Market Movers

Top talent is poised to build chains with ideas, energy and strategic vision.

By Jamie Popp, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 7/1/2006

Too often minimized in discussions of brand building is the obvious truth that brands don’t build themselves. Restaurant concepts are created, supported, refreshed and improved, all of which require initiative, intelligence and, always, hard work from executives dedicated to creating brands with substance and lasting value to diners.

R&I’s Top 400 ranking is replete with chains led by men and women with extraordinary talent and drive. Space allows the spotlight to fall only on a few, but they epitomize the commitment to success that powers the foodservice industry.

Todd Graves
Chief executive officer, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Baton Rouge, La.

The veto vote isn’t something that worries Todd Graves. Raising Cane’s menu offers just one protein—chicken—and one preparation—deep-fried fingers. Accepting that Raising Cane’s doesn’t want to be all things to all people is Graves’ business stance, the platform from which he competes with national chicken chains. With its limited menu—chicken fingers, sauce, crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast, coleslaw and beverages comprise the entire lineup—the 41-unit chain earned a position in R&I’s Top 400 list for the first time this year.

Graves, who was 23 when he founded the chain in 1996, says the concept’s success is firmly rooted in food quality. The chain uses only fresh chicken tenderloins that are marinated 24 hours and then hand-battered and breaded to order. But he’s quick to note that ingredients are only part of the equation; his 1,800 employees are given credit as well.

Building Raising Cane’s work culture is important to grow the company in the right direction, he says, and fancy words aren’t part of his vision. Rather, Graves’ goal is a “cool culture.” He knows that dramatically increasing the chain’s unit growth in the near term won’t be possible without a commitment from the staff. Confident there’s a niche for the brand and that he’s found a formula that works, Graves hopes to double the number of units in the next 18 months.

In the past months, he has worked aggressively to balance drive-thru priority and dine-in speed. “We have drive-thru timers and monitors that tell us how long it takes to get through the drive-thru, and we added a system that monitors dine-in times. They provide real data to manage staff and the time it takes to send out orders,” Graves says.

Carin Stutz
Senior vice president of operations, Applebee’s International, Overland Park, Kan.

Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar doesn’t take for granted its position as the largest casual-dining chain. Several years ago, it created a strategy that successfully shifted its restaurants’ image from that of after-work watering hole to family-friendly neighborhood restaurant. It then went on to court the carryout crowd. Carin Stutz says the big emphasis today is on food and menu innovation.

“Our company, culinary team and franchise operators are extremely focused and ready to demonstrate to guests that something very different is going on in the kitchen at Applebee’s,” she says. New to the chain are such items as roasted garlic-and-Asiago chicken with fresh tomatoes and basil; sirloin steak; and lump crab cakes with rémoulade sauce, and roasted turkey and bacon on rosemary ciabatta bread with red onion and cranberry chutney.

“Guests today have come to expect more when dining out. We’ve responded by adding ingredients to punch up the flavor profile on many items,” she explains.

Stutz says the changes coming out of the R&D kitchens have been well received. “The food is the best it ever has been. We’ve worked hard to present guests with exciting new items while still maintaining our value promise.”

A tight economy, Stutz notes, makes it all the more imperative to deliver on food and service. “Casual-dining bar-and-grill chains have felt the pinch on traffic. We need to give our guests compelling reasons to choose us over QSR or eating at home.”

Peter Beaudrault
Chief executive officer, Sbarro, Melville, N.Y.

More than a year ago, Peter Beaudrault took the reins as head officer of Sbarro, a watch that includes nearly 1,000 units. This year marks the company’s 50th anniversary and Beaudrault has positioned the company to continue its run of outperforming industry averages for comp-store sales in malls with new menu items, better food quality and improved service speed.

New Sbarro locations are planned for lifestyle centers with the first opening this month, but Beaudrault says the chain also has its eye on retail outlets such as Costco for selling pasta sauces, which it currently offers at other retailers in California, Florida and New York. Also on his radar is expanding Carmela’s of Brooklyn, the company’s casual Italian concept that opened its first location in February in Longwood, Fla., near Orlando.

Although the chain historically has been heavily mall based, Beaudrault expects that to shift. “Having a mall-based business means you’re land-locked and dependent on mall traffic. Food-court business is a byproduct of people who go to shop,” he says.

Rob Streett
Senior director of strategic development, Cold Stone Creamery, Scottsdale, Ariz.

If people describe Cold Stone Creamery as an ice cream store, Rob Streett believes they’ve missed an important part of the brand. To him, the business is much more than scoops and sundaes; in the age of mass customization, Cold Stone is all about delivering customized ice cream experiences. The ability for patrons to pick base flavors and mix-ins and watch as their one-of-a-kind concoction is blended by hand is a brand-defining distinction and an important point of differentiation.

It’s going to get even easier to have that ice cream experience, Streett says as he discusses the chain’s plans. “We’ll bring Cold Stone to customers: where they live, work and play.” That means new locations in nontraditional venues such as retail outlets, theme parks, stadiums and airports.

Since Streett started with the company, Cold Stone has entered into agreements with HMSHost for airports and travel plazas; Target for test stores in Longmont, Colo., and Norman, Okla.; and Hershey Park in Pennsylvania for Cold Stone’s first amusement-park unit. These are elements in his aggressive plan to open 25 nontraditional venue stores before year-end. For him, they are just the beginning. “We’re starting to look at colleges and universities,” he says.

In addition to identifying the right partner for future growth, he says nontraditional venues pose unique challenges to marry operating systems and open new locations, which sometimes require smaller footprints. He’ll continue to “develop the concept and massage the menu to support future growth” with premixed ice cream flavors and beverages.

Linda Lang
President and chief executive officer, Jack in the Box, San Diego

Three years ago, Jack in the Box announced plans to reinvent the brand and go from being a regional player to a national presence. Linda Lang has seen it along that path and been instrumental in its growth.

As chairman and chief executive officer, she’s responsible for the continued success of more than 2,000 Jack in the Box restaurants, 40 Quick Stuff convenience stores and 250 Qdoba Mexican Grill fast-casual units. She’s leading a vast rebranding of the core Jack in the Box concept that includes menu upgrades—Chipotle Chicken Ciabatta sandwiches are the latest addition to its ciabatta lineup, which includes the breakfast sandwich introduced during last year’s “Bread Is Back” promotion—service improvements and restaurant upgrades inside and out.

But reinventing the Jack in the Box concept is only a sliver of Lang’s plan. “Profitably growing the business” and “building customer loyalty for all of our brands” are what she says will fill her plate going forward.