Cracker Barrel tweaks debt deals
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 12:34 pm
CFO Sandy Cochran has renegotiated the maturity dates of Cracker Barrel’s revolving line of credit (while also shrinking it by a third) and long-term loans. About two-thirds of the revolver now won’t be due until 2013, about 40 percent of the term loans until 2016. The tweaks will add about $2 million in interest costs this fiscal year for Cracker Barrel, whose shares (Ticker: CBRL) are flat on the day.
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Double-digit days for LP, O’Charley’s
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Shares of Louisiana-Pacific (Ticker: LPX) are basking in the afterglow of analyst praise and have extended the strong run that was cut short yesterday. Heading into the close, they’re up more than 17 percent.
Why O’Charley’s is up about the same amount is more of a puzzle. Yes, many industry players are having good days, but this Dow Jones chart shows Nashville-based O’Charley’s (Ticker: CHUX) is outpacting them by a factor of two to one.
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Mexican chain headed for the ‘Boro
Posted on November 4, 2009 at 12:13 pmChuy’s, the Mexican restaurant concept run by former O’Charley’s president Steve Hislop, will open its second Nashville-area spot on Murfreesboro’s Northwest Broad Street next spring.
SEE ALSO: Former O’Charley’s exec on the move with new concept
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Lukewarm welcome to campus
Posted on at 11:09 am
Local restaurant entrepreneur Tommy McDougal is taking his chicken chain beyond Middle Tennessee and into Knoxville. The Daily Beacon, apparently eager for more “small portions and cheap prices,” ain’t all that impressed.
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O’Charley’s walks the fine value line
Posted on October 29, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Jeff Warne, the CEO of O’Charley’s, this morning told investors and analysts that, in trying to drive traffic to his restaurants, his crew isn’t interested in deeply discounting the meals it offers now. Doing that instead of coming up with new offerings, he said, is simply “transferring value to the guest somewhat at the expense of the shareholder.”
“We’re trying to find the right balance between profitability and driving guests. It’s clear that value is the dominant message and we’re trying to do it in a profitable way.”
On what was otherwise a rather tame call – as is often the case when expectations are met – one moment of suspense came from Morgan Keegan analyst Robert Derrington, who pressed CFO Larry Hyatt on why the company wasn’t raising guidance for the full year when it beat its own third-quarter estimate. In keeping guidance flat, Derrington wondered, was the company implying that business is going to get worse?
Not quite, said Hyatt. But the consumer spending picture is very murky and the fourth quarter is generally on the slow side, so sticking your neck out on guidance just doesn’t make sense, especially when operating costs are pretty much fixed at this point.
“The fundamental question is sales. We don’t have any more visibility into fourth-quarter sales than we suspect anyone else does.”
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Analyst action: Psych Solutions, O’Charley’s
Posted on at 7:15 amSoleil Securites’ A.J. Rice yesterday downgraded shares of Psychiatric Solutions to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and slashed his price target to $22 from $33. The stock (Ticker: PSYS) lost almost a quarter of its value after a disappointing Q3 report.
Over at Morgan Keegan, analyst Robert Derrington has raised O’Charley’s to ‘outperform’ from ‘market perform’ citing the stock’s valuation and management’s operational plans. The restaurant chain (Ticker: CHUX) will report its earnings this morning; the Street is looking for a loss of 10 cents per share.
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Why Cracker Barrel will do better than Buca
Posted on October 27, 2009 at 12:11 pmIt’s as simple as providing value and not getting greedy.
“Casual dining got awfully pricey for what it was delivering to consumers,” he said. “It also overbuilt lots of stores. That hasn’t happened in family dining. They haven’t seen the large number of closings like casual and fine dining have. The higher the price point or check average, the poorer the business has become.”
SEE ALSO: CBRL chief Mike Woodhouse on branding
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The land of the golden arches
Posted on October 26, 2009 at 11:39 am
If you look real close, you see some giant fries nestled amid the Rockies.
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A tell on O’Charley’s earnings?
Posted on at 7:29 amThat would be one way to interpret the sudden, negative and high-volume price action in shares of the Nashville-based restaurant company (Ticker: CHUX) in the last half hour of trading Friday. O’Charley’s will report its Q3 results on Wednesday morning. Analysts are looking for a loss of 10 cents per share.
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Economy freezes Cracker Barrel execs’ pay
Posted on October 23, 2009 at 2:30 pmThe compensation committee of Cracker Barrel’s board of directors in late July froze the salaries of the company’s top executives. It is more than likely they will not thaw out until 2011.
In response to the general economic downturn and upon the recommendation of management, the salaries of all Named Executive Officers were frozen effective July 29, 2009. The salary freeze remains in effect as of the date of this proxy statement. Accordingly, we expect that the base salaries of the Named Executive Officers during 2010 will be the same as those for 2009…
And in case you were wondering, yes, the execs’ bonus plans aren’t changing, either. Check out the full proxy here.
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O’Charley’s knows where the beef is
Posted on October 21, 2009 at 10:41 am
A succcessful trial of a lower-priced sirloin meal has led O’Charley’s officials to put the item on its permanent menu. The move will be accompanied by several other prime rib offerings aiming to entice value-hungry diners. Shares of O’Charley’s (Ticker: CHUX) are up 30 percent from a year ago but flat since mid-August.
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Illinois restaurateurs eyeing local outpost
Posted on October 13, 2009 at 8:17 am
The team at Restaurants America plan to bring their Bar Louie concept to Nashville. The company is franchising across the Midwest but this summer had to close its Phoenix-area location.
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Shoney’s is Five-O
Posted on October 12, 2009 at 1:47 pmFrom a presser:
1959 marked the beginning of the Grammy Awards in the United States, Alaska was proclaimed the 49th state by President Eisenhower and Shoney’s® Restaurants made its debut in Madison, Tenn.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, Shoney’s will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in Middle Tennessee with a ʼ50s-style party and classic car display. The event will take place at the Shoney’s® restaurant in Madison located at 720 Gallatin Rd. from 10 a.m. to noon. Fifty classic cars will be on display at the restaurant with music and celebratory festivities for attendees. In recognition of this special day, select menu items will be offered for 50 cents all day at participating Nashville-area locations to thank the Nashville community for 50 great years. Shoney’s CEO David Davoudpour will also help wish the Madison restaurant and surrounding locations a happy anniversary during the festivities.
“Fifty years ago, the first Shoney’s® restaurant in Nashville opened in Madison,” said Davoudpour. “Fifty years later, we’re not only remembering the rich history of Shoney’s in Middle Tennessee, we’re looking forward to growing along with the great city of Nashville for the next 50 years.”
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Pasta chain targets Nashville
Posted on October 7, 2009 at 7:35 amNashville is one of a handful of cities on the franchising wish list of Colorado-based Noodles & Co. The chain, which runs more than 200 stores around the country, sees at least 10 stores in the markets it wants to enter.
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Santa Fe shrinking
Posted on October 5, 2009 at 7:37 am
The bankrupt restaurant chain Santa Fe Holding has closed at least 10 of its almost 30 roadhouse-style eateries since filing to restructure its finances in July. In Columbus, Miss., things appear to have gone smoothly enough, but in Tuscaloosa, Ala., the process of winding up shop last week included some weapon brandishing that called for law enforcement intervention.
“He started running his mouth at me,” Pate said, “and that’s when I went to my truck and got my shotgun, requesting strongly that he should leave my property.”
SEE ALSO: Our July story on Santa Fe’s Chapter 11 filing
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