PAPA JOHN’S and PIZZA HUT: Slate magazine handicaps the race to sign Olympics gymnastics golden girl Simone Biles to an endorsement contract, given her love of pepperoni pizza: She eats some after every competition. The likely winner, at even money? Papa John’s, says the online publication’s Justin Peters.
Biles
“The chain has a vast national advertising budget and a history of using famous athletes like Peyton Manning and J.J. Watt in its commercials,” Peters says. “The tag line writes itself: ‘Better ingredients, better pizza, better vaulting: Papa John’s!'”
Panting four spots back in the race, at 30-to-1 odds: Pizza Hut. “The Hut isn’t a front runner here,” he says, “and the only way it will stand a chance of signing Biles will be if it can present a compelling artistic vision for an ad campaign” (Slate).
Columbus native Biles, 19, is the the Rio games’ individual all-around gymnastics champ. “In doing so, she joined Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Gabby Douglas as American all-around winners” (New York Times).
KFC: Tyson Foods has fired 10 employees caught on video by an animal rights group punching, kicking, flinging live birds, and even crushing the head of a live one under his boot. The Arkansas-based supplier to KFC and McDonald’s also said it will retrain workers who handle live poultry on animal welfare policies. The footage, recorded in May and June, was posted online by Compassion Over Killing, which fights for animal rights and encourages vegetarianism. Tyson, one of the world’s largest meat processors, said it was “disgusted by the actions of the individuals in the video” (Mirror). Posted two days ago, the video’s already been viewed more than 50,000 times:
PAPA JOHN’S said today it will open 40 restaurants in Russia over the next eight years, with the first store scheduled to open in St. Petersburg next month. Franchiser PJ Western Retail already operates more than 80 restaurants in Russia and Belarus; it’s owned by Global Restaurant Management and private equity firm Capman Russia Fund (press release). The chain opened 357 outlets last year, and now has nearly 5,000 restaurants consisting of 752 company-owned and 4,141 franchised in all 50 states and in 39 countries and territories. Beyond the U.S., the country with the single-most locations is China, with 244, as of the end of last year (annual SEC report).
In Hawaii, a Papa John’s worker is among the latest of scores of people affected by a recent hepatitis A outbreak, according to the state Department of Health. The unidentified employee worked at a restaurant in Waipahu on the island of Oahu, and brings to a total of 168 cases confirmed through yesterday. DOH investigators suspect the source of the outbreak was likely a product widely distributed primarily on Oahu (KHON-TV).
Bates
HUMANA: The federal judge hearing the Justice Department’s case to block Aetna’s $37 billion purchase of Humana has set a trial date for Dec. 5 — later than the companies had requested — and allowed 13 days for the proceedings. The date is a compromise between the two sides. During a hearing yesterday in Washington, U.S. District Judge John Bates said he was leaning toward an early November trial, but he later accepted the Justice Department’s arguments that date wouldn’t give the agency enough time to prepare. The insurers had argued for an earlier time frame, noting that the current contractual agreement between the two is subject to a Dec. 31 deadline. If the merger isn’t approved by then, Humana would have the option of walking away and potentially collecting a $1 billion breakup fee. Bates told the parties to proceed with the “expectation” that he will issue a ruling in mid-January (Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg).
Antitrust cases are typically kept on a strict timetable set by the judge, who in this case is very efficient, said David Balto, a lawyer representing several consumer groups that oppose the insurance mega-mergers. Even though Aetna and Humana extended the deadline to close the deal by the end of this year, the litigation is likely to force them to extend the closing again (Courier-Journal). The DOJ last month sued to block the merger, arguing that it would likely raise consumer prices and stifle competition.
Bates was appointed to the bench in December 2001 by President George W. Bush (Wikipedia).
FORD says professional Generation-Xers don’t always drive SUVs, but when they do they drive a Ford Explorer Sport, according to a new vehicle customer study by MaritzCX. the The vehicle has the highest percentage of Gen-X buyers of any non-luxury SUV in the United States, MaritzCX says (press release). X-ers are the spawn of the huge baby boom generation. There are no precise dates for when the group starts or ends; demographers have used birth years bracketed by the early 1960s to early 1980s (Wikipedia). Ford employs nearly 10,000 workers at truck and auto factories in Louisville; more about the automaker’s local operations.
KFC is opening a new restaurant today at Louisville International Airport, as part of an ongoing renovation of the terminal there (Courier-Journal).
TEXAS ROADHOUSE has reportedly backed out of plans to build a restaurant in the northern Chicago suburb of Mount Pleasant (Journal Online).
AMAZON‘s stock touched a new record trading high, $773.75, before easing back to a recent $771.51, up $2.95. It’s one of the Louisville area’s biggest employers, with 6,000 workers at distribution centers in Jeffersonville and Shepherdsville. More about Amazon here.
GE: The new GE Keurig Beverage Center prototype would be built right into the wall and replace basically every appliance that makes drinks, including coffee, soda, and smoothies. Wolf Appliances debuted a semi-similar mega-coffeemaker two years ago. The cost? Well over $3,000, and it didn’t even have the built-in blender.
There’s no plan to make more Beverage Centers just yet (and no word on how much each one would cost), but Chris Bissig, GE Appliances’ manager of concept and brand development wouldn’t rule it out (CNET and Tech Insider).
CNET’s cruel conclusion: The gadget looks like something out of “Spaceballs,” the 1987 Star Wars parody starring director Mel Brooks, John Candy and Rick Moraines, featuring a character named Pizza the Hut.
Here’s a bad photo of what it looks like:
That’s a pullout tray of Keurig cups is in the foreground.
That was Jeffrey Niggemeyer of Laramie, Wyo., telling a judge yesterday why a Papa John’s accepted check after check he wrote on a closed account — 16 hot checks in all — from May 23 through June 18.
Niggemeyer, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of felony check fraud in the case, according to KOWB radio. He also wrote another 40 bad checks to Domino’s, for a total $1,333 for all 56 of them. “I was out of a job, I was struggling to find a new one, I was out of money and I was out of food,” he told the court during his arraignment.
KFC: An employee at a Missouri KFC has been canned after reportedly threatening to spit in a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy’s order. The unidentified officer said he was in the drive-thru of the restaurant in Sullivan, 68 miles southwest of St. Louis, when he overhead an employee in the kitchen tell a co-worker: “Oh, it’s a cop. Someone let me know which order is his so I can spit in all of his food.”
The deputy detailed what happened next in a Facebook post. He said he spoke to the manager at the counter inside. She went to the kitchen, spoke to the employee, then returned and told the officer another employee would prepare his meal. But she didn’t offer an apology, according to KMOV-TV, which reported the news. The station said KFC provided a statement saying “KFC’s policy is to treat everyone fairly, equally and with respect, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Upon learning of this incident, the franchisee who owns the restaurant conducted an immediate and thorough investigation, and the employee was terminated” (KMOV).
The incident follows two others involving Taco Bell employees mistreating law enforcement officers over the past month. In Bakersfield, Calif., several employees lost their jobs late last month after reports they’d taunted a local police officer by making “oink oink” sounds and laughing while the officer was ordering. And in Phenix City, Ala., a cashier was fired after refusing to serve two sheriff’s deputies in mid-July.
A two-piece meal of the new dish is $5.49.
Elsewhere in KFC, the chainis testing a new menu item, Georgia Gold fried chicken, in Pittsburgh and Mobile, Ala. The regionally inspired dish draws from Georgia and South Carolina, and has a honey-mustard barbecue flavor. The Yum unit picked Pittsburgh because it was “looking for a region that has different demographics that would replicate nationwide, and would give us a better read on how the product would perform across the country,” said chief marketing officer Kevin Hochman. Mobile was chosen because it’s “more familiar with this flavor profile,” he said.
Georgia Gold is available through Sept. 4 for $5.49 for two pieces of chicken with coleslaw and a biscuit (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
PAPA JOHN’S has the best pizza in a city famous for pies: Chicago, according to a Gawker writer whose on-the-fly review has already drawn protests. “Deep dish pizza makers are cowards who hide their ingredients under tomato sauce — a pizza paywall,” says the Gawker contributor, Curry Shoff. “The brave and noble Papa John does not hide his toppings from you, the consumer. He leaves them out in the open for only God to judge.”
Not so fast, Gawker readers were quick to reply saying the very idea Chicago is a better pizza town than, say, New York is nuts. “Chicago pizza is demonstrably inferior to New York pizza,” writes reader Johnny Dangerously. “There is no discussion, it’s like Peyton Manning vs. Ryan Leaf. That said, this Papa John’s bullshit is . . . bullshit!”
Except, maybe the Windy City is better. “Chicago pizza is every bit as good as New York pizza,” says 20% Nicer Gadzooks. “But Chicago style pizza is a different animal altogether. Most Chicagoans don’t really eat that stuff more than once a year or so (Gawker).
KINDRED said second-quarter results came in at the high end of Wall Street’s expectations. Revenues were $1.8 billion and earnings were 23 cents per share (press release). Yahoo Finance has the forecast. The report was issued after stock markets closed; in extended trading, Kindred’s shares were unchanged at $11.17. The Louisville-based hospital and nursing giant also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 12 cents a share (press release). Kindred employs 2,200 workers in Louisville and 102,000 nationwide. More about the company.
YUM‘s dominance of China’s fast-food market is starting to slip as consumers shift to healthier options and Chinese-style food chains, from huoguo (hot pot) to tangbao (steamed dumplings). That might explain some of the middling interest in Yum’s China Division spinoff. “There would definitely have been more buyer interest five years ago, but at that time they were doing so well that they couldn’t bear to sell,” said management professor Li Weihua of China University of Political Science and Law. “With the bloom off the rose, if they don’t sell now, it would be worth even less five years later” (Bloomberg).
PAPA JOHN’S has renewed its multiyear sponsorship contract with the NFL, a deal in place since 2010. As the official pizza sponsor of the league, the chain said today it will continue using NFL logos and trademarks in advertising and marketing campaigns across marquee league events, such as the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and NFL Kickoff (press release).
In related news, Papa John’s won’t be replacing Peyton Manning in its TV commercials, even though the Denver Broncos quarterback has retired. “Peyton Manning is the Michael Jordan of football. Period. End of conversation,” CEO John Schnatter told Wall Street analysts during a teleconference yesterday on the chain’s better-than-forecast second-quarter financial results. He’ll play a different role, however, said COO Steve Ritchie. “I think you’ll see some very fun and interactive ways that the marketing team . . . has utilized Peyton in the spots” (Seeking Alpha). Here’s one with Manning, Schnatter and the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt, and long-retired Hall of Famer Joe Montana.
This afternoon, Papa John’s stock soared to a new record closing high of $77.38 a share, up 4.6%, or $3.37, on a better-than-expected second-quarter report. That’s good news for all shareholders (except for the shorts, of course!) — but none more so than founder and CEO John Schnatter. He’s the pizza chain’s single-biggest stockholder, with 10,455,981 shares — 27.6% of all, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents.
Papa John’s shares have staged a huge comeback since hitting a 52-week closing low of $45.50 on Feb. 3. Here’s the value of Schnatter’s stake that day compared to its rising value the day after each of the past three quarterly earnings reports:
$475,747,136
Feb. 3
$623,176,468
Feb. 23
$629,031,817
May 3
$809,083,810
Today
Schnatter, 54, founded Papa John’s in 1984, right after graduating from Ball State University with a business degree. More than 30 years later, it’s now a fast-food goliath with 4,700 restaurants worldwide — including more than 1,200 international ones in 37 countries and territories. It has 750 employees in Louisville, and another 21,000 across the globe. The company went public in 1993. More about Papa John’s.
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There’s no plan to make more Beverage Centers just yet (and no word on how much each one would cost), but Chris Bissig, GE Appliances’ manager of concept and brand development wouldn’t rule it out (
KINDRED said second-quarter results came in at the high end of Wall Street’s expectations. Revenues were $1.8 billion and earnings were 23 cents per share (
Boulevard 