FSR August 2022

PUBLICLY TRADED TITANS OF INDUSTRY

1 With impressive year-over-year sales growth, the neighborhood grill and bar is embracing innova tion in a bid to stay relevant to the ever-evolving, post-COVID con sumer—and it seems to be work ing. Per Applebee’s president John Cywinski, the company out performed the casual-dining cate gory average in 51 out of 52 weeks in 2021. That same year, it launched vir tual brand, Cosmic Wings, which after some early supply chain challenges, is expanding its third-party delivery pres ence. The brand is also dipping its toes into ghost kitchens (two in Philadelphia and a third in Miami), smaller store foot prints, and a drive-thru window to expe dite to-go orders. These strategies may soon prove especially prescient. In the spring, Cywinski said Applebee’s was the clos est to limited service in terms of oper ations and customer demographics as KVoU GXGT DGGP #PF YKVJ KPƃCVKQP FTKXKPI prices up even in fast food, the brand’s value proposition could become even more appealing. APPLEBEE’S

FOR MOST FULL-SERVICE CHAINS, THE 2021 FISCAL YEAR REPRESENTED A MAJOR REBOUND. There is no way to sugarcoat the devastation 2020 wrought on full-service restaurants. Dine-in restrictions— both those mandated by municipalities and those taken out of caution—slashed revenues, even for brands that managed to parlay business off the premises. Given such a low starting point, it’s no surprise that 2021 was a windfall year. Nearly all the publicly traded EUDQGV SURƓOHG LQ WKLV HGLWLRQ RI WKH )65 SRVWHG double-digit percentage growth for system-wide sales. Not every brand has returned to 2019 levels, but a few have managed to surpass their pre-COVID numbers (see chart on page 35 for details). At the same time, a number of privately held companies—large and small— are pushing forward, whether with sales, unit growth, or a combination of the two. Major chains’ 2021 performances served as a point of stabilization after so much upheaval, but it will be the 2022 numbers that reveal which brands are leading the ƓHOG DKHDG RI D SRWHQWLDO UHFHVVLRQ BY NICOLE DUNCAN

30

FSRMAGAZINE.COM

AUGUST 2022