Domino’s CEO’s surprising announcement, LongHorn Steakhouse’s shocking performance, and a bevy of Starbucks news

Speaker A: Tired of scattered systems and outdated tech, Clark National Accounts simplifies food service operations from supply chain scaling to order consolidation. Partner with experts delivering smarter solutions. Curated just for you@ah, clarknational accounts.com Domino's

Speaker B: Pizza is getting a new CEO, Longhorn Steakhouse turns in an eye popping fourth quarter. And Starbucks is expanding a, uh, new role throughout its coffeehouses. Welcome to Extra Serving, a nation's restaurant news podcast. On today's host, Alicia Kelso, executive editor, I'm joined by my esteemed colleague, managing editor Leanne Zinsmeister. Sam Okus is taking a much deserved vacation with his family. Leanne, Ladies first podcast. We like these.

Speaker C: We love it. I love when Sam's vacations overlap with a recording day so that we can have a girls day.

Speaker B: Yeah, we can have some girl talk. Um, and, uh, we did right before we hit record, because why not? And I don't really get to see you that much, so it's fun for me. Um, I get excited to talk to people because my basement can get kind of lonely sometimes.

Speaker C: I get it. I have the good fortune of getting to spend time with some of our colleagues in person on a regular basis. Um, but I am also working today from basically what's an empty room in my apartment. So it's also good to have some human interaction here for me as well.

Speaker B: Well, how's your week been?

Speaker C: Pretty good, pretty good. Uh, we're busy over here. We're, uh, getting our July issue ready to go to press this week. So I have, uh, staring at PDFs for most of the week. Um, but I'm excited about this one, Alicia. It's got our brand icon feature in it. It's got our hot concepts in it. Uh, this is a good issue.

Speaker B: Yeah, all of those things, by the way, which will come to fruition live in person at our annual Create event, which is coming in hot. Uh, this is the event for our emerging restaurateurs. It will be held July 20th through 26 second at the beautiful Terraner Resort just outside of Los Angeles. This, by the way, is free for restaurant operators, so register if you haven't yet. Uh, we have an incredible lineup of speakers this year. I am looking forward. I get to interview Phil Rosenthal, uh, who is the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond and perhaps more relevantly, uh, the subject, if you will, of Netflix's Somebody Feedback. Phil. Uh, so I'm really excited. I've been kind of going down that rabbit hole and watching him and trying to figure out what possible questions I can ask him. I'm Jealous, though, because you get to lead the conversation with our Hot Concepts, uh, this year. And I'm sure you're looking forward to that. Tell me.

Speaker C: I do. I'm really excited about that, Alicia, and I'm grateful to you. You've talked to our Hot Concepts winners the past few years at ah, Create, um, and you have graciously passed me the baton this year. I love Hot Concepts. This is the award that we give to emerging chains with a lot of potential. Uh, there are four incredible winners this year, and I can't wait to also spend the next few years following their trajectories. Because just five years ago, one of our Hot Concepts was a little brand called Kava. Perhaps you've heard of Kava listeners. Um, Raising Canes was a hot concept. Panda Express was a hot concept. And now they are our brand icon. So this is a really exciting one. I loved reading all of your. Not all of yours, but all of our colleagues profiles on our Hot concepts for the magazine. Uh, so real quick, those winners this year are Mike's Red Tacos, Giada Deli Sushi by Boo and Matcha Magic. And the founders and leaders of these brands will join me on stage for some rapid fire questions. Uh, you won't want to miss it. They're all going to bring a takeaway that you can take back to your operation. And action right away.

Speaker B: Very good, Very good. Well, uh, let's dive into some news this week because it certainly was busy, uh, even though we're kind of in the throes of summer and we're barreling toward another holiday weekend, I want to open quick because I was able to finally unveil some information about a trip I had taken in late May, uh, to Dallas to do a deep dive into Golden Chick, which is an old chain. It's a legacy chain. It's been around since the late 60s. Uh, and I'm telling you, man, these folks rolled the red carpet, the golden carpet, I guess, if you will, out for me. And it's mostly Southern based. It is not in Louisville, Kentucky. It's certainly not in New York City where you were based. So I hadn't heard about it, but they are, um, steadily growing, ah, after, you know, decades, uh, in the business. And they just have such an interesting story. They were bought, uh, by a guy named Mark Parmalee in the late 1990s. He is still running the company. He, uh, brought on a guy named Howard Terry is chief marketing officer over from raising canes about 2015. And the two of them were just total Yin and yang finishing each other's sentences, really running this ship. We had a lot of folks that had come from raising canes, uh, and Golden Chick is really ramping up to sort of, uh, enter its next gen phase, uh, if you will. Why not? Chicken tenders and sauces are hot, and chicken tenders are the star of their menu. Uh, what impressed me the most about, uh, Golden Chick is their menu is huge. I mean, they've got roasted chicken, fried chicken, they've got catfish, they've got okra, dirty rice. I ate some, uh, apple empanadas that I keep thinking about at random times of the day still. So it was just really interesting. It was a fun media emergence, uh, just an incredible day, uh, full of folks, uh, talking, um, you know, from every facet of the brand. I'll have a couple more stories, uh, to come out, but in the meantime, look for Golden Chick's new brand campaign called Give Me that Golden. Uh, the intention again is to sort of foray into the consideration, uh, set for the next generation of consumers, especially those, you know, that coveted Gen Z, uh, as the chicken tenders spaces. You know, other than beverages, the chicken tender space is one of the hottest. And you know, they believe they have a right to win there because they've been around so long and have been very consistent and very, uh, family oriented and slow and steady growth, but growth nonetheless. So look for that, uh, on the news side, let's jump in over, uh, from chicken to pizza because there was some big news here on Monday and I. It was funny how the newsroom had to congregate because I was on my.

Speaker C: It was a group effort. This story was.

Speaker B: Yes, and Domino's is my beat. But I was in the car on the sprinting to a swim meet, um, because of summer swim. And Russell Wiener, the CEO of Domino's, who has been in that role since 2022, announced, uh, his retirement at the end of the workday. And, uh, he has been with the company since 2008. Leigh Ann, thank you for pinch hitting for me while I sprinted to swim to swimming.

Speaker C: Always happy to help.

Speaker B: What were your immediate thoughts when we had to push this news alert out?

Speaker C: Uh, this is interesting. This isn't one that I necessarily saw coming, but the more I think about it, the more I think the timing makes sense. Um, first of all, the reason I was able to knock out this story so quickly is because you in particular, um, and a lot of our colleagues have been following the Domino's story for all these years. And so I knew A lot of the facts and figures and accomplishments off the top of my head, including the fact that Russell Weiner is one of the people who really turned Domino's around, um, in the 2010s, uh, with their campaign where they basically came out and said, you're right, our pizza sucks. Uh, I think they might have used a different word, but they didn't. Is that exactly what they said?

Speaker B: It was that aggressive? It was an aggressive.

Speaker C: I wasn't fully paying attention at the time, but I certainly am now now. Um, I was around in 2017 when Domino's overtook Pizza Hut to become the number one pizza chain in the country. And, you know, I've been around as Wiener was named CEO and he's really going out on top. Domino's last year. You know, QSR pizza has really had a hard time finding its footing since the pandemic. Um, it's lost a lot of ground with delivery. And Domino's has really continued to chug along and put in positive stuff. Sales and unit growth, um, including in 2025. They were one of the only bank USR pizza chains to accomplish that last year. So he's going out on top. And not only that, but he has a successor in Joe Jordan, who has been with the company since 2015. Alicia says yes, and kind of a similar story to Russell in that he has worked for a lot of parts of the business and has a lot of experience here and now has worked with Russell as COO for the last couple years and is really ready to step in and take over. And I'm eager to see if this is a CEO who will come in and make big changes and try to really go for the gold, um, or if he'll stick with the slow and steady but growing pace, uh, that Wiener has really set over the last few years.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Uh, Joe Jordan, just not. He's been there since 2011, but for 15 years. So forgive me for nodding.

Speaker C: That must be where we both got 15 from. We'll go with that.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I, you know, to, to your point, I think this did come as a bit of a surprise. Um, Russell Weiner, I personally think, is one of the strongest catalysts of Domino's staggering success and, you know, eye opening market share gain throughout the past 15 years with this company that, oh, yes, we did campaign in 2009 and 2010 was risky. Risky as hell, really. It was antithetical to everything that marketing and PR stands for. They basically put customers out that said, your pizza sucks, your sauce tastes like ketchup, uh, Your crust tastes like cardboard. Um, and then they put, you know, executives out there, uh, with humility, and said, well, we should probably change this. And it was, like I said, it was just really humble and risky and who the heck, you know, Sam. Sam Okas and I had the opportunity, the privilege really, to spend a couple days at Domino's headquarters in September, uh, because Domino's was our brand icon winner last year. And Sam interviewed Russell and talked to him at length about the, you know, the anxiety that went into that campaign, if you will, because it was such a huge risk. And I had the privilege of talking to Joe Jordan, uh, who at that time in September, had just gotten promoted to a COO and president role. So he's just moving up, you know, uh, and now he'll be. He'll take over the CEO role in September, uh, or rather October 1st. So just a deep bench at Domino's. And, uh, I think that is what I think is really interesting and what I really like about the succession plan is if you think about who the executive chairman is, now it's David Brandon, who was, you know, uh, also a former CEO, uh, CEO. And then Russell Weiner coming in, you know, and then eventually working under Patrick Doyle, who's now the executive chairman at Restaurant Business International and has overseen a tremendous turnaround at Burger King. Um, by the way, taking a significant page from that. Oh, yes, we did. Turnaround plan. You know, we are now seeing Burger King executive. Yep. We're now seeing Burger King executives say, hey, our products, our experience, our service is not as great as it needs to be. So we're gonna. We're listening and we're make these changes. So I think, you know, that that is. That is exactly the legacy that. That Russell Weiner is going to leave, is that he took a big gamble. He took a big risk coming in as CMO at that time, before the. Oh, yes, we did campaign. Domino's accounted for 1 out of every 10 pizza orders in the United States. Uh, Leanne, to your point, they surpassed Pizza Hut for market share in 2017. They now have about 30% of market share in the category and account for one out of every four orders in the category. That is significant and remarkable. And, you know, Joe Jordan's got some big shoes to fill. But he came in, and he came in. His first job at Domino's was vice president of innovation while this recipe turnover, uh, was happening. Uh, he also served as chief marketing officer. He went over to International. He's got the wherewithal, I think, to fill those Shoes. So, um, are there any other thoughts that you have on the succession plan, or.

Speaker C: No, just that I'm always impressed when we get a full succession plan. This changeover, as you said, is happening in the fall. Um, they already know who's stepping in. I think it's hardly even. We're hardly going to notice a change or a transition here. There's no interim chief coming in. Um, it's all upward mobility. Uh, and I'm very impressed by it. And like I said, the way he's going out on top, and I only see good things continuing for Domino's.

Speaker B: Yeah. Here's hoping. And, you know, that's an interesting point that you make, too, is we've seen a lot of turnover at some companies, and, you know, Wendy's comes to mind. And we'll talk about Wendy's in a little bit. Um, three CEOs in, like, two years. Something.

Speaker C: Something very intense. Yes, Jack in the Box.

Speaker B: Yes, Jack in the Box has had a lot of change at the top tier that coincides with subpar performances. So I think, to your point, I think this is probably good, that the deep bench and the succession plan is internal to keep the ship going in the right direction. And Domino's, to your earlier point, is really one of the very few pizza companies going in the right direction right now. Uh, Russell Wiener actually said in February that he sees a path to 50% market share. So these guys aren't slowing down, as they said in September. They've got pizza sauce in their veins. Um, and I think it'll be fun to watch. So, uh, in the meantime, let's jump over to Darden, which is another ship going in the right direction. Holy cow. This.

Speaker C: How did they do it?

Speaker B: This fourth quarter report came out. What was it, yesterday morning? Thursday. We're recording this on Friday. This report came out Thursday morning. Liam, what was your impression of this report?

Speaker C: You know, I feel like every time we talk about casual dining, just like in the newsroom, um, we're either talking about how incredible these brands are doing or how terribly those brands are doing. There's very little middle ground here. Darden is doing very, very well, which has been consistently true for quite a while now. Um, but it's not very often that we sit down to talk about Darden and we end up talking about Longhorn Steakhouse more than Olive Garden. It's much bigger sibling brand, as our colleague Joe put it. Um, Longhorn Steakhouse had same store sales grow 9.5% year over year last quarter, which is just incredible. You Know, my first thought was, but meat is so expensive, beef specifically, um, the executives do think that they have the advantage of keeping their prices relatively stable. Whereas if you get a steak at the grocery store, it's going to cost you twice as much as it did last year. So that could be part of it. But we've long talked about how much consumers love steel steak. You, uh, know, every year even, even if casual dining isn't doing so hot. You know, our America's favorite chains report with technomic always has this state like three or four steak restaurants in the top 10. It's a good special occasion meal. And they did cite, uh, by, yes, they cited a, uh, their best ever Mother's Day, I believe. Um, so, you know, if you need an excuse, excuse to go out for steak, then I guess Mother's Day is 1. Next quarter may have similar numbers because we saw Father's Day this month. Um, and so, you know, on first glance it sounds very surprising, but when you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense that consumers are going out for special occasions, which is something else we also know to be true. Um, and that they'll pick a fairly reasonably priced steak over a trip to the grocery store for the same meal. Now not only did Longhorn have huge numbers, but I believe every chain had same store sales growth at ah, Darden, um, or at least every one. Yes. Um, so you know, Olive Garden is up. Uh, their fine dining brands are up, which is great to see. Uh, fine dining has of course been struggling with the economy recently. Um, but again those special occasions, um, Yard House is up. Uh, so whatever Darden is doing here, whatever they've latched onto, it's really, really working for them. They're seeing early success at Olive Garden with their smaller portions, um, menu, uh, which was created ostensibly to target GLP1 users. Um, and some of that like snacky trends that we're seeing, uh, the Cardenas, the CEO, is a little hesitant to specifically attribute growth to that just yet because it's still fairly new to the menu but it's there, um, and it's performing well. So it's, you know, if you're going to be in casual dining, it's a good time to be darted.

Speaker B: Yeah, I, you know, this, this Push Vacation came across my phone around 7:15 in the morning and you know, I was expecting a, just a basic earnings report. Okay, what's Olive Garden gonna do? Because Olive Garden has historically been the workhorse, uh, for Darden. And as our colleague Joe Guskowski pointed out, you Know, it's more of an even playing field with Darden now, which is the really what you want when you're putting together, uh, a holding company, a parent company, like Darden has done throughout the years collecting these brands. They've not all been successful. We just, for example, saw the, you know, the complete shutdown of Bahama Breeze. But to Joe's point, in 2019, Olive Garden made up 55% of the profits at Darden, and now it's at 47%. And it's not because Olive Garden is doing bad. Olive Garden is very much growing. Uh, and so they're, you know, they're able to leverage those that scale those shared resources that every one of these holding companies is aspiring to. Some, some are far more successful than others. Darden has written the playbook here. And Darden is known for focusing on its operational prowess. It always has been known about, you know, known for, uh, focusing on its operational prowess. Rick Cardenas, the CEO, has basically made that the North Star. And that has been paying off in droves, especially in the past couple years where consumers are very much either trading down for discounts or trading up for experiences. Darden sits in a sweet spot. We're seeing that at Longhorn. Longhorn, of course, to your point, also sits in that sweet spot of serving steak. And you know, you're not going to get a steak that's messed up by people who are trained to cook steaks if you go and pay for a steak at a Longhorn Steakhouse. Whereas if I sometimes try and cook a steak at home, um, I sometimes just don't execute the way I want to execute, especially. And after that third glass of wine before I cook the steak, um, and so that, you know, and, and, and Cardena's very much, you know, pointed that out that, you know, beef is expensive, it's historically high, you know, and uh, and so they're, their position within that stake market is kind, uh, of beneficial right now, as is the case for, you know, other state concepts like Texas Roadhouse, of course, has been, uh, wheeling and dealing for a couple quarters, 11 years actually. Um, so I, I just, I find it really fascinating that, um, we are in a, a bifurcated restaurant market right now where if you aren't offering bang for buck experience, uh, value, convenience, food quality, um, or a compelling discount and you're sort of in that middle ground where you don't have either, or you're, you're going to be having a really hard go in this particular environment that is still, you know, a Significant challenge for a big chunk of consumers. Um, so I think Darden is in a good spot, uh, because it does play on that, um, you know, bang for buck, uh, kind of position.

Speaker C: Well, and to that point, Darden also saw increased traffic across every income level. So it's not just, you know, the wealthiest people going out to their fine dining brands. You know, lower income consumers are going to Longhorn and Olive Garden for their nice nights out.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And that's a huge advantage, like you said. If they can put out a value proposition that makes people think that they're getting a good deal there, which in a lot of cases they are, then more power to them.

Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Um, I don't want to be dismissive of the fact that Darden has, um, really focused its investments over the past couple of years to ensuring that it does have that strong value proposition. Underpricing inflation, uh, making sure that it has the right labor in place, especially during peak hours. These have been targeted investments from Darden for, as I say, at least as long as Rick Cardenas has been there. He is a, he is a true champion of, you have to invest in the brand to get something out of the brand. And, uh, you know, in an environment that almost seems desperate at times, where, you know, some operators are cutting to the bone because the P and L is more pressure than it has ever really been. Um, I think that's an important reminder that, you know, these investments do yield a return. And I think Darden is a perfect case study for that.

Speaker C: Yeah, agreed.

Speaker B: Ah, so we went from pizza to steak and we're going to jump over what's next call. Oh, don't worry. It's, it's. Oh, we actually started with chicken tenders and we got to go the other, the other hot category, and that is, of course, coffee. Um, and we're going to go to the granddaddy. Uh, Starbucks had two fairly big pieces of news this week, news that was probably more interesting for us restaurant nerds than the general consumer set. Uh, you know, the first is they're actually expanding their coffee house role and eventually targeting a system wide rollout in the domestics. You know, in the domestic system. Starbucks began piloting this coffee house coach role in the fall at, uh, about a dozen locations. The whole point is basically to ease some of the pressure of executing orders. We all, any of us that have visited Starbucks know that it can get bottlenecked pretty quickly. And we know that Starbucks has a goal of making sure your orders get to you in four minutes or less. That is part of Brian Nichols turnaround plan. Uh, and the company believes that adding this sort of, it's almost like an expediter role, but more, uh, customer facing believes, uh, that putting an extra role, an assistant general manager, if you will, in place, uh, is helping at least has showed, uh, that it helps with customer satisfaction scores and execution scores at the pilot restaurant. So much so that the company is now, um, preparing to roll this out to the entire domestic system. What are your thoughts on this whole role?

Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's interesting that you compared it to an assistant general manager role because that's something we're also seeing, um, at Cava and some other brands. So, um, I think if it's helping, then like you said, Starbucks has a problem right now with wait times. Um, anecdotally you can place an order in the app and it won't be ready for 45 minutes. Um, and that's not like, frankly, that's not acceptable for a coffee house. Um, and so they've tested this out. They think it works. I have no reason to doubt them, um, on, um, that. And so I'm excited to see it roll out and to see, um, if it truly brings change. Um, I also think it's great that they are. They've said that they expect 90% of these roles to be filled internally, um, which is great. We talked about internal mobility in the C suite at Domino's, and it starts at the bottom. If you've got a great barista or a partner, as Starbucks calls them, um, on staff, uh, that's looking for a little extra to do a little pay bump, then great. There's this new role that they can sl into that, um, will hopefully, you know, as you said, help alleviate some of the pressure on these general managers who certainly have a lot going on. Um, and so I'm eager to watch it and to see what happens. It's been a great system for Cava. Um, so I think it's cool to see it kind of rolling out and to see more opportunities like this, um, for partners. You know, as I think we'll touch on a little bit later, the labor outlook is not so great right now. So if you can create roles like this, if you're having trouble bringing in entry level employees, roles like this can help alleviate some of the pressure happening in the restaurant.

Speaker B: Sure. And it goes back. It really does tie into that conversation that we just had with Darden where it's an investment. This role is an investment that Starbucks is willing to make, uh, because it's Yielded, uh, a strong enough return so far in the pilot, uh, to lend itself to understanding that the investment is worth it. And so what is Starbucks getting out of this other than higher scores on customer satisfaction? Well, they're getting more throughput. Uh, again, it goes back to that whole conversation that some investments are, are worth it. Instead of cutting to the bone, we can talk about labor costs, uh, being higher than they've ever been. But yeah, you know, what, what, what is that? What is the solution here to cut to the bone where you don't have enough staff to fulfill your peak hours? No. And so this I think is uh, something that's interesting and I think will be worth watching. To your point. CAVA has also had success with this. And uh, you know, we see that other companies as well that have had some issues with operations scores are also bolstering, at least field teams. Maybe not in the same way, but we're seeing, uh, you know, uh, Wendy's and Popeyes are a good example of two chains that have really struggled with their, uh, you know, speed of service and accuracy scores, that they're starting to focus a little bit more on those field teams and bolstering those, those labor, uh, rosters during peak times. So, uh, we'll get, like you said, a little bit deeper into labor. But the other piece of news that came from Starbucks, uh, this week is the company's going to begin to pilot later this summer a, uh, program that allows select employees to create content for TikTok and share, ideally share in ad revenue. Indeed, Starbucks is the first company to pilot, uh, TikTok's creator networks in its content suite. Um, and it builds on a program that Starbucks officially launched last year called its Green Apron Creators program, uh, which included two full time hires that are just sort of casually carusing the world and creating content at locations all over the place, which sounds like an amazing dream job. Uh, but, uh, what are your initial thoughts on this pilot? And it's early days. This is just a pilot, but it's interesting news nonetheless.

Speaker C: Well, you know, I love TikTok, so I find this news to be fascinating. You know, it wasn't that long ago that we were seeing employees at restaurants and other retail establishments like get fired for making TikToks about their jobs. Um, you know, even if they didn't paint the company in a bad light, even if it was, I love my job and I love Starbucks. Not Starbucks specifically, but I love my job and I love this brand. The brands really hated losing control, like what they thought was control over their narrative, even if it was positive. And we're firing people from the front lines for creating content like that. And now we've got Starbucks wanting employees to create positive content about their roles. Um, the revenue sharing aspect is what's really interesting to me about this. Um, I'm curious to see how that unfolds. Again, anecdotally I find that um, people on TikTok don't love Starbucks. If I make a video about Starbucks, it might get a lot of views and um, for a brand like Starbucks, probably a lot of revenue potential, but it's not necessarily positive. And so I'm curious to see if it's true that there's no such thing as bad press, um, as they roll out something like this. Or maybe, um, it's me and maybe their audience or the people who will come across their videos. But you don't really have control over your audience on TikTok. Your videos are just of pushed out to whoever TikTok thinks will engage with them. But another reason I think this is so interesting is because uh, for Starbucks is one thing, but for a smaller restaurant company with a smaller marketing budget, this could end up being an incredible tool if people you're already paying to work in your restaurants can also make content about it and push it out there for no extra money coming from your company. You know, there's I think a lot of potential there for smaller brands. So I'm curious to see Starbucks kind of pilot it and see how it goes.

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm really interested in like the contractual process behind this because Starbucks, you know, Starbucks has a lot of union workers.

Speaker C: Uh, that's true too.

Speaker B: Have a lot of grievances with that, with that company. So two things on that. Well, will these moves make that faction? And it's not a majority by any stretch, but it's loud. Well, will these two moves make that faction of um, their labor pool happier? I can see a coffee house coach coming in and relieving a lot of the stress and pressure at peak hours. That would make a job easier, at least on paper and at least what they're seeing in test here. Uh, so that could be a condition that would be maybe please some of these aggrieved workers. And two, this system for ad revenue sharing. I don't know if that the labor pool is going to be huge here for uh, employee creators, but it's an opportunity to the bigger point here. Opportunity for upward mobility, opportunity, uh, for relieving of uh, pressure and stress during peak times. Opportunity for ad sharing. But what if I'm an aggrieved employee? Uh, so I'm curious about that. I know that's such a small drop in this bigger bucket, but, um, you

Speaker C: know, you're right, though.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: No, I'm also intrigued by that.

Speaker B: It's intriguing. It's, it's.

Speaker C: Yes, I think anything Starbucks label related,

Speaker B: uh, you know, to your other point, it does mark a continued shift toward leveraging employees as brand ambassadors. And you know that that can be a risk. So there has to be some, uh, guardrails in place. Um, you know, but other brands have, have embraced this sort of internal influencer trend, uh, of late, including Portillo's and First Watch. Uh, I think I want to see what employees are up to. I think, I think it's a really cool, uh, angle of content, if you will. I think frontline employees, especially at restaurants, especially at QSRs, are sometimes treated unfairly. There's an actual TikTok going around, ah, this week. I don't know if you saw it. Some woman was mad that Taco Bell wasn't open during a tornado warning and a lot of people were coming at her like, keep the employees safe. So there's still, um, a perception of, you know, service worker. And, uh, this, I think, could maybe help with that reputation that, hey, these are frontline workers. These are essential workers and this is what they are working with every day. And, you know, I don't know that they'll show what they're dealing with every day, like challenge customers. I don't know that that's it. I think it's more like the sexy drinks they're making. Um, but I also think it's cool to get those perceptions and perhaps create a little bit more understanding and less ignorance about what this role entails.

Speaker C: Definitely. People love behind the scenes content of anything. Uh, and so I think, like, you know, behind the scenes and like you said things that, you know, these people aren't just making your drinks or taking your orders. Um, there's a lot to it. They're doing, they're doing inventory now because AI is no longer doing their inventory for them. Um, they're, you know, doing scheduling and they're cleaning the restaurant. And so I think, yeah, if that kind of content is definitely appealing to users. So, yes, definitely keeping an eye on this one.

Speaker B: Yeah, very good. All right, Leanne, it's time for Sam's Made Up. We'll do him justice while he's on vacation and keep his made up, uh, section that he added at random. One time when I Wasn't prepared.

Speaker C: Is everything just made up? Like, you know, Alicia from Sam Sometimes?

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: Uh, no, in general. He wasn't here when we started this podcast. But this podcast is really just made up. It's just we made it up eight years ago and here we are.

Speaker B: Here we are. That's right.

Speaker C: Anyway, yes, we'll do Sam's made up segment, Quick Fire.

Speaker B: You know what else is made up? Leigh Ann? Meme stocks. Let's talk about Wendy's. Okay, because Wendy. Wendy's became a meme stock, uh, this week. And Lord help me if I know what that means. But I know it means that a bunch of people on Reddit were like, save Wendy. And coincidentally not coincidentally, this is. No, this was actually why that the impetus behind this is, uh, Wendy's named Steve, uh, Cerellis, uh, chief financial officer this week. He joins Bob Wright, who was named CEO a couple of weeks ago. Both of them, uh, were in tandem as CEO and CFO at Potbelly and turned that company around in ways that none of us, uh, would have expected. A really tremendous turnaround story in Potbelly. And now they're coming to hope to do the same thing at Wendy's, and therefore Wendy's is a meme stock. What do you think about this?

Speaker C: I don't, I don't know. I spend most of my brain power also trying to understand it. Um, I think it's a shame that we've lost track of the interesting story here, which is, as you said, this team from Potbelly coming over to Wendy's, they did so much good at Potbelly, um, so I'm eager just to see what they can do at Wendy's. But, uh, the consumers, if you will, have indeed tried to take things into their own hands. Um, I genuinely don't understand what any of this means. And yes, I saw the movie about gamestop and still it's just way over my head. But, um, I'm in favor of Wendy's turning things around. So whatever helps, I guess. Although I'm not seeing a lot of great news about GameStop these days. So this may or may not be solution.

Speaker B: I think Krispy Kreme was a meme stock last year too, if you recall.

Speaker C: Um, and also, you know, not a great turnaround story that we're telling right now. So.

Speaker B: Well, at one point after Reddit got a hold of, uh, you know, championing Wendy's turnaround, Wendy's stock did jump up to like 40%. It did. Um, so, but I, to, to your point, Bob, Wright is a turnaround specialist. He's got Wendy's in his DNA. He's been there three times prior. Um, and Steve Sorellis has experience at Panera, a tremendous amount of experience at Wendy's. This is the right team at the right time for the brand that needs it. So, um, moving on to Taco Bell. Leon, if you were struggling, if you had a bad day, would you want to support Taco?

Speaker C: I mean, it couldn't hurt, right? I might rather have a support margarita, but a taco isn't going to do me any harm.

Speaker B: Now, what if you were having a great day and you wanted to celebrate yourself, would you want to support Taco Again?

Speaker C: I'd rather have a margarita. But, you know, I see what you're getting at here, Alicia, which is that Taco Bell wants me to want to support Taco.

Speaker B: That's correct. The chain has launched LOCOS Celebration Outcome Support, or what it's calling a global Emotional Support Taco program. This program was launched to coincide with the Men's World cup, uh, but it's going to continue long after the World cup ends, uh, in mid July. This platform is for rewards members. It includes a celebration mode, uh, for those who are celebrating in a support mode, uh, for those who need support. Whatever the reason, uh, tell me what your immediate thoughts are when you read this, uh, this story. Uh, yeah, that's.

Speaker C: I understand what they're doing here. They want Taco Bell to be at the forefront of your mind, no matter what kind of day that you are having. You know, whether your team won or lost. Uh, you know, what, what other examples they gave. You know, you're going through a breakup, you just got a big promotion, like, eat a taco. Now, there's also some sort of, like, gaming component to this. Right, Alicia? So you're supposed to go into the app and play a game.

Speaker B: That's right.

Speaker C: And then you get your emotional support Taco.

Speaker B: Yeah. I don't want to be dismissive of the actual, you know, the whole reason behind Locos, and it is that it's adding gamified and personalized features to the loyalty program, which you and I both know is a much broader story here. Several chains have done the same recently.

Speaker C: Absolutely. Um, you know, it's not, to me, the most interesting marketing thing that Taco Bell has done, but it has a lot of competition, um, among Taco Bell's marketing ploys. And also, like, frankly, I trust Taco Bell and their marketing team. They have yet to, I think, do anything wrong recently. So if they think that this is, uh, going to work and bring in the consumers that they're looking to bring in, then more power to them. I, um, think if I want a taco, I will get a taco. I don't necessarily need a reason to eat a taco, but if other people do, and I understand, you know, consumers are moving toward what they perceive as healthier options, et cetera. And so Taco Bell is saying, hey, hey, you still have a reason to eat a taco. Like, tacos still have a place here. Um, so good for them.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And I, you know, like, like we mentioned that gamified and personalized, uh, uh, those features are something that we've seen at ramp up significantly really, in the past two years, you know, from the likes of chipotle, cava, even McDonald's. This is a way to stand out and build affinity as, as most brands now are. Adding a loyalty program, I want to say too, offering an emotional support taco, I think can build loyalty because it offers food as like a top of mind comfort. It reminded me of Domino's emergency pizza promotion, uh, that was introduced in 2023 to offer customers a free pizza when they needed it most. And it's been a tremendously successful campaign for Domino's. Moving on to the jobs report. So final quick fire here, Leanne. Uh, the National Restaurant association came out with some numbers here, uh, indicating that the industry is expected to add about 450,000 jobs this summer, which is down slightly, uh, and will mark the third consecutive year below 500,000. Uh, there's simply a smaller labor pool this summer, especially among teenagers. Also, the association cited, uh, soft traffic and of course, that, uh, you know, that economic uncertainty that we've written and talked about at Lake. So, uh, what are your immediate thoughts about these lowered expectations for the employee pool this summer?

Speaker C: You know, the talk of the shrinking labor pool always catches me off guard because when I was a teenager, my friends and I were like, fighting each other for retail and restaurant jobs. Like, everybody wanted a summer job, um, some extra pocket cash, whatever. Um, but, you know, not to sound like an old person, but kids these days have so many other options. Um, God, they can get on TikTok and make videos and make money that way. They can, whatever. There are. There are just like a lot more ways for teenagers to make money these days. And so restaurants have to be really compelling in their recruiting efforts, um, to get people to join their team. And so it makes sense. But every time I hear there are fewer teenagers looking for jobs, it just blows My mind, because all I wanted was a job when I was a teenager. Um, but like you said, I think most of this is tied to the softening economy. Um, I don't think it's a forever trend. I think we will again someday see a summer where we're adding a lot more jobs than the previous year. Um, but it's also forcing brands to be creative. Like we were talking about with Starbucks and the Coffeehouse Coach. You don't have as many. You can't add as many baristas this year, but maybe you can promote one of them too, lend a hand, um, in some other ways. So. But yeah, it's always, always fascinating to me.

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, and I think a, uh, forecast like this could also drive wages up even higher. You say that restaurants need to get creative to fulfill their employment needs. Does that mean we're going to continue to see labor, uh, inflation? You, uh, know. But we had three traffic reports come in in the past week. Bloomberg Intelligence, Revenue Management Solutions in Placer uh AI. All of those found that quick service traffic is down even more than it's been. And it was down even more, uh, in May, which was a little bit of concern because May tends to be a pretty strong, uh, month for restaurants because of, you know, Mother's Day graduation, people are getting out of school and so forth. What concerns me about this forecast, it's about 4% lower than last year, and that is despite the World Cup. We have a couple of early traffic reports, namely from Toast, uh, and Placer AI, showing that the World cup has been a boon, especially in host cities. Seattle, uh, was one specific report that Toast called out. Uh, and so if we are not. If we're not. If we don't have the labor pool to meet the demand that the World cup is creating at these restaurants, I think that's a concern. I think that's something we need to keep an eye on. So, uh, we, of course, will do that. But in the meantime, we are going to head into the weekend, and we're going to also head, uh, into a Fourth of July break next week. And, uh, we certainly appreciate you joining us today on the call, and we hope that all of you have a restful holiday. Uh, and we will talk to you very soon. In the meantime, I am Alicia Kelso, and, uh, joined by managing editor Leanne Zinsmeister. Thanks, Leanne.

Speaker C: Thanks, Alicia. This was fun.

Speaker A: As always, tired of scattered systems and outdated tech, Clark National Accounts simplifies food service operations from supply chain scaling to order consolidation. Partner with experts delivering Smarter Solutions curated just for you@ClarkNationalAccounts.com.