Burger King plans to speculate $400 million in its U.S. eating places over the subsequent two years to replace its shops and enhance flagging gross sales.
The burger chain mentioned Friday the funding consists of $250 million to revamp shops and replace know-how and kitchen tools and $120 million for heavier promoting. Burger King additionally plans to spend $30 million upgrading its app to supply smoother ordering and personalised offers.
The strikes come after a number of years of disappointing gross sales at Burger King’s 7,058 U.S. shops. In 2019, Burger King’s same-store gross sales — or gross sales at shops open at the least a yr — rose lower than 2%. By comparability, market chief McDonald’s U.S. same-store gross sales had been up 5%.
Burger King’s U.S. gross sales plunged in the course of the pandemic, then recovered in 2021, rising 5%. But that was nonetheless slower progress than McDonald’s, which noticed U.S. same-store gross sales bounce 14% in 2021.
Wendy’s overtook Burger King because the No. 2 U.S. quick meals chain by gross sales in 2020 and retained that spot in 2021, in keeping with Technomic, a consulting firm.
Restaurant Brands International, the Toronto-based firm that owns Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes, tapped Tom Curtis to guide the turnaround effort final summer time.
Curtis, a longtime franchisee and operations government at Domino’s, joined Restaurant Brands in 2021 and now serves as Burger King’s North America president. Curtis mentioned he spent the final yr visiting most of the chain’s 400 franchisees within the U.S. and Canada and asking them what they wished the revamp to seem like.
Curtis mentioned updates will rely on every retailer’s wants, from upgraded digital ordering or menu boards to raised kitchen tools. Around 800 shops will see extra vital remodels; some may be moved to accommodate two lanes of drive-thru, for instance, whereas others may want refreshed interiors.
“Every restaurant is a snowflake,” Curtis mentioned. “We will look at which projects will generate the best return and prioritize them first.”
Widespread restaurant closures aren’t deliberate as a part of the revamp.
Burger King may also renew concentrate on its Whopper burger, with new flavors constructing off that platform. Curtis mentioned the corporate may also proceed so as to add to its rooster menu and is engaged on creating extra breakfast and plant-based objects.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”