16 Critical Skills Multiunit Leaders Overlook

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Our company spends a good deal of time designing, developing, and deploying multiunit leadership training programs for top foodservice and retail chains worldwide.  While both athletes and musicians can be good at just one thing and be successful, an effective multiunit leader, or MUL, must master several key proficiencies to be effective across his or… read more

Famous Dave’s Cooks Up Another BBQ Concept

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Famous Dave’s has been a blend of innovation and legacy over the course of its turnaround stretch. The barbecue brand’s second-quarter report reflected that strategy and promised more changes, including a fresh concept from its new barbecue star, Travis Clark. Famous Dave’s earned $1.4 million in the period that ended July 1. For perspective, it lost… read more

The Company Sold its 12.3% Ownership Stake to Inspire Brands

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The Wendy’s Co. on Aug. 16 said that it has sold its interest in Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings back to their parent company, Inspire Brands, for $450 million. Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s had owned 12.3% of Inspire, a legacy of the ownership interest Wendy’s kept in Arby’s when it sold the chain to private equity firm Roark Capital… read more

As Casual Dining Evolves and Elevates, So Does Boston’s

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From the biggest players down to the startups, there’s a feeling around the restaurant industry that a second coming of casual dining has arrived. You see it touching all aspects of the business—service lifted by technology, simplified food preparation with a nod to better execution, new prototypes built around the customer experience—to provide just a… read more

Restaurant Innovation Summit to touch down in Dallas

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Learn the latest about foodservice technology when our annual Restaurant Innovation Summit touches down in Dallas this fall. This year, we’ll kick off RIS, Nov. 7-8 at The Empire Room, a new location. Learning sessions will focus on such areas as: Current restaurant technology trends; The future of digital payments and loyalty programs; Food-tech investment trends;… read more

Venture Capital Investing in Food Accelerating

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Emerging food and beverage brands continue to capture the interest of investors. Since 2013, food and beverage start-ups have raised $9.5 billion across 2,100 deals globally, said Zoe Leavitt, senior intelligence analyst at CB Insights, a data analytics firm. “We’ve seen a real explosion in new venture capital firms focused specifically on the food space… read more

Dunkin’ rolls out Donut Fries nationwide

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Dunkin’ Brands has launched Donut Fries, a new food mashup featuring individual pieces of buttery, croissant-style donut dough tossed in cinnamon sugar and served warm. “We were brainstorming in one of our culinary innovation sessions,” said Rick Golden, manager of Donut Excellence who created Donut Fries. “We tested different kinds of dough, adding cinnamon and… read more

Wow Bao to Close, Relocate Chicago Unit as it Goes Cashless

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Less than a year after launching Eatsa’s cashless ordering system at one of its Chicago restaurants, Wow Bao is ready to go all-in as a fully automated front-of-the-house chain. The 10-unit, Chicago-based company, created by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, is closing its second oldest store later this month and relocating it to a prime spot… read more

1,500 Tin Hortons Restaurants in the Next 10 Years

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More than 1,500 Tim Hortons restaurants are scheduled to open in China over the next 10 years through an exclusive master franchise joint venture agreement between Oakville-based Tim Hortons and Cartesian Capital Group, L.L.C., a global private equity firm. “We have two main priorities at Tim Hortons: building and strengthening our brand in Canada and… read more