A KFC in Shanghai, where Yums’s China Division is based.
Last fall, Yum announced plans to turn the huge China Division into a standalone company, a mammoth undertaking the Louisville fast-food giant plans to complete by Oct. 31 — despite recent reports of stalled talks with two big investors.
Expenses for investment banking, legal, and other spin-related services are enormous, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. Yum disclosed initial expenses of $9 million in the annual report last February. They’ve mushroomed ever since, according to the most recent quarterly report:
$10 million
spent in the second quarter alone
$28 million
since the spinoff was announced in October
$58 million
projected total cost by Oct. 31
What’s at stake?
Creed
Much of Yum’s future. Based in Shanghai, the China Division has 7,200 restaurants, mostly company-owned KFCs and Pizza Huts. Last year, they accounted for 61% of Yum’s $11.1 billion in revenue and 39% of $1.9 billion in profits. Overall, Yum has 43,000 restaurants. (About Yum.)
Yum CEO Greg Creed and the board of directors agreed in October to separate the China business under pressure from activist investors, including Corvex Management Founder Keith Meister, who gained a seat on the board as part of the deal. They think the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.
The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*.
In Athens, Ga., a 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with attempted armed robbery of a Taco Bell early Sunday morning. The man, Dontavious McCullough, entered through a side door before the restaurant had opened, surprising an employee who was on the phone with a friend, whom the employee told to call 911, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
When officers arrived, the employee ran out the front door yelling, “he’s inside, he’s right there!” McCullough then ran out a side door, authorities told the newspaper. An officer chased and tackled him.
While retracing the path McCullough took while fleeing, police found a ski mask hed discarded, according to the newspaper. They also recovered a 9mm pistol the suspect had hidden in the breaker panel at Taco Bell, according to police.
In San Antonio, it was another viral video about a fight at a fast-food restaurant.
The video shows a man in a Taco Bell drive-through recording the parking lot brawl between two girls screaming and swinging at each other, as he calmly orders three chicken soft tacos, a large diet coke and a chicken quesadilla, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The man continues with his order as firefighters walk into the frame, the paper says, seemingly unconcerned with stopping the fight.
The video, originally posted to WorldStarHipHop.com, has been viewed nearly 1 million times, and has been shared more than 14,000 times since it was uploaded Monday. It contains language that might not be appropriate at work.
The San Antonio video comes less than a week after one filmed in a KFC in Russia, where one man cold-cocked another diner unconscious in an incident one witness called “the hardest punch I’ve ever seen.”
The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*.
In Bristow, Okla., a 21-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder after being accused of stabbing a teenage Pizza Hut co-worker before dumping him under a bridge, leaving him to die.
The man, Dakota Joe Spainhower, was charged in the July 18 death of 17-year-old Devin Bliss Lundberg, court records show, according to the Tulsa World newspaper. Authorities said Spainhower apparently had asked Lundberg for a ride home from the Pizza Hut about 10 p.m. When they got to his home, Spainhower told police, Lundberg attempted to stab him and demanded money.
Spainhower
A probable cause affidavit cited by the World says Spainhower told investigators the two struggled and that Spainhower grabbed the knife away. Its blade broke in the struggle, and Spainhower retaliated by stabbing Lundberg in the chest and neck with the broken blade about five times.
* 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.
TEXAS ROADHOUSEshares tumbled $2.87 a share, or 5.9%, to close at $46.11 after Jefferies and two other investments firms downgraded the stock. They traded as low as $45.45 during the session; more than three million shares changed hands, five times average volume. The steakhouse chain’s shares have been on a tear since February; even with today’s decline, they’re up 22% from a year ago vs. a much smaller 4.3% in the S&P 500 index.
AMAZON‘s plans to deliver packages by small, unmanned drones took another step forward when the British government gave the retailer permission to start trials over rural and urban areas — a move that could bring the service to the U.K. ahead of the U.S. The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority’s permission means Amazon can explore three key innovations for delivering packages weighing up to 5 lbs.: beyond line-of-sight operations; testing sensor performance to make sure drones can identify and avoid obstacles, and flights where one person operates multiple highly-automated drones. “This announcement,” said Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president of global innovation policy and communications, “strengthens our partnership with the U.K. and brings Amazon closer to our goal of using drones to safely deliver parcels in 30 minutes to customers in the UK and elsewhere around the world” (press release). Funny video, top, shows how Prime Air could work.
The move puts pressure on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which recently rebuffed requests by Amazon, Google and other drone makers to advance their plans. The tech giants and other manufacturers have aggressively lobbied the FAA to authorize the devices to significantly reduce costs to transport goods by UPS and FedEx, freight and trucks (New York Times). That has big implications for Louisville, where UPS employs more than 22,000 workers at its Louisville International Airport hub, making the shipper the city’s single-biggest private employer. Amazon itself employs 6,000 at two Louisville area distribution centers. More news about the U.K. plan.
Also yesterday, Amazon launched its Prime membership service in one of the world’s biggest markets: India (TechCrunch).
Pepper in action.
PIZZA HUT: In the U.K.’s Ashford, the newly refurbished Pizza Hut has reopened with a contemporary new cocktail bar and full drinks menu, as part of a nationwide drive to freshen all the chain’s stores with a more modern look. The remodeling cost about $1 million, and all workers have been trained in cocktail making (Kent and Sussex Courier). The Japanese company that’s leasing robots to Pizza Huts across Asia is expanding the program to sell insurance in Japan. The robots, dubbed Pepper, greet customers and take orders; they’re leased for $836 a month in a service managed by iPhone manufacturer Foxconn (Daily Mail).
But in the U.S., don’t worry: Pizza Hut is still hiring humans. In San Diego, shift manager applicants are asked: “Do you have a friendly, outgoing, and positive can-do attitude? Do you have what it takes to WOW a customer every time?” (Craigslist).
GE: Louisville Metro Police arrested a 43-year-old Louisville man who they said was caught by a General Electric employee trying to sell more than $7,000 worth of stolen appliances online. Terrance Qualls is accused of advertising a refrigerator valued at $2,799 for $700 on an online classifieds website, according to an arrest citation released today. A GE employee noticed the item and asked about buying it (Courier-Journal).
PAPA JOHN’S yesterday presented a $41,000 check to WHAS’s Crusade for Children. The Louisville-based pizza giant raised the money in a promotion where customers got a 20% discount while 20% of the order was donated to the charity benefiting special-needs children (WHAS). Meanwhile, in New York’s Queens borough, Papa John’s says it’s hiring delivery drivers in help-wanted ads saying they’ll earn $600 or more a week working a “safe area” (Craigslist).
Niccol
TACO BELL CEO Brian Niccol has joined the 11-member board of directors of Harley Davidson (press release). Last year, directors of the motorcycle manufacturer got paid $235,000 to $290,000, depending on committee assignments, according to the 2016 shareholder’s proxy report. They also received a clothing allowance of $1,500 to buy Harley-Davidson brand apparel and accessories, plus an unspecified product discount available to all U.S. employees.
What could Niccol buy with his $1,500 allowance? Boulevard went shopping at Harley Davidson’s online store, and came up with this wish list:
15 ballcaps (enough for entire senior management team): $450
Niccol’s appointment nudges him a little higher in The Boulevard 400™ powerbroker roster.
UPS: In Beaumont, Texas, Anna Gabrielle Van Hook, a 26-year-old woman hurt in a fatal crash last month, is now seeking $1 million from the shipper in a lawsuit accusing a UPS driver of traveling at an unreasonable speed on June 17, causing a chain-reaction crash involving multiple drivers. The accident started when a UPS truck hit a Mercedes from behind, and the driver of that car struck Van Hook’s car. A 45-year-old passenger in the Mercedes was killed (Enterprise).
KFC: In Swaziland’s Manzini, police are investigating allegations that a KFC restaurant manager locked two employees in a walk-in freezer for more than 20 minutes last week, before they were rescued by a co-worker who heard them banging on the door. The employees say it all began when their boss asked them to go into the freezer to retrieve some supplies (Swazi Observer).
The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*; updated 3:02 p.m.
At a KFC in Russia, one man cold-cocked another diner out cold in an incident caught on video by a witness who described it as “the hardest punch I’ve ever seen.”
In the background of the video, according to the U.K.’s Daily Star, a large man dressed in a blue polo shirt engages in an escalating war of words with another diner in a pink sleeveless vest. The man in the vest appears to try and grab his dining partner, “but it’s clearly a mistake — the man in blue pushes him away “before launching a jaw-crushing right hook.”
The Daily Star story doesn’t say when the fight took place. Here’s the video:
Pizza Hut
In the U.K. 18 miles south of London, a 32-year-old man accused of raping, stabbing and kidnapping a teenage girl last month will face trial in November. The incident started at a Pizza Hut in Epsom, according to news reports.
The man, Costica Voedes of Epsom, has been charged with two counts of wounding with intent, two counts of rape, kidnap, false imprisonment, possession of an offensive weapon, affray and common assault, according to the Epsom Guardian. He will be tried at Guildford Crown Court on Nov. 21, with the trial expected to last seven days.
Voedes did not appear at a pre-trial preparation hearing at Guildford Crown Court yesterday, and so did not enter a plea, the Guardian said.
Surrey police said the charges relate to an incident that took place shortly after 10.30 p.m. on June 17 — a Friday — at the Pizza Hut restaurant on Waterloo Road and Court Recreation Ground. Police say Voedes burst into the outlet and dragged the 17-year-old girl outside, later raping her at a nearby recreation ground, according to the Sun.
A restaurant employee who rushed to intervene was also attacked and injured, the Sun said.
* 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.
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’Sstock 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.
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 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:
Memphis: 1,948 square feet
Oklahoma City: 1,786
Indianapolis: 1,724
El Paso: 1,667
Columbus, Ohio: 1,667
Louisville: 1,648
Jacksonville, Fla.: 1,579
Las Vegas: 1,546
Phoenix: 1,415
Fort Worth: 1,389
In contrast, New York City had the smallest apartments, at 271 square feet (MarketWatch and Rent Cafe).
News about business and culture in Louisville, Ky.
In Athens, Ga., a 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with attempted armed robbery of a Taco Bell early Sunday morning. The man, Dontavious McCullough, entered through a side door before the restaurant had opened, surprising an employee who was on the phone with a friend, whom the employee told to call 911, 
What could Niccol buy with his $1,500 allowance? Boulevard went shopping 
AMAZON 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 (
Boulevard 