Operator notes from the chain growth front line.
Costa Coffee's Coca-Cola Bet and the German Hole: Why Britain's #1 Coffee Chain Hasn't Crossed the Channel
Coca-Cola paid GBP 3.9 billion for Costa Coffee in January 2019. The seller was Whitbread, the British hospitality group that had grown Costa from a 41-shop UK bolt-on into the country's number-one coffee chain — roughly 2,500 UK sites at the point of sale, with a further seve...
Read perspective →TGI Fridays in DACH: When the American Casual-Dining Template Stopped Travelling
In November 2024, TGI Fridays Inc filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. Six weeks earlier, its UK operating entity – Fridays Ltd, owned by the listed holding company Hostmore plc – entered administration on 18 Septembe...
Read perspective →Greggs: Britain's Most Profitable QSR Format and the Choice Not to Travel
GBP 2.01 billion in system revenue. 2,618 sites. A 14% EBITDA margin in a category where 8–11% is normal.
Read perspective →Outback Steakhouse's Quiet DACH Exit: What Block House Knew About German Steakhouse Economics That Bloomin' Brands Didn't
There is a quiet way that international restaurant chains exit a market, and there is a loud way. Outback Steakhouse chose the quiet way in DACH.
Read perspective →Hard Rock Cafe DACH: The Themed-Restaurant Half-Life
Six to seven DACH sites at the network's furthest reach. Six currently operating cafes today – with no new German opening since Hamburg in 2011 and no DACH addition at all since Innsbruck in 2017.
Read perspective →Wendy's Munich 1979: The First American QSR to Retreat from Germany and the Thirty-Six-Year No-Return Posture
In 1979 – eight years after McDonald's had opened its first German restaurant in Munich, more than a decade after KFC had entered Germany, and three years after Burger King arrived – Wendy's opened its first German location. Munich was the anchor. Secondary sources reference a...
Read perspective →50 Chains, One Truth: Why Restaurants Fail and Survive
50 chains. 100 years of restaurant history. From Vapiano to White Castle. From a USD 500 tasting menu at Noma to a USD 6 breakfast at Denny's. From a two-dollar share price to 40,000 locations.
Read perspective →Sausalitos vs. Peter Pane: Two German Chains, Two Philosophies — Lessons in Concept Clarity
In 1994, two Germans — Gunilla and Thomas Hirschberger — opened a Cal-Mex cocktail bar in Ingolstadt. They called it Sausalitos, after the California coastal town. Margaritas. Burritos. Party. Within twenty-five years it was one of the most recognised casual-dining brands in G...
Read perspective →What Restaurants Can Learn from Netflix: Habits, Cliffhangers, and Returning Guests
A restaurant operator asked me a question a few months ago that I haven't been able to shake.
Read perspective →Jollibee: Global Expansion Lessons from the Philippines' Unlikeliest Fast-Food Giant
In the Philippines, grown men cry in a fast-food restaurant.
Read perspective →Block House Survives, Maredo Dies: A Tale of Two Steakhouses and What Operators Should Take Away
Two steakhouses. Both German. Both born within five years of each other — one in 1968, the other in 1973. Both built on inner-city locations in big cities. Both selling steaks in the same EUR 25–35 range. Both aimed at the same kind of guest: a middle-class diner who wanted a ...
Read perspective →Shake Shack: The Premium Burger Playbook — Lessons for Operators in Commodity Categories
Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group operates several of New York's most decorated restaurants – Gramercy Tavern (one Michelin star), The Modern at MoMA (two stars), Union Square Cafe (his original 1985 flagship). Rooms where tables are booked weeks in advance.
Read perspective →Ichiran: Solo Dining as a Concept — Lessons in Bold Positioning
You walk into a restaurant. No server greets you. No "welcome." No smile.
Read perspective →Sweetgreen: Salad as a Mission — Building a Brand on Purpose (and Why It Still Struggles)
USD 15. For a SALAD.
Read perspective →Texas Roadhouse: Loud, Authentic, Profitable — What Operators Can Learn About Brand Differentiation
Country music. So loud you almost have to shout.
Read perspective →What Restaurants Can Learn from Luxury Brands: Scarcity, Price, and the Secret of the Waiting List
3–9% operating margin.
Read perspective →Haidilao: When Extreme Service Becomes the Marketing Budget
You are eating alone in a restaurant. On the chair opposite you, there is a teddy bear.
Read perspective →Chipotle's E. coli Comeback: Crisis Recovery Lessons for Operators
If you build a restaurant around FRESH INGREDIENTS — and then those fresh ingredients are what make your guests sick — what do you do?
Read perspective →In-N-Out: Why Staying Small Works (And What Every Operator Can Learn From It)
4 menu items.
Read perspective →What Restaurants Can Learn from Amazon: Personalization, Reviews, and Cross-Selling
A restaurant owner in southern Germany told me a few months ago: "Michael, my server last week greeted a regular by name, kept his favorite table free, brought the Aperol Spritz without being asked — and the guest ended up booking a Christmas party for four people. Just like t...
Read perspective →Why Restaurant Chains Fail: 10 Patterns from Vapiano to Red Lobster
Vapiano: 235 restaurants, IPO, stock at EUR 23 – then insolvency. Stock at 11 cents. Minus 99.5%.
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