Latest news with #Verostek
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Denny's the latest chain to add egg surcharge in face of nationwide shortage. Florida info
Thanks to the nationwide egg shortage, it may cost you a little more for that Grand Slam. Denny's announced Tuesday that some locations will be adding a temporary surcharge to every meal that includes eggs. The company did not list which of its over 1,300 locations would add the price hike, as it told USA TODAY in an email that the decision would be made "market-by-market, and restaurant-by-restaurant due to the regional impacts of the egg shortage." The price and availability of eggs have shot up in recent years due to an outbreak of bird flu causing farmers to have to destroy eggs and chickens, USA TODAY reported. Denny's, the 24-hour restaurant chain famous for its breakfast combos and comfort food, said it remains "committed to providing customers with delicious meals they love at the value they expect," and will continue to offer its $2 $4 $6 $8 value menu. The news comes just over a week after America's Diner announced more location closings, adding up to 178 shuttered Denny's around the country. Denny's competitor Waffle House was the first national chain to add egg surcharges, announcing the first week of February an extra 50-cent cost per egg to all menu items. "Consumers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions," the company said in a statement. "Rather than increasing prices across the menu, this is a temporary targeted surcharge tied to the unprecedented rise in egg prices." Cracker Barrel, however, said in a statement earlier this month that they would not be charing extra for eggs because "there's nothing hospitable about that." Local restaurants are also facing the economic realities of the cost of one of their main ingredients increasing more than 65% since 2022, with an expected increase of about 20% this year according to the Department of Agriculture's price outlook. Some stores like Trader Joe's and Costco began limiting egg purchases this month. Some of them are just old buildings, Denny's executives said. Others have expiring leases. Denny's announced plans in October last year to close 150 lower-performing stores by the end of 2025, and chief financial officer Robert Verostek told investors in an earnings call this month the company planned to close between 70 and 90 more locations this year. Verostek also mentioned other factors, including widespread disasters in recent years such as the California wildfires and intense snowstorms, and concerns over tariffs. All together, Denny's plans to close down as many as 178 locations by the end of 2025. The company also announced it plans to open between 25 and 40 new restaurants in 2025, About half will be traditional Denny's restaurants and the rest will be Keke's Breakfast Cafes, which Denny's acquired in 2022. Denny's has not released a list of the targeted locations. In a statement to USA TODAY, Denny's said it "does not provide advance notice of closures" and instead works "closely with our owners and teams when a restaurant unfortunately has to close." As of Monday, Feb. 17, the Denny's website lists 115 Denny's locations in 78 Florida cities. That puts us third behind California (354) and Texas (195). There are 1,323 Denny's locations in the United States. As of this time last year, according to an archived copy of the page, there were 123. One new location opened in Naples and nine locations are no longer listed, showing a net loss of eight Florida locations so far. The Denny's locations no longer listed are: Fort Myers: 8031 Summerlin Center Road Key Largo: 97630 Overseas Highway Lake Wales: 4541 Macey Lane Largo: 940 Missouri Ave. Merritt Island: 75 E. Merritt Island Causeway Miami: 15235 SW 137th Ave. Palm Coast: 7 Kings Highway Port Charlotte: 1340 Tamiami Trail Winter Park: 2684 Lee Road A new Denny's opened in Florida last year in Naples at 3871 Tamiami Trail East. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Denny's joins Waffle House in charging extra for eggs
The Hill
13-02-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Denny's to close dozens more restaurants in 2025
(NEXSTAR) — Denny's was already planning on closing 150 low-performing restaurants by the end of 2025, but now the company says even more locations will shutter this year. In October, the company indicated that the 150 closures — about half of which occurred in 2024 — were part of an attempt to turn around its flagging sales. At the time, Stephen Dunn, Denny's executive vice president and chief global development officer, said that some of those restaurants were no longer in good locations. 'Some of these restaurants can be very old,' Dunn said during the October investor meeting. 'You think of a 70-year-old plus brand. We have a lot of restaurants that have been out there for a very long time.' List: The more than 500 JOANN stores expected to close amid second bankruptcy filing In an update to investors on Wednesday, Denny's said 88 restaurants were closed throughout all of 2024, with 30 coming during the fourth quarter. In 2025, the company plans to close between 70 and 90 restaurants. A list of exact locations expected to close was not immediately available. 'In any mature brand, when restaurants have been open that long, it is natural that trade areas can shift over time,' Robert Verostek, the company's chief financial officer, said during a call with investors. Some of these closures, he added, are restaurants with expiring leases. Kelli Valade, the chief executive officer of Denny's, said the company, which also owns Keke's restaurants, had 'made significant progress in our strategy to enhance the overall health of our flagship brand by accelerating the closure of lower-volume restaurants' in addition to roughly two dozen remodels. Denny's also expects to open between 25 and 40 new locations this year. Denny's also expected 'a sense of normalcy ahead' regarding consumers, who had been spending differently in light of the COVID pandemic and high inflation. Verostek, however, noted that there 'has been a shift in consumer sentiment and a slowing that persisted through the remainder of January and has seemingly accelerated in the last few weeks given the evolving macro environment.' According to Valade, the company expects this shift to be 'temporary.' Inflation, however, is trending up, the latest report from the Labor Department shows. There are also egg costs, which have climbed so high fellow breakfast-focused chain Waffle House has added a surcharge to egg orders. Verostek said Denny's is working with its suppliers to 'ensure minimal disruptions' in that department.
