BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse

Financing

BJ's Pizookie Pass subscription drives traffic but hurts profits

Too many customers cashed in on free daily Pizookies in the third quarter, leading the casual-dining chain to rethink the popular promotion.

Leadership

BJ's CEO Greg Levin steps down

He will be replaced temporarily by Brad Richmond, a BJ's board member and former CFO of Darden Restaurants.

The casual-dining chain is using an AI tool that can pinpoint sales weeks in advance, allowing managers to make smarter staffing decisions.

A new AI-powered scheduling tool, among other initiatives, helped make the casual-dining chain's restaurants more profitable in the first quarter.

The agreement between BJ's and Fund 1 Investments will also create a new board committee focused on improving shareholder value.

Pleasant Lake Partners said the chain is underperforming but would make an attractive acquisition target.

At the Barclays Eat Sleep Play conference, Greg Levin said consumers remember prices from four years ago and have yet to adjust to the higher cost of dining out.

Higher QSR prices could boost the value of sit-down meals, CEO Greg Levin said. But BJ's will still feel some labor inflation.

Customers returned to dining out and operators greeted them with a record number of limited-time offers. The result was a summer of love on restaurant menus.

The 216-unit chain said remodels are helping traffic, and that it now plans to do more of them.

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