Dine Brands\u00a0hopes to boost sales this year with a wider swath of value meals and buzzier advertising after a rough 2024 for Applebee\u2019s and IHOP.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a soft year in 2024, which disappoints us, but we\u2019re focused on improving that in 2025,\u201d Dine Brands CEO John Peyton told CNBC. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to have compelling messages and compelling promotions and compelling reasons to drive traffic into the restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dine on Wednesday\u00a0reported\u00a0fourth-quarter U.S. same-store sales dropped 4.7% at Applebee\u2019s and 2.8% at IHOP, ending the year with four straight quarters of domestic same-store sales declines for its two flagship brands. Shares of Dine have fallen 50% over the last 12 months, dragging its market cap down to $386 million.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s down year followed three years of strong growth for the company, driven by pent-up demand as diners returned to IHOP and Applebee\u2019s after the pandemic. But like many restaurant companies, Dine saw a pullback last year from customers who make less than $75,000. After several years paying higher prices for groceries, rent, gas and other necessities, consumers opted to stay home to cook their meals or visit other chains that offered better deals or flashy promotions.<\/p>\n
The slowdown in restaurant spending led a slew of casual-dining restaurant chains to\u00a0file for bankruptcy\u00a0over the last 12 months. Familiar names like Red Lobster and TGI Friday\u2019s sought bankruptcy protection to reorganize their struggling businesses and offload their worst-performing restaurants. Most recently, On the Border filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Applebee\u2019s promotions\u00a0have failed to cut through much of the noise from\u00a0the so-called value wars\u00a0that have ignited across the restaurant industry, at chains from\u00a0McDonald\u2019s\u00a0to\u00a0Bloomin\u2019 Brands\u2019\u00a0Outback Steakhouse. Even a triad of recent pop-culture moments last year couldn\u2019t boost its profile: a pivotal cameo in the tennis drama film \u201cChallengers,\u201d an Applebee\u2019s-motivated meltdown on \u201cSurvivor\u201d and a shoutout from football legend Peyton Manning during Netflix\u2019s roast of his former rival Tom Brady.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got most of the restaurant companies are advertising value, and they\u2019re advertising full meal deals, and so it\u2019s harder to break through with a message when there are so many similar messages out there,\u201d Dine\u2019s Peyton said.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not impossible to break out from the pack.\u00a0Chili\u2019s, which is owned by\u00a0Brinker International, won over diners with its viral Triple Dipper and $10.99 burger combo after spending\u00a0months turning around\u00a0its business.<\/p>\n
In its most recent quarter, Brinker reported same-store sales growth of 27.4%. Thanks to its dramatic comeback, the company has become the rare casual-dining darling of investors. Brinker\u2019s stock has soared over the last year, nearly tripling its value in the same period and raising its market cap to\u00a0<\/strong>$6.29 billion.<\/p>\n For now, the star of Applebee\u2019s value promotions, the two for $25 deal, routinely accounts for roughly a fifth of the chain\u2019s tickets, according to Peyton. But Applebee\u2019s is looking to add to its value offerings later this spring or in the early summer with options that appeal to larger groups or to customers who don\u2019t want to order with their dining partner.<\/p>\n Dine is also trying to improve its social media presence.<\/p>\n \u201cAt both IHOP and Applebee\u2019s, we know we need to do better there. We know we need to be more relevant. We know that we have to be part of the conversation and the culture,\u201d Peyton said.<\/p>\n A new president for Applebee\u2019s could help with that goal.<\/p>\n Peyton is currently pulling double duty serving as interim president for the chain after Tony Moralejo stepped down effective Tuesday. Peyton said the company is looking for a replacement \u201cwith a great marketing background\u201d who understands how to connect with younger customers, on top of being a great leader with an understanding of franchising and some restaurant experience. (Yum Brands\u2019\u00a0Lawrence Kim joined Dine as IHOP\u2019s president in early January, succeeding Jay Johns.)<\/p>\n Looking to 2025, Dine is trying to communicate better with its customers and use its menu innovation to attract younger diners, according to Peyton.<\/p>\n But Dine\u2019s confidence in its ability to attract customers seems shaky. For 2025,\u00a0<\/strong>the company is projecting Applebee\u2019s same-store sales to range between a 2% decline and a 1% increase and IHOP\u2019s same-store sales to range between a 1% decrease and a 2% gain.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Dine Brands\u00a0hopes to boost sales this year with a wider swath of value meals and buzzier advertising after a rough 2024 for Applebee\u2019s and IHOP. \u201cWe had a soft year in 2024, which disappoints us, but we\u2019re focused on improving that in 2025,\u201d Dine Brands CEO John Peyton told CNBC. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to have compelling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":15707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}