Ahmass Fakahany, From Merrill Lynch to Restaurants

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Ahmass Fakahany, From Merrill Lynch to Restaurants

By SUSANNE CRAIG  

ONE afternoon in February, Ahmass Fakahany, a financier by training, was contemplating the economics of forks.

Baguette forks, to be precise — two silver ones on a table at Osteria Morini, a redoubt of one of New York’s pasta gods, the chef Michael White.

To the untrained eye, the forks looked identical. “The difference,” Mr. Fakahany said, reaching for one, “is this one costs $4.50 less.”

It’s not what you might expect in this refuge of Emilia-Romagna, where the talk tends more toward lumache al verde and petroniana than to the price of flatware. But then, Mr. Fakahany isn’t what you might expect here, either.  

After a lucrative — and quite controversial — career at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Fakahany, 53, is bringing a Wall Street sensibility to a business that can make investment banking seem easy by comparison: running restaurants. And, so far, he’s been very, very good at it.

In three years, he and Mr. White have a swiftly growing restaurant empire rivaling those of the celebrity chefs Mario Batali and Daniel Boulud. Mr. Fakahany and Mr. White now run acclaimed Manhattan restaurants like Marea, on Central Park South, and Ai Fiori, tucked away on the second floor of the luxurious Setai Fifth Avenue hotel. They have expanded to Hong Kong, and there is talk of Istanbul, too. This year, they hope to open at least five more restaurants, in locations as varied as the East Village of Manhattan and the Las Vegas Strip.

What is so remarkable about their success is that, in the restaurant game, failure is as common as kitchen burns. Nationwide, most new restaurants close within their first year — industry experts put the failure rate at anywhere from 60 to 80 percent.

How have these guys done it? It helps that Mr. White is widely considered to be one of New York’s hottest chefs. But it also reflects what Mr. Fakahany, the money man in this operation, is doing outside the kitchen.

American Restaurant Industry Starts to Simmer, Says GE Capital

Press release:


27 March 2012

American Restaurant Industry Starts to Simmer, Says GE Capital

Increased consumer spending and foot traffic boost expectations

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--27 March 2012-- The American restaurant industry is starting to simmer. Consumers are spending more on meals, and foot traffic at establishments is improving, albeit from a diminished base, according to the 22nd edition of the Chain Restaurant Industry Review, released at this week’s Restaurant Leadership Conference by GE Capital, Franchise Finance. As sales trends recover, operators are translating those positive feelings into a greater willingness to invest in their businesses. And with increasingly accessible credit, they’re able to commit to higher capital expenditures.

“The restaurant industry has come through the upheaval of the past several years by listening closely to the consumer and adapting to their changing tastes – and they’ve done it well,” said Agustin Carcoba, president and CEO of GE Capital, Franchise Finance. “Depending on their segment, brand and focus, operators have emphasized food quality, service quality, menu options and other factors that will lead to renewed growth this year and in the years ahead. Even better, operators did it all while managing operational costs.”

Consumers spent $406.6 billion at restaurants in 2011. For 21 consecutive months, they spent more at restaurants than grocery stores, and that trend is expected to continue. Last year, quick-service restaurants (QSR) accounted for 48.0 percent of that figure, while full-service restaurants (FSR) counted for 48.1 percent. The QSR category includes limited service, fast casual, take-out locations and snack and non-alcoholic beverage bars, while FSR includes family, casual, high-end casual and fine dining establishments.

Operators’ improved expectations can be partially attributed to positive results that were sustained throughout last year. QSR same-store sales grew 3.2% last year – ahead of the FSR rate of 2.4%. QSR benefitted from eight consecutive periods of growth due to more consistent traffic, while FSR relied more on menu price increases and higher average checks.

“Restaurateurs are no longer in survival mode; now they’re planning for the future,” said Trey Brown, commercial leader of GE Capital, Franchise Finance. “To capture that growth and maintain a competitive advantage, they’re investing in their businesses by building new stores, remodeling existing ones or investing in new equipment.”

The level of liquidity available in the restaurant space continues to improve. Merger and acquisition activity – an indicator of the popularity of the restaurant industry among investors – increased last year. Total syndicated volume in the restaurant space increased more than 26% to almost $12 billion in 2011. Strategic buyers returned, such as American Blue Ribbon Holdings LLC, Darden Restaurants and Landry’s Inc. Private equity firms were also active; for example, Golden Gate Capital acquired California Pizza Kitchen.

“We expect restaurants to continue to be appealing acquisition targets because of the ongoing increases in food dollars spent away from home, as well as the scalability of this business model,” Brown added.

About GE Capital, Franchise Finance

GE Capital, Franchise Finance is a leading lender for the franchise finance market via direct sales and portfolio acquisition. With more than 30 years of experience and $10 billion in served assets, we serve over 3,000 customers and over 18,000 property locations. We specialize in financing mid-market operators with multiple stores in the restaurant and hospitality industries. Our team of industry experts will work with you to help develop your own growth plan with access to our proprietary industry research and customized tools. More information is available atwww.gefranchisefinance.com.

GE Capital offers consumers and businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services. For more information, visitwww.gecapital.com or follow company news via Twitter (@GECapital).

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

Ruby Tuesday Implements MICROS Table Management Solution

RUBY TUESDAY IMPLEMENTS MICROS TABLE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION THROUGHOUT ENTERPRISE TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE

RUBY TUESDAY IMPLEMENTS MICROS TABLE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION THROUGHOUT ENTERPRISE TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE

Leading casual dining chain selects fully-integrated solution to improve overall customer dining experience

Columbia, MD – March 20, 2012—MICROS Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRS), a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, is pleased to announce that Ruby Tuesday, Inc. has implemented the MICROS Table Management System (TMS), across 750+ locations.  A fully-integrated component of the MICROS Restaurant Enterprise Solution (RES) point-of-sale software solution, MICROS TMS provides visibility to all aspects of the guest dining experience allowing  Ruby Tuesday complete control from the moment the first guest is greeted until the last diner is seated.

The MICROS TMS delivers a user-friendly way of managing reservations, customer preferences, seating capacity, wait list management, and special requests, all while easing tedious restaurant management tasks, thus allowing more time to focus on the guest.  As guests arrive, the host at Ruby Tuesday is able to immediately increase guest satisfaction by providing accurate and consistent wait times.  The MICROS TMS allows Ruby Tuesday to increase its control of the guest experience by automatically opening a guest check once the table is seated.  An additional feature designed to improve diner satisfaction is an alert system that notifies managers when critical service points are not met, such as a table that is not greeted or a food and beverage order that is not delivered in a timely manner.  With more efficient table utilization and dining room capacity management, Ruby Tuesday is also able to increase revenue with additional table turns. 

“Our goal is to provide the best casual dining experience possible and adding the MICROS TMS to our technology solution set has given us the necessary tools to improve our operations and customer service,” stated Nick Ibrahim, SVP and CTO, Ruby Tuesday, Inc.  “An essential component that we sought was the ability to have our team members manage the guest’s dining experience.  We are pleased to have a completely-integrated solution that allows a guest check to open automatically once a table is seated.”

“The MICROS TMS is 100 percent integrated with the MICROS POS, making it easier to use and available for rapid deployment, and provides additional tools for operators to manage and enhance the overall guest experience,” noted Jeff Pinc, Vice President of MICROS Major Accounts Restaurants.  “We are excited that Ruby Tuesday has implemented the MICROS TMS, making it the largest United States-based chain to fully utilize the solution.”

About Ruby Tuesday, Inc.
Ruby Tuesday, Inc. has Company-owned and/or franchise Ruby Tuesday brand restaurants in 45 states, the District of Columbia, 14 foreign countries, and Guam.  As of November 29, 2011, the company owned and operated 742 Ruby Tuesday restaurants, while domestic and international franchisees (including Hawaii and Guam) operated 43 and 44 Ruby Tuesday restaurants, respectively.  Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (Symbol: RT).

About MICROS Systems, Inc.
MICROS Systems, Inc. provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries worldwide. Over 330,000 MICROS systems are currently installed in table and quick service restaurants, hotels, motels, casinos, leisure and entertainment, and retail operations in more than 180 countries, and on all seven continents. In addition, MICROS provides property management systems, central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand MICROS-Fidelio for more than 26,000 hotels worldwide, as well as point-of-sale, loss prevention, and cross-channel functionality through its MICROS-Retail division for more than 100,000 retail stores worldwide. MICROS stock is traded through NASDAQ under the symbol MCRS.

For more information on MICROS and its advanced information technology solutions for the hospitality industry, please contact Louise Casamento, Vice President of Marketing at (443) 285-8144 or (866) 287-4736. You can also visit the MICROS website atwww.micros.com or send an email to info@micros.com.

###

Sales at Sit-Down Restaurants Suggest a Rising Economy

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Sales at Sit-Down Restaurants Suggest a Rising Economy

By FLOYD NORRIS

Have you been eating more at restaurants with waiters rather than fast-food joints?

If so, you are not alone, and that in fact is an indication that the American economy is improving.

Over the 12 months through January, sales at what the government calls full-service restaurants were 8.7 percent higher than in the previous 12 months. That was the fastest pace of growth since the late 1990s, when the economy was booming. Moreover, as is seen in the accompanying charts, that rate was much greater than the rate of growth in sales at limited-service restaurants.

Since those numbers became available 20 years ago, that difference has been a reliable indicator of how the economy is going. In tough times, people may still eat out, but they cut back.