Dunkin' Brands, the parent company of Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins, exceeded expectations in its most recent earnings report with delivery sales doubling.
Dave Hoffmann, Dunkin' Brands CEO, told Cheddar on Friday, that before the coronavirus outbreak, the company was heading towards its best quarter since 2013 already, but once the pandemic began it focused on adapting.
"We really worked on streamlining the operations for our franchisees to make the restaurants as flexible as possible with limited hours, limited menu. We called our limited menu Essentials," Hoffman said.
Luckily, 90 percent of the chain's transactions were some form of takeout prior to the crisis, according to the CEO, so it wasn't hard for them to pivot entirely in that direction.
"Our fleet of restaurants, 70 percent are drive-thrus, we've added 1,000 curbside locations to those non-drive thru sites as well. Our delivery footprint has nearly doubled during this, from 2,000 stores to 4,000," he said. "Our loyalty program has continued to increase. About one out of every five transactions is from a loyalty member."
Dunkin' Brands is 100 percent operated by franchisees and has almost 90 percent of its business open amid the pandemic. Hoffman said the company supported franchisees early on by making sure their liquidity was protected and took safety precautions at all locations so that workers feel protected.
"We got into this very early. We put our reputation aside and we talked about, you know nobody is going to remember an overreaction, but people will definitely remember an underreaction," he said.
Life after the pandemic is still unpredictable for most people, including business owners. The CEO said Dunkin' is taking it one day at a time and will continue to follow the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
