Restaurant job growth slowed this month following a particularly strong September. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the restaurant industry added under 4,000 jobs in October, compared with a rate around 10 times higher last month, when restaurants hired more than 39,000 people.
Starbucks will bring back more rigorous testing of new products. CEO Brian Niccol on the company’s earnings call acknowledged that he was “happy to discover” that Starbucks had a stage-gate process for creating new menu items. But that process hadn’t been followed recently.
BJ’s Restaurants saw its Pizookie Pass promotion driving traffic in the third quarter, but it also pressured profits. The company, which released earnings for the third quarter, is looking to modify the promotion.
The Los Angeles-based Tender Greens and Tocaya fast-casual chains emerged from bankruptcy last week with a new owner. Lender Breakwater Management acquired both brands in a credit bid after a bankruptcy auction, though details of the transaction were not clear in court documents.
Get all the headlines in today’s Restaurant Daily podcast.
