CPK rolls wine list, cites mood in price-hike limits

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 4, 2002

LOS ANGELES -- California Pizza Kitchen Inc., while posting a 10.8-percent dip in third-quarter earnings because of two restaurant closures, said it would seek to build on its 5.3-percent rise in same-store sales for the period by debuting a new menu and a 20-label wine list at dinner.

CPK said the wine list is expected to boost alcoholic beverage sales from 10 percent of total volume to as much as 13 percent, yielding margins of about 60 percent.

The wine list was scheduled to be introduced by the 145-unit casual-dining chain this month along with the new menu, whose price hikes will be limited to about 1.1 percent in light of "somewhat shaky consumer confidence 1evels," chief executive Fred Hipp said inn conference call last month.

The earnings decline to $3 million for the quarter reflected an after-tax writedown of $1.6 million for mall-unit closures in Concord, Calif., and Plano, Texas. CPK, whose chain includes 113 corporate-owned branches, also opened six units in the quarter, during which revenue rose 23 percent to $78.9 million.