Tag: Papa John’s

Latest Headlines

Analysts: Papa John’s outlook brighter amid civil unrest; Humana stock edges up after DOJ shocker; and Louisville’s big on $1,500 apartments

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 10:39 a.m.

Papa John's vs. S&P July 20
Papa John’s stock, in blue, has zoomed ahead of the S&P 500 index over the past three months, when civil unrest has been in the news.

PAPA JOHN’S stock jumped 3.7% to $71.69 a share in the first hour of trading, after Wall Street analysts upgraded the Louisville pizza chain on the surprising view that diners, concerned about political and civil unrest, are choosing to stay home for pizza delivery rather than go out for a meal. “After speaking with several large operators and industry contacts,” KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts said yesterday, “we believe the recent decline in casual dining restaurant segment fundamentals — traffic down 3% to 5% the past several weeks — may be the result of consumers eating more at home amid the current political/social backdrop, which we believe could last through the November election.” The company’s stock has jumped 22% in the last three months vs. a much smaller 3% gain in the broader S&P 500 index (MarketWatch and Google Finance). Louisville-based Papa John’s employs 750 workers at its headquarters, and another 21,000 across the globe. More about the company.

HUMANA‘s stock rose 74 cents to $154.12 a share a day after word surfaced the Justice Department was poised to block the Louisville insurer’s $37 billion acquisition by Aetna of Hartford. Aetna climbed 74 cents to $115.84. Yesterday, Humana tumbled 4%, and Aetna fell 2.7% (Google Finance). Humana employs 12,500 workers in its Louisville corporate hometown.

KFC: In New Zealand, franchisee Restaurant Brands hasn’t ruled out home delivery of KFC now that McDonald’s has started offering the service. But CEO Russel Creedy said KFC had tried home delivery before and found customers preferred drive-throughs rather than waiting for their chicken to be brought to their front door. Creedy’s franchise already has experience with delivery through its Pizza Hut restaurants (New Zealand Herald).

FORD‘s Flat Rock Assembly Plant south of Detroit — where the popular Mustang and Fusion are built –- caught fire around 7 last night and forced a partial evacuation of the sprawling 400-acre complex that employs 3,200 workers. No injuries were reported (Detroit Free Press). In Louisville, Ford employs nearly 10,000 workers at two vehicle and truck assembly factories.

Amazon logoAMAZON is signing up amateur drivers in the U.K. to deliver packages in their spare time from distribution centers to customers’ homes, expanding a system it started last year in its corporate hometown of Seattle. Starting this month in Birmingham, a smartphone app will allow the company’s part-time mules to choose when and where they want to work, as well as guiding them to customers’ homes and allowing customers to track their orders (Financial Times).

PIZZA HUT: With the Aug. 5 start of the Summer Olympics closing in, Pizza Hut has launched its patriot-themed Big Flavor Dipper in a red-white-and-blue box emblazoned with “Go USA!”

In other news, Louisville ranked No. 6 among 30 U.S. cities offering the biggest apartments renting for $1,500 a month, according to a new Rent Cafe report. The top 10:

  1. Memphis: 1,948 square feet
  2. Oklahoma City: 1,786
  3. Indianapolis: 1,724
  4. El Paso: 1,667
  5. Columbus, Ohio: 1,667
  6. Louisville: 1,648
  7. Jacksonville, Fla.: 1,579
  8. Las Vegas: 1,546
  9. Phoenix: 1,415
  10. Fort Worth: 1,389

In contrast, New York City had the smallest apartments, at 271 square feet (MarketWatch and Rent Cafe).

Latest Headlines

Taco Bell fires cashier who refused to serve deputies; protestors target KFC over South China Sea ruling; and Papa John’s is going to pot in Amsterdam

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 9:01 p.m.

TACO BELL fired an unidentified cashier at a restaurant in Phenix City, Ala., who refused to serve two uniformed deputies Saturday after another customer complained about the officers being there. A company spokesperson said the fast food chain had also apologized to the Lee County Sheriff’s Department. The firing came after a woman whose husband worked with the two men complained on Facebook about how the two officers were treated. Since Tammy Bush Mayo first wrote about the incident, her Facebook post has been shared more than 1,200 times (KTVI).

KFC: Dozens of people gathered in front of a KFC in northern China over the weekend, turning the restaurant into the latest victim of a wave of nationalism after an international tribunal ruling on the South China Sea. They carried long red banners with slogans that read: “Boycott US, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, love the Chinese nation,” and, “You are eating KFC from the US, and losing the face of our ­ancestors” (South China Morning Post).

Jack Daniel'sBROWN-FORMAN: Jack Daniel’s supplanted scotch as the U.K.’s favorite whiskey because of a post-recession shift in drinking habits.“There has been an upsurge in the number of people drinking at home, and Jack Daniel’s is a party drink,” says Alwynne Gwilt, who runs the Miss Whisky Blog. scotch, a traditional favorite, “just doesn’t have the same excitement.” The excitement associated with Jack Daniel’s also comes down to its relentless advertising campaigns (Guardian).

AMAZON has received a patent for dr0ne docking stations on street light posts, cellphone towers  and buildings so the flying delivery robots can recharge and download information about an impending thunderstorm or other weather activity. The retailer imagines some stations providing perches for two or more drones, and the stations may be equipped with solar panels, according to the patent granted earlier this month (Silicon Beat).

PAPA JOHN’S has settled a lawsuit seeking class-action status over claims it wrongly charged sales tax on delivery fees in Madison County, Ill. The settlement calls for $165,000 in attorney fees; a $2,000 “case contribution award” to the lead plaintiff, and purchase discounts of between $1 and $3 for qualified customers. According to the agreement, Papa John’s stopped charging sales tax on delivery fees on Oct. 1 (Madison-St. Clair Record).

Amsterdam coffee shopSeparately, the Louisville-based pizza giant opened a store in Amsterdam today, its first in Holland, continuing its expansion in Europe. Papa John’s has more than 320 restaurants in the U.K., four in Spain, and recently opened its first in Northern France. The company is currently looking for potential franchisees in other areas of France, as well as Poland, Czech Republic and Belgium (press release).

The Amsterdam location may well become one of Papa John’s most profitable in the world, given the liberal laws around marijuana use in the city. There are more than 250 “coffee shops” selling marijuana there, leading to millions of annual visitors getting the munchies.

Cops and Courts

Shooting in Colo. Taco Bell lot leaves one man dead; in Montana, man arrested for threatening Papa John’s delivery man with gun

The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*. Updated 8:19 p.m.

Crime scene tapeColorado Springs police are investigating a shooting in a Taco Bell parking lot yesterday afternoon that left one person dead. Initial reports said the incident might have been the result of road rage, but witnesses were still being interviewed by police.

The two parties were in the parking lot of the Taco Bell, one inside of a vehicle and the other outside. The victim outside of the vehicle was shot and later pronounced dead at Memorial Hospital Central, according to The Denver Post.

Papa John’s

In Montana, a 35-year-old Bozeman man with a previous conviction of assault on a peace officer was arrested after holding a pistol to the head of a Papa John’s delivery driver early yesterday morning.

The man, Nickolas Stephen Jennings, was charged with assault with a weapon, a felony and was being held on $15,000 bond, according to KZBK. Jennings was arrested after the driver reported that a man had held a handgun to his head while he was trying to deliver a pizza to an apartment at approximately 3:39 a.m.

In Penn Hills, Pa., a Papa John’s manager told police two men wearing masks, one of them armed with a gun, demanded money from the safe late Friday night.

But the manager couldn’t open the safe, which was on a timer, and subsequently was struck in the face with the firearm, leaving a 2-inch gash under his left eye, then locked in the freezer, according to Penn Hills police Chief Howard Burton. The suspects also stole the manager’s wallet, cellphone, and credit cards, according to Trib Live.

He was treated by medics at the scene, Burton said.

Pizza Hut

In New Orleans, a gunman made off with about $450 in cash after robbing a Pizza Hut early yesterday.

Two employees were taking out trash shortly after 12:30 a.m. when the man entered the restaurant through the back door. Once inside, he ordered employees to empty the cash register, then left out the back door with $450, police said, according to The Times-Picayune.

* Yum has 43,000 KFCs, Pizza Huts and Taco Bells in nearly 140 countries; Papa John’s has 4,900 in 37 countries, and Texas Roadhouse has 485 restaurants in five countries. With that many locations, crimes inevitably will occur — with potentially serious legal consequences for the companies.

Latest Headlines

Two workers electrocuted at Amazon warehouse in India; Jack Daniel’s steals British whiskey crown; and Papa John’s is very excited about hiring managers in Columbus, Ohio!!!

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 1:50 p.m.

AMAZON: In India southwest of New Delhi, two men repairing electrical connections at an Amazon warehouse were electrocuted and a third was injured Friday night, after their iron ladder came in contact with a high-tension wire. Other workers at the warehouse switched off the main power supplies and rushed the three to a private hospital, where two men were declared dead (Times of India).

In Fall River, Mass., an Amazon distribution center won’t open until Sept. 21, but the online retailer is already reaching out for potential employees making $12.75 to $14.74 an hour; recruiting events are set for Tuesday and Thursday 18 miles away in Providence and East Providence (Herald News).

Jeff Bezos
Bezos

And founder and CEO Jeff Bezos will have a credited cameo role in the upcoming new film, “Star Trek Beyond,” underscoring the old saying that “you can do just about whatever you want when you have an absolutely absurd amount of money” (Amazon Advisor).

BROWN-FORMAN: For the first time, scotch has been toppled as Britain’s best-selling whiskey by an American bourbon: Jack Daniel’s. New data reveals the Brown-Forman brand has usurped The Famous Grouse as the U.K.’s most popular whiskey, after sales of the Tennessee-made spirit surged 9.3% in the last year. That coincided with a 4.4% slump in sales of the six leading blended scotches, with sales of The Famous Grouse alone plunging 14.9% (Telegraph)

TACO BELL: In Alabama, a Lee County woman claims in a Facebook post that her husband and another county sheriff’s deputy dressed in uniform were denied service last night at a Taco Bell Continue reading “Two workers electrocuted at Amazon warehouse in India; Jack Daniel’s steals British whiskey crown; and Papa John’s is very excited about hiring managers in Columbus, Ohio!!!” →

Cops and Courts

A knife and a gun used in separate robberies at Papa John’s and Pizza Hut in Delaware and Texas

The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*.

Crime scene tapeIn Delaware, State Police are investigating an armed robbery at a New Castle County Papa John’s Thursday afternoon. Around 4:30, a male suspect entered the restaurant off East Basin Road, armed with a knife and demanding money. Employees turned over an undisclosed amount of money, and the suspect fled. There were no injuries, according to Delaware 105.9.

In Palmview, Texas, a man and a woman are facing aggravated robbery charges for allegedly stealing a money bag from a Pizza Hut at gunpoint on May 1. Jailers booked Jose Refugio Guerra Moreno, 23, of Peñitas and Alondra Torres Reynoso, 19.

The restaurant’s assistant manager told authorities she had finished tallying up money from the cash registers, when a man wearing a ski mask entered the restaurant, armed with a hand gun and demanding money. He then fled on foot, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Nobody was injured during the robbery, according to KGBT. Reynoso, his girlfriend, was arrested for allegedly being his accomplish, says KVEO.

* Yum has 43,000 KFCs, Pizza Huts and Taco Bells in nearly 140 countries; Papa John’s has 4,900 in 37 countries, and Texas Roadhouse has 485 restaurants in five countries. With that many locations, crimes inevitably will occur — with potentially serious legal consequences for the companies.

Latest Headlines

Facing heightened competition, UPS will try limited Saturday delivery in three U.S. cities

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 7:02 a.m.

UPS will test Saturday delivery this summer in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Los Angeles for standard ground packages as it defends its turf against FedEx, which already offers the service, and the U.S. Postal Service, which delivers on Saturdays and Sundays in some markets for Amazon. UPS is remaking its network to accommodate online shopping while watching potential rivals enter the market, including courier services now pitching same-day delivery. The proportion of UPS’s packages going to U.S. homes is expected to rise to 51% in 2019 from today’s 46%, challenging its efficiency. While it earns a bit more per parcel for home deliveries, it averages only 1.2 packages on each residential stop, compared with 3.6 at each business (Bloomberg).

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Erdogan

PAPA JOHN’S has 22 restaurants in Turkey, only 1% of all its more than 1,500 locations outside the U.S., according to regulatory filings that show it has limited exposure to the tumult in that country, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been facing a military-led coup attempt since yesterday. List of all overseas restaurants. Louisville’s other major fast-food chain, YUM, doesn’t show any locations broken down by country.