravelCenters of America last spring, Quaker Steak & Lube is stepping back on the gas and looking to get back on a road to growth after traveling through bankruptcy in 2015.
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
Yeah, yeah, yeah—sex sells. But it’s certainly not a sophisticated approach when a major international brand resorts to scantily clad models and junior-high-level sexual innuendo to sell its products. I suspect I’m but one of many in the franchising industry breathing a sigh of relief as Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. finally, mercifully announce a new marketing approach that’s focused on food quality, innovation and its history as a QSR pioneer.
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
Last September we covered Domino’s first foray into robot delivery with the Domino’s Robotics Unit, or DRU, as it tested delivery of its pizzas to customers in Australia. Now Domino’s customers in Germany and the Netherlands will be able to test out the service—as long as they live within a one-mile radius of certain Domino’s pizza shops.
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
Non-traditional is the new black in franchising, as more restaurant and retail brands are finding new places with guaranteed foot traffic: transit stations, airports, stadiums and college campuses to name a few. BurgerFi is the latest to hop on this tr…
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
Last year’s talk of a restaurant recession has morphed into broader, more sustained hard times for many of the best known retail and restaurant brands, led today by the apparent demise of Sears that’s been a very long time coming. The ‘Trump bump’ appears over, oil prices are back in the toilet, mortgage applications are falling, interest rates are rising, institutional investors fear U.S. stocks are overvalued and we have officially entered a new wave of economic uncertainty.
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
Jason Marker will take over as CEO of CKE Restaurant Holdings, replacing Andrew Puzder, who served at the head of the company since 2000. Puzder, who served through the Great Recession, plotting a new course for growth, became a household name as President Donald Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee.
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
Andy Howard, along with fellow former Wingstop execs Michael Sutter, Wes Jablonski and Bill Knight, bought Huey Magoo’s Chicken Tenders in November 2016 because, as Howard said, “the sky’s the limit of what we can do with this little brand.”
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
No matter the region or the demographic, craft beer is growing. By the end of the year, there will be a projected 6,000 breweries providing more than 100,000 types of beer.
Beth Ewen Business and Finance, Franchise Freeway News, Franchise News
Showing off gleaming, modern pictures of its reimaged store concepts, Wendy’s director Angela Coppler said the prohibitive cost of building new restaurants has led the brand to convert former Burger Kings, retail storefronts and even banks as it seeks to add new locations without breaking the piggy bank of the third-largest QSR hamburger player or its franchisees.
