Research and Markets: Applebee's Benchmark Analysis Provides Readers with Unique Data and Insight into the Repositioning of the Largest US Casual Chain

Business Wire, June 5, 2008

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c93890) has announced the addition of "Applebee's Benchmark Analysis" to their offering.

Analysis of the Applebee's restaurant concept provides readers with unique data and insight and into the repositioning of the largest US casual chain. RR clients include major lenders, investors, major US restaurant chains and operators.

Applebee's is the largest sit-down casual chain with about $4.5B in system wide sales. After struggling for years because of a lack of clear identity, IHOP Corp. acquired the company in 11/07 with the intention of improving shareholder value by "re-energizing" the Applebee's brand and via financial re-engineering. IHOP's CEO Julia Stewart, the quarterback driving the Applebee's turnaround, seeks to leverage her past experience as a former Applebee's president for 4 years during the late nineties.

To her credit, Stewart has succeeded at overhauling IHOP with an updated menu, a new franchising model and increased franchisee enthusiasm. Historically, Applebee's had distinguished itself as the low cost provider (using lots of LTOs to drive traffic) in the casual segment with middling quality fare. Going forward, new ownership plans to focus on building its base with unique, signature bar and grill fare (around the neighbourhood theme) that you can only get at Applebee's. The idea is for Applebee's to look more like a bar and less like a casual chain. In turn, management plans to rationalize the menu size, focus on training and update the kitchen such that the chain's operations reinforce the new marketing message. Finally, we note that the concept's '09 marketing and menu roadmap should be finalized shortly - indicative that this turnaround is indeed a work in progress.

Contents:

Strategy

System statistics

Sales performance

Operational performance

Unit level data

Remodelling

Franchisee overview

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c93890.>

COPYRIGHT 2008 Business Wire

COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning