Dive Brief:
- Dave & Buster’s has appointed Tarun Lal as CEO and member of its board of directors effective July 14, the company said in a Tuesday press release.
- Lal most recently served as KFC U.S. president for about three years and worked at Yum Brands for over 25 years. He succeeds Kevin Sheehan, who held the interim CEO post following Chris Morris’ December departure. Sheehan will remain as chairman of the board.
- Lal’s experience could be instrumental in turning around Dave & Buster’s same-store sales, which have declined for several quarters. During its fiscal Q1 2025 ending May 6, comparable sales were down 8.3%, a slight improvement from the 9.4% decline it reported in fiscal Q4 2024 ending Feb. 4.
Dive Insight:
Lal has extensive experience in various areas of operations that should help Dave & Buster’s turnaround.
As KFC U.S. president, he oversaw all of the brand’s operations across the country. He also has international experience, serving as KFC Global chief operating officer, and managing director for KFC Middle East, Turkey, Africa, India and Pakistan. In that role, he expanded the brand, bolstered digital innovations and oversaw consistent growth across complex markets.
“Tarun is a talented leader and seasoned operator with a highly successful track record of growing and improving businesses and brands in the U.S and around the world,” Sheehan said in a statement.
William Blair analyst Sharon Zackfia said in a report emailed to Restaurant Dive that the appointment was “an interesting choice to lead Dave & Buster’s efforts to reinvigorate the brand given his deep operational experience with Yum!, albeit with no direct experience in casual dining or entertainment.”
“Clearly, he can help bolster the brand's international efforts, with Dave & Buster’s opening its first international licensed location in India in December, with 8 to 10 additional international sites planned this year,” Zackfia wrote.
Dave & Buster’s has already seen some signs of improvement under its “back to basics” strategy meant to recover top-line sales, Sheehan said in a June earnings statement.
Management “unwound many clear mistakes and made high confidence changes to marketing, menu, operations, remodels and games investment,” he said.
The brand has brought back its Eat & Play combo, rebalanced its media spend, including re-entering the TV space, and simplified its messaging, among other changes, Sheehan said during an earnings call. It also introduced a Summer Pass, allowing guests to have unlimited gameplay and discounts on food and beverages. The chain also corrected pricing issues, brought back top-selling entrees, enhanced its menu layout and is working to introduce a new menu, he added.
“On operations, we have diagnosed many of the overwhelming factors for our operators that were requiring too many not fully tested or thought-out changes to promotions, menu, service style, pricing, labor setup, remodels, all while cutting back on training and failing to properly engage with the store team,” Sheehan said.
The chain returned to previously proven practices and spent time listening to operators and gathering insights, and is rolling out a store manager incentive program “driven by same-store sales growth that has positively shocked the system in a very morale boosting way by allowing managers to become the true owners of the business,” Sheehan said.
The chain saw particularly strong momentum during the Memorial Day weekend, which it expects to continue into the summer months. As of early June, the chain posted positive same-store sales in 11 out of the previous 30 days.
