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Just when Wendy’s thought it was done with its 99¢ Value Menu, like Michael Corleone trying to leave the Mafia it’s being pulled back in. Wendy’s President CEO Emil Brolick told analysts today that Wendy’s has had to readjust its marketing calendar for the second half of 2013 to give more and continuous support to [...]

McDonald’s Corp. CEO Don Thompson explained the company’s poor showing in the first quarter by stressing once again that the Informal Eating Out (IEO) marketplace is a zero-sum game where survival and growth come at the expense of competitors. “Our growth is going to come from taking market share,” Thompson told analysts. The “thoughtful and [...]

Ruby Tuesday has taken off its ill-fitting suit, put its jeans back on and is ordering a cold one and a burger. James J. “JJ” Buettgen, named president-CEO of Maryville, Tenn.-based Ruby Tuesday last November, told analysts he is continuing to dismantle the efforts by his predecessor—Founder Sandy Beall, who retired after 40 years at [...]

Embarking on what CEO Emil Brolick called a “holistic, highly integrated brand transformation,” Wendy’s has begun a three-year plan intended to extensively remodel its stores, image and menu. This week’s adoption of an updated logoand new packaging and crew uniforms is one element. Wendy’s released audited results, including a -0.2% decline in same-store sales for [...]

In line with its stated intention to focus more attention on value pricing, Burger King is testing consumer response to a daily-discount program it already has in place in the UK and Canada. The “King Deals” tactic testing in select markets offers a different discounted meal on each weekday as a sort of rapid-fire limited-time-offer [...]

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers announced positive results for 2012’s Q4, including a 1.4% same-store sales increase (1.1% of which came from check increase). It also provided an update on its ongoing efforts to make the chain more appealing to adults dining without children. This includes a shift this year to serving its burgers on china [...]

A Massachusetts native, Frank Scibelli has been a successful restaurateur in Charlotte, N.C., for many years. He already operated Mexican spot Cantina 1511 and Italian dinnerhouse Mama Ricotta’s when he decided to also ride the upscale-burger wave. He and Dennis Thompson (founder of the Lone Star Steakhouse chain) opened the first Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar [...]

1) Where there’s an advantage to be had, take it. There’s no evidence that Burger King served horsemeat to consumers, but the chain did withdraw and dump product from one of its meat suppliers, which has been implicated in the supermarket scandal, British magazine Marketing reported. Right on the heels of BK’s announcement that it [...]

McDonald’s Corp. CEO Don Thompson pledged that the world’s largest restaurant brand will be more aggressive this year in its pursuit of sales and customers. This comes as the company announced global same-store sales that were up 3.1% for full-year 2012 despite Q4 comps that rose just 0.1%. He warned that January 2013 comp sales [...]

Last August, McDonald’s introduced the Chicken Box in Germany, offering a customizable, mix-and-match pack of Chicken McNuggets, Chicken McBites and Chicken Sticks. This site has since predicted that boxed multi-person meals with burgers would finally come to the U.S. in 2013, and we didn’t have to wait long to see it. Just in time for [...]

A McDonald’s franchisee for more than 40 years and operator of eight units, J.M. Owens this year became president of the Greater Atlanta McDonald’s Operators Association. He spoke with BurgerBusiness.com about the negative impact of ending the 2% payroll tax reduction; menu (including McWraps) and pricing; efforts to extend breakfast sales; and the chain’s intention [...]

McDonald’s is testing lower pricing for its Mighty Wings bone-in chicken wings and not just consumer interest in its test of the item in Chicago. The wings test that began last July in Atlanta moved to Chicago this week with a tweak in pricing. According to a GrubGrade report last summer, in Atlanta the wings [...]

Wendy’s is confronting a “fiscal cliff” of its own but has done a better job of negotiating its less-dire version than has Congress. One of the chain’s resolutions for 2013 has been to create a new two-tier value menu to replace the ineffective My 99¢ Everyday Value Menu. The Right Price Right Size Value Menu [...]

Multi-person boxed burger meals have taken a step closer to the U.S. with McDonald’s introduction of the concept in Japan. As it did in Australia when it originated the Family Box meal platform in 2010, McDonald’s offers three different price/component choices in Japan. The basic Family Meal includes one Big Mac, a teriyaki burger and [...]

McDonald’s Corp. rebounded quickly from the black eye of October’s first drop in same-same sales in nine years. November comp sales rose 2.4% globally and 2.5% in the U.S., thanks, the company said, to “the ongoing popularity of McDonald’s breakfast along with balance across everyday value offerings, premium menu options including the limited-time Cheddar Bacon [...]