The Latest
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Kendall Davis/Restaurant Dive
How coronavirus is changing restaurant policies
The latest updates to the tracker include recognition pay at company-owned Wendy's restaurants, bonuses for various Chipotle employees and operational changes at Dave & Buster's and Focus Brands.
UPDATED: April 3, 2020 at 12:04 p.m. -
Red Robin ends year-long battle with activist investor
The deal with Vintage Capital includes the appointment of an independent director and allows the investor to acquire up to 20% of the company's stock.
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Logan's Roadhouse parent lays off staff, changes exec leadership
After closing its restaurants, CraftWorks has terminated 18,000 employees as it attempts to navigate a previously filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
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Restaurant delivery platforms turn to grocery
Uber Eats has teamed up with Carrefour in France for 30-minute grocery delivery, while DoorDash has added convenience stores like 7-Eleven and Wawa.
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Keck, Dan. (2020). "Dairy Queen" [Photograh]. Retrieved from Flickr.
Franchisees struggle alongside independents to 'keep the lights on' amid COVID-19
Up to 30,000 franchise businesses will lose all liquidity in the next month as paid sick leave and inflexible business interruption insurance clauses put extra pressure on operations.
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Papa John's Q1 same-store sales grew 5.3% despite coronavirus crisis
Like its rivals, the pizza chain has benefited from a surge in delivery demand as states and municipalities close restaurant dining rooms.
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Burger King parent will give operators $70M in cash advancements
Restaurant Brands International is also pausing remodel obligations and deferring rent payments at properties it controls to free up cash for franchisees during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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Domino's US same-store sales growth drops by half in Q1
Despite some gains, it's less than half of the pizza chain's numbers from Q1 2019, showing the financial drag caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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Postmates couriers are employees, New York appeals court finds
Laws generally are evolving to make it more difficult for companies to establish gig worker status — a change many businesses, especially food delivery companies, are fighting.
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Restaurants, grocery stores can list shopping times on OpenTable
The new tool promises to help retailers manage crowds without requiring customers to wait in line outside stores.
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Mcphee, Alyson. (2018). [Photograph]. Retrieved from Unsplash.
A Boston restaurateur is using Instagram tutorials to stay afloat
The owner of Juliet + Company restaurant group has developed online video cocktail and cooking tutorials, as well as a publication, to drive revenue and keep his 50 staff members employed.
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Deep Dive
5 things to know about the new coronavirus paid leave law
A number of small businesses are "despondent," one source told HR Dive. But there's hope the federal government could soften the the law's impact.
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Yelp pauses automatic rollout of GoFundMe pages amid restaurant backlash
Restaurant owners took to Twitter to voice their frustration with the practice, which they claim is invasive and could undermine independent fundraising efforts.
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President signs $2T coronavirus stimulus package, 'a first step' in helping restaurants recover
With an expansion of unemployment benefits and direct payments to individuals and families, some relief is on the way for many restaurant workers.
UPDATED: March 27, 2020 at 4:40 p.m. -
3% of restaurants have already closed permanently, NRA survey finds
Another 11% of the 4,000 operators the National Restaurant Association surveyed predict that they will permanently close within 30 days.
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Thai Phi Le
Chipotle raises pay 10% for restaurant workers
The increase, which juxtaposes industrywide layoffs and reduced shifts for front-of-house workers, will be in effect for hourly employees through April 12.
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Coronavirus derailing Wendy's strong Q1 sales growth
Sales grew 15% during the first week of the chain's breakfast launch and same-store sales were up 4% in the first two months of the year, only to slide 20% during the week ending March 22.
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The Cheesecake Factory furloughed 41,000 employees
In addition to the furloughs and informing its landlords that it won't be able to pay April rent, top executives have elected to reduce base salaries by 20%.
UPDATED: March 27, 2020 at 9:28 a.m. -
COVID-19 puts BYO coffee cups on hold, but sanitized reusable systems could fill the void
Major brands like Starbucks and Dunkin' have banned the use of personal to-go containers in recent weeks over coronavirus fears, raising new questions in a wider debate around packaging safety.
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Courtesy of Inspire Brands
Jimmy John's delivers fresh bread to drive social buzz
App customers can post pictures of their homemade bread creations to social media and include the hashtags #FreakyFreshBread and #MadeWithJJBread.
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Deep DiveCoronavirus decimates restaurant profits, but financial safety nets exist
Restaurants forced to close are left with few options to keep the lights on, but experts suggest negotiating with third parties to figure out where they can get a break is one place to start.
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McDonald's pulls all-day breakfast
The QSR giant is also temporarily paring down its morning menu amid novel coronavirus disruption, a move that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
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Burger King's biggest franchisee reverses decision to cut staff pay 10%
Hourly reductions will only apply to staff above store-level workers and CEO Dan Accordino will forgo his salary for three months, Carrols told employees in a memo.
UPDATED: March 25, 2020 at 12:24 p.m. -
Yum Brands suspends buyback program to free up cash for franchisees
The restaurant group said its franchisees have experienced "significant" store closures and reduced store-level operations due to the coronavirus outbreak. As of March 18, about 7,000 Yum restaurants are closed globally.
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Amber Boutwell, Punch Bowl Social
Punch Bowl Social faces foreclosure
Cracker Barrel, which previously bought a $140 million non-controlling stake in the company, says it won't provide any additional financial resources.
UPDATED: March 25, 2020 at 12:07 p.m.
