BJ’s reins in growth amid efforts to spur salesBJ’s reins in growth amid efforts to spur sales

With costs rising and sales uncertain, BJ’s Restaurants Inc. is putting its sales growth into a lower gear, hoping the slowdown will give it time to improve margins and operations, the company said Thursday.

Two years ago, the casual-dining chain added 17 locations; this year, the chain expects to add 10 locations, which will give it 197 in total by the end of the year.

Next year, CEO Greg Trojan said, BJ’s plans to add six more locations.

“The slower pace of expansion has allowed us to focus operationally on many new initiatives,” Trojan said. “It’s helped drive more management tenure, adding more local knowledge and team familiarity to our sales-building efforts.” 

This would be a “prudent” time to reduce it even further, he added.

Trojan ...