Nation's Restaurant News - November 2, 2009

11 FINANCE

14 HUMAN RESOURCES

Stay in business with smart, tough strategies

Togo’s pastrami promo

16 MARKETING

Wing Zone weaves festival win into online marketing

18 OPINION

Don’t wait to implement post-recession strategies

34 SUPPLIER NEWS

Operators, vendors connect at MUFSO Supplier Exchange

42 END QUOTES

Having Words With: Matt Haley, SoDel Concepts

■
The Palm’s John T. Bettin

21 SPECIAL REPORT: ON THE CUTTING EDGE In this two-part series, called “Chain of Command,” Nation’s Restaurant News talks to executives who have culinary backgrounds to learn why and how they made the move from the kitchen to the corner office.

■ 26

26 SPECIAL REPORT: MENU TRENDS &
DIRECTIONS WRAP-UP

Value and culinary creativity are key topics of discussion as the industry’s food and beverage leaders gather for the inaugural Menu Trends & Directions conference in Dallas

Menu Trends & Directions

37 Foodservice Mart 40 Advertiser Index

41 Company Index

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2002, 2004,
2006 &
2008
Jesse H.
Neal
Award
winner

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Pizza Hut to expand
WingStreet concept

FRISCO, TEXAS — Pizza Hut is hastening the spread of its six-year-old WingStreet concept, with a goal of having the secondary brand in about 5,000 of 6,200 domestic Pizza Hut units within three years, president Scott Bergren said. WingStreet locations already are paired with about 2,900 Pizza Huts.

“I think we can do a thousand [WingStreet openings] a year,” Bergren said. Pizza Hut is a division of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum! Brands Inc.

Steak n Shake, Western
Sizzlin detail merger

INDIANAPOLIS — Steak n Shake Co. and Western Sizzlin Corp. have signed an agreement to merge in a deal worth $38.8 million. The agreement, first announced as a plan in August, must still win shareholder approval from Western Sizzlin and includes a 30-day “go-shop period,” where additional acquisition proposals can be entertained, according to filings with federal securities regulators. Details of the proposed deal show that Steak n Shake, the parent to the 468-unit family dining chain, would become a subsidiary to Western Sizzlin, operator or franchisor to the namesake 105-unit steak buffet chain. Both companies are led by former activist investor Sardar Biglari.

The deal is expected to close through a special dividend to Western Sizzlin shareholders in the form of 1. 3 million shares of Steak n Shake stock that is owned by an investment division of West-

ern Sizzlin. The merger agreement also calls for Steak n Shake to issue and deliver to Western stockholders Steak n Shake unsecured debt with a principal amount of nearly $23 million. At the effective time of the merger, each share of Western’s common stock would be converted into the right to receive debentures equal to $8.08 per share.

NRA presses lawmakers
to extend tax provisions

WASHINGTON — The National Restaurant Association is spearheading an effort on Capitol Hill to extend the 15-year depreciation schedule for restaurant improvements and new construction. The current rules, established by Congress in 2004 and 2006, are set to expire at the end of 2009, at which time all schedules would revert back to 39 years. The NRA, together with members of the Depreciation Fairness Coalition, sent letters to all members of the U.S. Congress requesting that they extend the 15- year schedule before it expires.

The coalition’s letter maintains that extending the schedule is an important driver of economic activity and job creation. The group cites data provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which states that each dollar spent in the construction industry generates an additional $2.39 in spending throughout the rest of the economy. The bureau also found that every $1 million spent in the construction industry creates at least 28 jobs in the general economy. The restaurant industry spent $10.4 billion in construction costs in 2007.