Exclusive

Proprietary content available exclusively to members.

BECOME A MEMBER NOW
Leadership

Meet the restaurant fixer who now owns Etta

Tech entrepreneur Johann Moonesinghe suddenly finds himself leading a growing group of restaurants. His secret? He doesn't expect to make a profit.

Financing

The consumer is cutting back, but not everywhere

The Bottom Line: Early earnings from major restaurant chains suggest the consumer has taken a distinct turn for the worse so far in 2024.

The Bottom Line: The coffee shop giant’s sales struggles worsened earlier this year, despite a flurry of efforts to improve operations and employee satisfaction.

Behind the Menu: Favorites like mac and cheese, bowls and salads join the fast casual’s Afro-Portuguese-rooted dishes, including the signature peri-peri chicken.

The Bottom Line: A combination of rising costs and weakening sales, and more expensive debt, has caused real problems for restaurant chains. But the industry is also really difficult.

Reality Check: The FTC wants the business to change several longstanding operating conventions. Has it heard why that's a bad idea?

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Once left for dead as shoppers moved online and then the pandemic hit, malls are regaining lost traffic. And that has been a boon for restaurant chains like Auntie Anne's, Cinnabon and Chick-fil-A.

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

  • Page 6