Olive Garden projected to end Applebee’s 20-year reign as segment leader
The two top players in Casual Dining saw a major shakeup in rankings in this year’s Top 200 census, with Olive Garden pushing two-decade sales leader Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill out of the No. 1 spot, a position it had held for 20 years.
For the first time since 1999, Olive Garden, the Italian division of Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants Inc., posted $4.27 billion in U.S. systemwide sales in the Latest Year, eclipsing Applebee’s, the casual-dining brand of Glendale, Calif.-based Dine Brands Inc., with $4.21 billion in U.S. systemwide sales.
Applebee’s had been in the top perch since first taking the Casual-Dining sales lead with fiscal 1998 U.S. system sales of $2 billion, which at the time surpassed longtime No....
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