Tuesday December 4, 2018, 00:00:00

Updating our Q4E18 Kalinowski Casual Dining Same-Store Sales Index

By Mark Kalinowski

With this report, we update our data-driven Kalinowski Casual Dining Index for Q4E from +1.6% to +2.1%. This 50 basis-point increase is based on our latest proprietary checks/data as regards same-store sales performance so far for this segment during October and the first half of November.

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Monday December 3, 2018, 00:00:00

A Closer Look at Privately-Held Blaze Pizza

By Mark Kalinowski

We recently met with management from privately-held Blaze Pizza — President & CEO Jim Mizes and CFO Mandy Shaw, with the help of Media Relations Josh Levitt — to discuss their outlook for the nation’s leading fast-casual pizza concept. Regarding Blaze Pizza, which has stated that it aims to be the nation’s fifth-largest pizza chain by 2020, we note the following:

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Monday December 3, 2018, 00:00:00

Tidbits re Taco Bell (owned by YUM), JACK, and PZZA

By Mark Kalinowski

We briefly note the following tidbits regarding Taco Bell (owned by Yum Brands [YUM; Buy]), Jack in the Box (JACK; Not Rated), and Papa John’s International (PZZA; Buy):

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