Applebee’s taps celeb chef for new menu items
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Applebee’s International Inc. on Friday said it hired Tyler Florence, a chef from cable television’s Food Network, to develop four exclusive menu items for its casual dining restaurants.
Applebee’s and other sit-down restaurant chains have been struggling over the last year, as higher gas prices and interest rates conspire with a housing slowdown to tighten consumers’ dining-out budgets.
Earlier this week the company, which has nearly 1,900 restaurants across the U.S. and abroad, said sales at its restaurants open at least 18 months fell 2.7 percent in August as customer traffic declined. That marked the fifth straight month of declines.
“I don’t think the alliance with a celebrity chef is a result of difficult operating trends, it’s more reflective of their desire to continuously evolve their menu,” said Johnson Rice & Co. analyst Mark Sheridan. He bet the company would have taken the same route even in good times.
“But maybe in this kind of environment this means they’ll be less negative than they would be otherwise,” Sheridan said. “They are clearly fighting a pretty strong headwind, so this might make the results not as visible in the short term.”
Applebee’s said the new items — a pasta dish, a hamburger, and two chicken dishes — would be available September 18. more…
