CALABASAS HILLS CALIF. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
That news comes as no surprise to industry veterans who have studied the bellwether Calabasas Hills-based company, which debuted Grand Lux Cafe in 1999, now operates nine of the highly decorous restaurants and has four in development for openings by year-end. Grand Lux Cafe, largely a Cheesecake Factory-style concept which was devised to exploit prime-site opportunities that were too near existing branches of the flagship chain to allow another outlet of that brand, has proved its long-term financial viability after eight years of the company’s fine-tuning, analysts say. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Including the original, 24-hour Grand Lux Cafe in Las Vegas, which holds the company’s sales record of more than $26 million in annual volume, the offshoot chain’s units average $12.6 million in yearly sales. That compares with the 126-unit Cheesecake Factory brand’s average of $10.6 million. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Yet, until recently, the company considered the Grand Lux concept “in test,” said David Overton, Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s chief executive and founder. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Now, Overton said, the company is ready to “flip the switch,” positioning the secondary brand as a slightly more upscale alternative to Cheesecake Factory. The company intends to add five to seven of the variant units next year in markets where successful Cheesecake Factory restaurants already exist and increase that number annually, with the goal of reaching 150 Grand Lux Cafes. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Unchanged, however, are plans to grow the flagship Cheesecake Factory brand, which debuted in 1978 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Sixteen units are scheduled to open this year, and Overton, who envisions 200 Cheesecake Factory restaurants nationwide, said that next year’s new openings would be in the “high teens.” —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
The company’s financial wherewithal to pursue such ambitions is reflected in part by its nearly 11.3-percent jump in annual revenues last year to more than $1.3 billion, though its 2006 net profit fell almost 7.6 percent from prior-year levels to $81.3 million. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Earlier this month, company officials announced the appointment of Bendel, former president and chief executive of the Tustin, Calif.-based Mimi’s Cafe division of Bob Evans Farms Inc., as divisional president and chief operating officer of The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants Inc. Bendel starts Sept. 3 and will have primary responsibility for the namesake brand. He replaces Peter D’Amelio, who resigned in February for personal reasons. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Before Bendel’s six-year stint with Mimi’s Cafe, he was head of operations for OSI Restaurant Partners Inc. and a joint-venture partner in a California franchise group of its Outback Steakhouse chain. He also served as president of OSI’s fine-dining restaurant chain, Roy’s. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Bendel said there were few positions for which he would have considered leaving Mimi’s Cafe, but “Cheesecake Factory is special.” He declined, however, to discuss the brand’s future until he begins his new position. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Max Byfuglin remains president of The Cheesecake Factory’s bakery division, whose two large production facilities are major suppliers of premium cheesecakes and other pastries to the company’s brands, other operators and supermarket chains. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Overton said the company now is looking for someone to head the Grand Lux brand. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
A possible third concept, called Rock Sugar Pan-Asian Kitchen, also is being developed. Initially scheduled to debut this summer in Los Angeles, the opening has been pushed back to early 2008 because of landlord issues, Overton said. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
The Cheesecake Factory Inc. also operates one self-service Cheesecake Factory Express unit. Two licensed outlets operate under The Cheesecake Factory Bakery Cafe name. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Grand Lux Cafe is unique in that it was designed to go into the same markets as The Cheesecake Factory restaurants without cannibalizing their sales and to avoid brand-encroachment guarantees made to landlords. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Like The Cheesecake Factory, Grand Lux’s menu is massive, though about 25 percent smaller, with about 150 items compared with Cheesecake’s 200. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
The Grand Lux average per-person check is $18.90, roughly $1.50 more than that of its big-sister brand, though Overton says one goal will be to increase Grand Lux’s average tab to $2 to $3 above that of Cheesecake Factory through continued menu upgrades. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
The decor at Grand Lux Cafe is considered more opulent than that of The Cheesecake Factory, and Grand Lux’s menu offers more high-end steak and seafood offerings. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
“Grand Lux is a notch up,” Overton said. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Still, analysts say there is no meaningful difference between the two brands. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
“No one else could copy The Cheesecake Factory, so they essentially did it themselves,” said Sharon Zackfia, an analyst with William Blair & Co. in Chicago. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Like many casual-dining operators, the Cheesecake Factory brand has been battered somewhat in recent years by macroeconomic forces, but Zackfia said she is encouraged by a return in the second quarter to flat—as opposed to recently negative—traffic levels. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
“Cheesecake Factory is holding up about as well as I’d expect them to hold up in this environment,” Zackfia said. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
The company has plenty of room for growth, she noted, considering that the namesake brand is only in about half of the nation’s top 100 markets. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
Same-store sales for fiscal 2006 rose 1.1 percent for The Cheesecake Factory, compared with a 6.1-percent rise for Grand Lux. But the comparative difference can be explained in part on Cheesecake Factory restaurants’ history of strong opening volumes, whereas Grand Lux is an emerging brand whose sales grow via word of mouth. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
In its second quarter, ended July 3, The Cheesecake Factory’s same-store sales were up 0.8 percent, versus a decline of 1.2 percent in the same quarter last year. Grand Lux, however, saw a same-store increase of 5.7 percent for the second quarter, on top of a 5.5-percent rise in the year-earlier period. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
On a per-square-foot basis, however, Grand Lux’s average sales fall slightly behind The Cheesecake Factory, said Jill Peters, the company’s vice president of investor relations. —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.
“The nine stores open have been received very well,” Overton said. “Grand Lux is growing the way Cheesecake Factory used to, with basically no advertising.” —With former Mimi’s Cafe chain boss Russell W. “Russ” Bendel now on deck to lead The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s restaurant division as president and chief operating officer, the industry’s sales-per-unit leader is pulling the trigger to grow its secondary Grand Lux Cafe concept.