Restaurant THemes DATE Change
We are moving the restaurant themes call from 5/20 to 5/23 @ 10 am
More details to come!
BRINKER NEW CEO
The company has broken with tradition and gone outside the casual dining industry to find its new CEO. EAT is a SHORT
Wyman Roberts is retiring from Brinker International, the parent company of Chili's and Maggiano's, after nearly ten years as its CEO and president. He will be replaced by Kevin Hochman, the president of KFC's U.S. business. Wyman Roberts, 63, has been with Brinker for more than 17 years, serving as president of its two brands and CMO before ascending to CEO. Kevin Hochman came to KFC U.S. in 2014 after more than 19 years at consumer products company Procter & Gamble. He was initially the chain’s U.S. chief marketing officer. He was named the brand’s president in 2017. Under Hochman, KFC used innovative marketing to gain attention for the brand, using a series of actors and comedians to play the chain’s iconic founder, Colonel Sanders, and developing attention-getting products. The company may have recently cracked the chicken sandwich code, something it had long tried to do but failed. Same-store sales have been up for eight straight quarters and 11 of the past 13. Amid his tenure there, he was brought aboard to serve as Pizza Hut’s interim president. Under his watch, the brand improved marketing, closed dine-in locations, and helped turn around sales.
Union busting move
SBUX is a SHORT
Starbucks said Monday it would start covering eligible travel expenses for employees seeking abortions or gender-affirming procedures. A handful of companies are offering to reimburse workers for travel costs related to abortions following the leak of a draft Supreme Court ruling that would strike down Roe v. Wade. According to NBC News, as of mid-March, 154 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures, seeking to limit access to health care, sports, bathrooms, and education. SBUX can't offer these benefits to unionized stores without going thru the union.
MCD WINS SUPPORT
MCD is a LONG
Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services issued a recommendation supporting the board of director nominees on the McDonald's slate. The firm said the Carl Icahn-led dissident campaign had not made a good case on an issue-specific or broader view of ESG that would require the immediate replacement of incumbent directors. ISS maintains that the prevailing scientific evidence regarding sow welfare and the realities of commercial-scale agriculture seem to suggest a reasonable basis for the MCD board view. The board vote is set for May 26 and the MCD annual meeting. Carl Icahn has been pushing large index-fund managers, especially ones focused on ESG, to get on board with his fight against
