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☆ McDonald's earnings beat estimates as U.S. traffic grows despite price hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

All three of its divisions reported same-store sales growth of 12.6%. In its home market, higher menu prices and increased traffic fueled same-store sales growth, which topped StreetAccount estimates of 7.9%. McDonald's U.S. traffic rose for the third consecutive quarter, bucking the industry trend of slipping traffic as menu prices rise. Its international operated markets, which include the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia, beat StreetAccount estimates of 8.5% same-store sales growth. Its international developmental licensed markets segment, which includes China and Japan, topped same-store sales expectations of 10.5%.

☆ McDonald's diners are pushing back against price increases in some markets, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

McDonald's customers are pushing back against higher prices in some markets and adding fewer menu items to their orders, CEO Chris Kempczinski said Tuesday. Kempczinski's comments come as consumer companies report mixed reactions to higher prices during the first quarter. For example, Coca-Cola saw a muted reaction to demand as it kept raising prices on its drinks. Additionally, McDonald's topped Wall Street's estimates for its first-quarter earnings and revenue, helped both by its higher prices and increased demand. Watch the full interview with McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski on CNBC Pro:

☆ Chipotle Mexican Grill's restaurant traffic grows as the chain proves its pricing power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Like McDonald's , Chipotle said traffic to its restaurants grew during the first quarter despite higher menu items. Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations, fueled by better than expected same-store sales growth. In February, executives said January's same-store sales grew by double digits. Looking to the rest of the year, Chipotle is anticipating same-store sales growth in the mid-to-high single digits. It's expecting the same range for its second-quarter same-store sales growth, roughly in line with StreetAccount estimates of 5.8%.

☆ Subway reports double-digit quarterly sales growth as sandwich chain seeks buyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this photo illustration, a Subway sandwich is seen on a table at a Subway restaurant on January 12, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Sandwich chain Subway reported double-digit same-store sales growth in the first quarter, showing its turnaround taking hold as the company seeks to sell itself. The restaurant company is reportedly seeking a valuation of at least $10 billion, and the auction is heading into its second round, according to The Wall Street Journal. Globally, Subway's same-store sales climbed 12.1%, and its digital sales increased 11.4%. In North America, same-store sales grew 11.7%, and digital sales soared 21.2%.

☆ Coca-Cola earnings beat estimates, fueled by price hikes and higher demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Coca-Cola on Monday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations, fueled by price hikes and higher demand for its drinks. Shares of the company rose 1% in premarket trading. Excluding items, the beverage giant earned 68 cents per share. Organic revenue, which strips out the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, climbed 12% in the quarter. It is projecting comparable revenue growth of 3% to 5% and comparable earnings per share growth of 4% to 5% for 2023.

☆ Restaurants are expected to post strong earnings, but signs of trouble ahead could emerge
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

As restaurants prepare to present their first-quarter earnings, investors are anticipating strong results. When restaurants released their fourth-quarter reports in February, many touted impressive sales growth in January. Starting in the second quarter, restaurants will face comparisons to last year's sales bump driven by double-digit price increases, so they'll have to depend on higher traffic to drive sales growth. The relatively high valuations for restaurant stocks bring a downside for the industry, McCarthy said. Morgan Stanley's Harbour wrote that stocks could fall even on solid results "if the path forward is less clear."

☆ Touching the sky: A rare solar eclipse and a new hotel in the clouds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Courtesy Amelia Earhart Hangar MuseumAmelia Earhart wasn’t just the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic. Camelot Theme Park (England): Set in the leafy Lancashire countryside, the Magic Kingdom of Camelot resurrected tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Scott Audette/AP Pripyat Amusement Park (Ukraine): This theme park was orphaned in 1986 following the Chernobyl meltdown just five kilometers (three miles) away. Considered the first theme park in Southeast Asia, it featured an artificial lake, huge swimming pool with giant water slides and a Prehistoric Animal Kingdom. Anne Jones/Alamy Stock Photo 10 fascinating theme parks that have closed forever Prev NextThat’s the question posed by these no-longer-in-operation theme parks around the world.

☆ Procter & Gamble beats earnings estimates, raises revenue forecast
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Procter and Gamble Co. Charmin brand toilet paper is arranged for a photograph taken in Hastings on Hudson, New York, U.S., on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. Proctor & Gamble Co. is scheduled to release earnings figures on October 20. Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesProcter & Gamble on Friday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations as higher prices helped offset lower demand for its products. Shares of the company rose more than 1% in premarket trading. Net sales rose 4% to $20.07 billion.

☆ I'm a 21-year-old helicopter pilot. Nothing makes me happier than flying — and yes, I can land in your backyard.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amelia Joanna Brunt is a 21-year-old student in London who's qualified as a helicopter pilot. She grew up flying with her dad, who inspired her to get her private pilot's license. I officially got my helicopter license this January at 21. After a minimum of 45 hours of flight training, including at least 10 hours of solo flying, you take a license skills test with an examiner. At ICE Helicopters, there is a group of six women who are certified, from private license holders to flight instructors.

☆ Burger King is selling more Whoppers than ever before in early days of its U.S. turnaround
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Seven months after Burger King unveiled a strategy to revive its U.S. business, the chain is selling more Whoppers than ever before. Burger King also held roundtables for general managers in 45 cities. Additionally, Burger King launched its "You Rule" marketing campaign in the fall. The chain's mascot, the Burger King, is nowhere to be seen in the ads. Two Burger King franchisees have filed for bankruptcy so far in 2023.

☆ Restaurant prices are rising faster than grocery prices for the first time since inflation ran hot
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

For the first time since inflation began accelerating in mid-2021, restaurant prices outpaced grocery prices on a 12-month basis, according to the Labor Department. For months, restaurant CEOs like Cheesecake Factory's Matthew Clark and Wendy's Todd Penegor have touted their meals as a relative bargain compared with eating at home, based on consumer price index data. March food prices rose 8.5% over the last 12 months, fueled by the jump in the cost of eating away from home, which was up 8.8% over that period. The National Restaurant Association's chief economist, Bruce Grindy, attributed the increase to the surge in food prices at schools as free lunch programs instituted during the Covid pandemic expired. The overall consumer price index has risen 5% over the last 12 months as inflation continues to cool.

☆ An Ohio couple found a cheap laundromat on Craigslist. Now they're millionaires.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | Libertina Brandt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In 2010, Dave Menz was working at a telephone company when he decided to invest in a laundromat. Now he and his wife run four laundromats that brought in $1.8 million in revenue last year. It did for Dave Menz, a 46-year-old real-estate investor in Cincinnati, who calls himself the Laundromat Millionaire. The four laundromats Menz operates with his wife, Carla — along with their consulting business helping other laundromat owners get started and grow their businesses — have, indeed, made them rich. Courtesy of Dave and Carla MenzThat location, which opened in January 2011, became profitable within three weeks, Menz said.

☆ Chipotle unveils sustainable-restaurant design as it aims to cut carbon footprint in half by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Next year, more than 100 of the burrito chain's new locations will use all-electric equipment and some additional elements from the new design. Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday unveiled a new all-electric restaurant design aimed at helping the company reach its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Chipotle isn't the only restaurant chain looking to its restaurants to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. And a year earlier, its archrival, Restaurant Brands International's Burger King, revealed a new restaurant design that features solar panels. The company's goal to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is based on its 2019 baseline of 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent across its supply chain and restaurants.

☆ The parents of an 8-year-old trans girl say they're moving from Florida to Minnesota, fearing an anti-trans law that could threaten the custody of their daughter
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Leo Aquino | Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The bill would restrict funding and protections for healthcare providers that offer gender-affirming care to trans patients. "I thought the worst they would do is restrict gender-affirming care," Amanda said. This would prohibit universities or health insurance plans for government workers from using public funds to provide gender-affirming care. In February, the Board of Medicine expanded on the restrictions and banned gender-affirming care for minors, including in clinical trials. In a previous story about SB 254, representatives for DeSantis declined to comment on SB 254 until it makes its way to the Governor's desk.

☆ Sweetgreen renames menu item after Chipotle sues for trademark infringement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sweetgreen said Thursday that it has renamed its newest menu item as part of a tentative agreement with Chipotle Mexican Grill to resolve a lawsuit brought by the burrito chain. Chipotle filed the lawsuit, which claims that the salad chain's "Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl" infringed on its trademark, in California federal court Tuesday, just days after the salad chain introduced the item. A Sweetgreen representative said in a statement to CNBC Thursday that the company decided to rename the bowl to the "Chicken + Chipotle Pepper Bowl" to focus on its business and serve customers without distraction. In Chipotle's original complaint, the company said it sent Sweetgreen a cease and desist notice and asked the company to drop "chipotle" from the name when it heard about the Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl, but Sweetgreen never responded. (Sweetgreen told CNBC on Wednesday the company responded to the cease and desist on Tuesday, after the lawsuit was filed.)

☆ Sweetgreen stock falls after Chipotle sues for trademark infringement over burrito bowl
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sweetgreen 's stock fell 10% in morning trading Wednesday after Chipotle Mexican Grill filed a lawsuit against the salad chain alleging trademark infringement over its new "Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl." Chipotle filed the suit in California federal court Tuesday, less than a week after Sweetgreen launched the menu item. Chipotle said in its complaint that it sent Sweetgreen a cease and desist notice and asked the company to drop "chipotle" from the name when it heard about the Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl, but Sweetgreen never responded. Sweetgreen's website features the product name larger than any other identifying feature that ties it back to Sweetgreen, Chipotle argues in the complaint. In addition to asking the court for an injunction against Sweetgreen, Chipotle is also asking for the profits that Sweetgreen earns from the Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl.

☆ ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Actress Emily Hampshire Grew Up in a World of Her Own
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Marc Myers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Emily Hampshire, 41, is an actress and writer best known for playing Stevie Budd in TV’s “Schitt’s Creek.” She currently stars in Prime Video’s “The Rig” and is the author of “Amelia Aierwood: Basic Witch” (Z2 Comics), her first graphic novel. She spoke with Marc Myers. I did a lot of hiding and spying as a child. Under the stairs in our house, there was a closet that became my private sanctuary. It felt like I lived on my own.

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☆ Starbucks union pressures board members with billboards, posters – and a butter sculpture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Nearly 300 company-owned Starbucks cafes have voted to unionize under Workers United, according to National Labor Relations Board data. Starbucks Workers United is deploying a butter sculpture, brass band, billboard and movie posters to put pressure on the coffee chain's board to accept the union. Beth Ford, chief executive officer of Land O'Lakes Inc. (L), and a butter sculpture of land o'lakes her. In the hopes of speeding up the process, just outside of Minnesota's Twin Cities, Starbucks workers will deliver a butter sculpture of Ford to Land O'Lakes' headquarters. "Community allies" will also take part, according to Starbucks Workers United.

Signage is displayed outside the new McDonald's Corp. headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Monday, June 4, 2018. McDonald's is closing its U.S. corporate offices Monday through Wednesday as the company lays off workers, according to an internal email viewed by CNBC. CEO Chris Kempczinski announced in January that the company would be cutting jobs as part of a broader corporate restructuring. At the time, McDonald's said the layoffs weren't a cost-cutting measure, but instead are meant to help the company innovate faster and work more efficiently. At the end of 2022, McDonald's employed more than 150,000 people in its corporate offices and company-owned restaurations.

☆ Starbucks fired the employee responsible for igniting the Starbucks Workers United union campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Starbucks fired Alexis Rizzo, the employee responsible for igniting the Starbucks Workers United union campaign, just days after the company's former CEO Howard Schultz testified on Capitol Hill about the coffee chain's alleged union-busting, CNBC confirmed. Starbucks Workers United announced Rizzo's termination in a tweet Saturday and said in a corresponding GoFundMe page that "this is retaliation at its worst." It was like my family," Rizzo told CNBC in an interview. Schultz faced a volley of tough questions from Sen. Bernie Sanders Wednesday about Starbucks' labor and union practices. Nearly 300 Starbucks cafes have voted to unionize under Starbucks Workers United, according to data from the National Labor Relations Board.

☆ IHOP overhauls its menu: Cinn-A-Stack pancakes are back, savory crepes are in
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

IHOP on Wednesday unveiled a revamped menu that includes more than a dozen new items and the return of its popular Cinn-A-Stack pancakes. The new menu, which will be available nationwide on April 3, spans breakfast, lunch and dinner and revives several items that disappeared during the pandemic, like the Cinn-A-Stack pancakes and Eggs Benedict. IHOP was fielding almost a dozen requests every week from customers asking for Cinna-A-Stack pancakes back on the menu, according to Donahue. Donahue said bringing back old favorites, like the Eggs Benedict, meant reminding workers how to poach eggs, for example. IHOP rival Denny's recently revealed its own updated menu, made possible by recent kitchen renovations.

☆ Bernie Sanders set to grill ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz about alleged union busting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz sits off stage to listen to soon to be Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan at Investor Day in Seattle, Washington Tuesday September 13, 2022. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on Wednesday is likely to face tough questions from Sen. Bernie Sanders about the coffee chain's alleged union busting. Schultz stepped down from his post on March 20, handing the reins over to Laxman Narasimhan, who spent the prior six months learning about the company. After Sanders called for a vote on whether to subpoena Schultz, the former chief executive agreed to appear in front of the panel. Starbucks confirmed with the committee that Schultz, who stepped down from the top job earlier than expected, still plans to testify at the hearing, set for 10 a.m.

☆ Chipotle to pay ex-employees $240,000 after closing Maine location that tried to unionize
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to pay $240,000 to the former employees of an Augusta, Maine, location as part of a settlement for closing the restaurant when workers tried to unionize. Employees at the Chipotle restaurant filed a petition to unionize under Chipotle United in late June, becoming the chain's first outlet to do so. While Chipotle United counted the settlement announced Monday as a win, it fell short of reopening the closed location. Chipotle will also offer to put all of those workers on a preferential hiring list for other Maine locations for one year. To date, just one Chipotle location has successfully unionized.

☆ Starbucks CEO says he'll work a shift at the company's cafes once a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan told employees Thursday that he'll work a half day every month at one of the coffee giant's locations. Narasimhan took the helm on Monday and will lead the company's shareholder meeting Thursday. His pledge comes at a rocky time for the company's relationship with its baristas. As of Friday, more than 190 company-owned Starbucks locations have voted to unionize, according to National Labor Relations Board data. Before joining Starbucks, Narasimhan was chief executive of Reckitt, which owns brands like Lysol and Durex.

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