Tag: Yum

Cops and Courts

With Georgia cops pursuing armed robber, Taco Bell employee shouts: ‘He’s inside, he’s right there!’

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

Crime scene tapeIn 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.”

Pizza Hut

In San Diego last night, a man armed with a semi-automatic handgun Continue reading “With Georgia cops pursuing armed robber, Taco Bell employee shouts: ‘He’s inside, he’s right there!’” →

Latest Headlines

Yum China buyout said stalled as two bidders balk at terms; U.S. farmers binge on rye as Brown-Forman whiskey demand soars; CJ owner Gannett’s stock tanks 9% on weak Q2 results

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:03 p.m.

KFC Shanghai
A KFC in Shanghai, where the Yum China division is headquartered.

YUM: Two of what may be the only serious bidders for Yum’s mammoth China Division have submitted offers — including one for just $2 billion — but have failed to reach a final agreement for a business once expected to command $10 billion, according to The Financial Times. The bidders are China-based private equity fund Primavera and Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek.

Primavera made the $2 billion offer for part of the franchise, people briefed on the talks said. “The bid conformed to Yum’s original conditions for the sale, but the buyout group and Yum could not agree on pricing,” the FT says.

Greg Creed
Creed

Temasek also made an offer — the newspaper didn’t say how much — but also couldn’t reach an agreement on the 7,200 KFC and Pizza Hut units. They accounted for more than half Yum’s revenue last year.

The Louisville-based fast food giant put the China operations on the auction block last year after being pressured to do so by investors including Corvex Management founder Keith Meister. CEO Greg Creed is preparing to lead a road show that Yum expects will end with a spinoff by Oct. 31.

Keith Meister
Meister

But the FT’s report raises doubts about the timetable, particularly after Bloomberg News reported that a consortium of the only other known bidders dropped out in May: private equity firm KKR and Chinese state investor CIC.

A company spokesperson whom the FT didn’t identify said Yum is “making great progress toward the separation of our China business,” which last year accounted for 61% of Yum’s $11.1 billion in revenue and 39% of $1.9 billion in profits.

The FT’s report was published yesterday. This afternoon, Wall Street wasn’t worried; Yum’s stock closed less than 1% higher, or 47 cents, to $89.72 — just below its record trading high of $90.38 on Monday (FT).

BROWN-FORMAN: Racing to meet consumer demand for whiskey, U.S. farmers planted 1.76 million acres of rye for the 2016-17 season, the most since 1989 and a 12% increase from a year ago. Planted in autumn and harvested in mid-summer, rye fell out of favor over the past decade as other crops produced bigger profits (Reuters).

In Nashville yesterday, Jack Daniel’s officially opened its second retail store — the first in its 150-year history outside the distiller’s corporate hometown of Lynchburg. “We get about 275,000 visitors that come see us every year, and there’s certainly a lot more people in this world, and we’d like to take Lynchburg to them,” said Dave Stang, director of events and sponsorships. The store doesn’t sell its namesake liquor :(, but does sell Jack Daniel’s-branded merchandise (News Channel 5).

Meanwhile, the Jack Daniel’s Barrel Hunt promotion is coming to South Africa as part of the distiller’s 150th anniversary — a global scavenger hunt to find 150 handcrafted barrels at historic and cultural sites (Biz Community). Clues for the next barrel, in Lithuania’s Kaunas, will be revealed tomorrow. The most recent found was in the U.K.’s Manchester; still to be found: barrels in Prague and Riccione, Italy. How the hunt works.

Garvin Brown IV
Garvin Brown

And Brown-Forman stockholders hold their annual meeting tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in the company’s Louisville headquarters conference center at 850 Dixie Highway. Board Chairman Garvin Brown IV will oversee the meeting. On the agenda, according to the proxy statement:

  • Electing 12 directors to the board. They include three new members initially elected this spring, all fifth-generation members of the Brown family controlling the company. They are Campbell P. Brown, Marshall B. Farrer, and Laura L. Frazier.
  • Voting on a proposal to amend the Restated Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of Class A common stock in connection with the company’s previously announced two-for-one stock split.

GE/HAIER: In Everett, Wash., a Daily Herald reader takes issue Continue reading “Yum China buyout said stalled as two bidders balk at terms; U.S. farmers binge on rye as Brown-Forman whiskey demand soars; CJ owner Gannett’s stock tanks 9% on weak Q2 results” →

Latest Headlines

Texas Roadhouse stock dives 6% on downgrades; Amazon gets U.K.’s OK to test drones, possibly bringing service there before U.S.; and KFC food porn gets a video star

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:39 p.m.

TEXAS ROADHOUSE shares 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 robot
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).

Brian Niccol
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.

Harley Davidson ball capWhat could Niccol buy with his $1,500 allowance? Boulevard went shopping at Harley Davidson’s online store, and came up with this wish list:

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).

And if that wasn’t strange enough, there’s this: In the U.K.’s Yorkshire, a 25-year-old woman who goes by just one name — Lydia — is cashing in on an Internet food porn craze called muk-bang, where thousands of people Continue reading “Texas Roadhouse stock dives 6% on downgrades; Amazon gets U.K.’s OK to test drones, possibly bringing service there before U.S.; and KFC food porn gets a video star” →

Latest Headlines

KFC to double outlets in Germany; Jack Daniel’s is going down under; Papa John’s quiere gerentes que harlan Inglis; Taco Bell wants 😀 applicants; and a UPS wedding in Fla.

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

KFC plans to more than double its presence in Germany over the next five years, to 300 restaurants from 140, according to Insa Klasing, head of the chicken giant’s German subsidiary. Where most locations were major city drive-ins, “today we are also on the market with smaller restaurants,” Klasing said. But even with 300 sites, KFC will still be overshadowed by the nation’s biggest fast-food chain: McDonald’s (Europe Online). And the addition of 160 restaurants would increase total KFCs by just over a 1% vs. the current 15,000 worldwide (KFC corporate website).

KFC bucket of chickenIn India, KFC is re-emphasizing chicken at its approximately 300 restaurants, two years after a push to sell more vegetarian burgers. In the last six months, the Yum division has rolled out three campaigns for its new chicken items, including the Chizza fried chicken slathered with cheese. During the same period, it didn’t start any new ads for vegetarian meals. KFC won’t stop selling vegetarian meals or launch vegetarian options, which still account for 30% of its India menu. But it won’t invest significantly on it either, KFC India marketing chief Lluis Ruiz Ribot said in an interview: “While chicken has always been a large part of our menu, 2016 is the year that we have refocused on our core,” he said (Quartz).

Jack Daniel's bottleBROWN-FORMAN: In Australia, Jack Daniel’s assistant Master Distiller Chris Fletcher will host a series of master classes and tastings in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth, as part of the Brown-Forman brand’s 150th anniversary celebrations (Au Review). BF executives toured Ontario’s Collingwood, where it distills Collingwood Canadian Whiskey, and saw first-hand the impact of a $100,000 company donation to the YMCA and a community hospital. “We work from the corporate office and a lot of the things that we do, we only get to see on paper,” said BF civil engagement manager Karen Krinock. “We knew what the ask was, but to see both the YMCA and Collingwood General and Marine Hospital was really meaningful” (Enterprise Bulletin). Louisville-based BF employs 1,300 in the city, and another 3,300 worldwide.

HUMANA: The Justice Department’s lawsuit to block the $37 billion Humana-Aetna merger on antitrust grounds seeks, ironically, to prevent what Obamacare aimed to achieve: government-directed oligopolies, according to The Wall Street Journal editorial board. “The new regulations and mandates since the law passed in 2010 are designed to encourage consolidation,” the paper’s lead editorial says. “But now the trust busters are fretting that these giants will have less incentive to innovate to reduce costs and improve quality, and patients will have fewer choices” (WSJ). Humana employs 12,500 in its Louisville hometown, and a total 50,000 across the country.

Concord mapPAPA JOHN’S: In the San Francisco Bay area, prospective managers who can communicate with customers in English are especially welcome, although bilingual skills are a plus, too, according to a new Craigslist helped-wanted ad for Papa John’s in Concord, Pleasant Hill and Martinez (Craigslist). In surrounding Contra Costa County, 24.4% of the population is Hispanic vs. 23.5% for the San Francisco Bay area; 37.6% for California, and 17.6% for the nation as a whole (Census).

TACO BELL: Language skills aren’t the hiring issue at Detroit area Taco Bells, but something much more basic: Applicants “must be able to come to work on time, show up for scheduled shifts, and be productive when at work.” Also: be happy (Craigslist). Meanwhile, on Craigslist’s Missed Connections section for the Seattle area, a man is looking for a woman Continue reading “KFC to double outlets in Germany; Jack Daniel’s is going down under; Papa John’s quiere gerentes que harlan Inglis; Taco Bell wants 😀 applicants; and a UPS wedding in Fla.” →

Cops and Courts

Restaurant regulations 101: Risk factors companies face in the course of their business

Publicly traded companies disclose an array of risks to their businesses in annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lawsuits and other legal proceedings are a big one, because they can spur huge monetary awards to plaintiffs.

Here are relevant passages from the “Risk Factors” section of the annual 10-K reports for three restaurant chain giants that are occasionally drawn into crime news stories; links are to the reports themselves. Continue reading “Restaurant regulations 101: Risk factors companies face in the course of their business” →

Latest Headlines

Yum investors must now go to Charlotte, N.C., to settle disputes with the company. (Take note: Keith Meister)
Louisville to Raleigh
Yum is officially headquartered in Louisville, but its corporate HQ is actually a three-hour flight away, in Raleigh, N.C.

In a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, Yum said it made an important amendment to its corporate bylaws that now requires disputes between shareholders and the company be handled in North Carolina’s court system.

Why that state? Because, even though Yum is headquartered in Louisville — and the top brass works part of the time in suburban Dallas — the company itself is incorporated in North Carolina, where the fast food giant’s principal office is in Raleigh. (Of course, that office might be little more than a mailbox drop.) Adding a little confusion, the specific court is actually 167 miles away, in Mecklenburg County’s Charlotte.

Keith Meister
Meister

The SEC filing doesn’t say what prompted the company to choose the N.C. court system. But it follows a high-profile dispute between dissident stockholder Keith Meister of Corvex Management that ended last fall when he was given a seat on the board of directors. Corvex had built up a 5% stake to press the company into spinning off its flagging China Division, a step it’s planning to complete by Oct. 31.

Yum’s 12-member board of directors approved the bylaw change last Friday, according to today’s SEC 8-K filing. It’s a new Section 9 of Article 8 called “Forum for Adjudication of Certain Disputes.” Here’s the full text: Continue reading “Yum investors must now go to Charlotte, N.C., to settle disputes with the company. (Take note: Keith Meister)” →