Dave & Buster’s on Tuesday tapped Tarun Lal to be its new CEO, tapping the former KFC executive to lead the company’s comeback bid.
The hiring comes eight months after the Dallas-based food-and-games chain ousted Chris Morris amid a brutal sales slump that would only worsen in January and February.
Kevin Sheehan, Dave & Buster’s chairman who has been interim CEO since December, called Lal “a talented leader and seasoned operator with a highly successful track record of growing and improving businesses and brands in the U.S. and around the world.”
Dave & Buster’s just recorded its ninth straight same-store sales decline, a period in which the best result was a 4.1% decline in the first quarter of 2023.
The company since then has worked on a “back to basics” strategy that features improved marketing, value and operations. The result led to improving sales and profitability in recent months.
Lal spent his entire career with Yum Brands. He was named president of KFC U.S. in 2022 before he left earlier this year. KFC U.S. is coming off seven straight quarters of flat or negative same-store sales.
Dave & Buster’s operates both its flagship chain, which operates 175 locations, along with another food-and-games chain, Main Event, which operates 61 units. The company’s stock is down 20% over the past year and was down more than 2% in early-morning trading.
Lal in a statement called them “iconic, highly differentiated brands with exceptionally large and loyal customer bases, outstanding unit level and new-unit economics and huge potential for growth.”
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