Chain Store News 4-6-11

Erik Sine · April 6, 2011

OSI Restaurant Partners to remodel up to 150 Outback Steakhouse locations

New York City -- OSI Restaurant Partners LLC, operators of Bonefish Grill and Outback Steakhouse as well as several other restaurant chains, told securities analysts that it planned to remodel as many as 150 Outback Steakhouse units and focus of expanding its Bonefish Grill brand this year.

OSI operates or franchises 968 Outback Steakhouses, 152 Bonefish Grills, 233 Carrabba’s Italian Grills, 64 Fleming’s units and 22 Roy’s locations.

The company it would increase investments this year to between $125 million and $150 million to include restaurant development and improvements in corporate infrastructure and efficiency upgrades.

Buffalo Exchange to open in North Carolina

Charlotte, N.C. - Resale clothing retailer Buffalo Exchange brings the concept of buy-sell-trade clothing to Charlotte with the opening of its first North Carolina store, located in the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood at 1521 Central Avenue, in mid-April.

The Charlotte Buffalo Exchange sales floor is 2,650 sq. ft., in an old brick building. There are roomy, well-lit dressing rooms -- plus two buy counters, where customers can sell their clothes for cash or trade. The store will open with an eclectic inventory from Buffalo Exchange stores from New York to California.

The Charlotte shop is Buffalo Exchange's sixth location in the South. Buffalo Exchange is located in New Orleans at 3312 Magazine Street and has five stores in Texas, including two in Houston: 1618 Westheimer, and 249 W. 19th Street.

Including the new Charlotte location, Buffalo Exchange now has 41 stores and two franchises in 15 states, with $64.4 million a year in revenue.

Olive Garden to remodel more than half its locations

Orlando, Fla. -- Olive Garden plans to remodel or refresh more than half of its 700 plus restaurants across the United States to its new Tuscan farmhouse-inspired design.

Called “Via Tuscany,” the updated décor includes new tables, chairs and booths, a palette of warm, rustic tones and design elements of a farmhouse in Tuscany. Other updates include new window treatments.

Outside updates include new front doors surrounded by Tuscan stones and a brick arch, freshly painted exterior walls and newly planted Cypress trees to refresh the landscaping.

The Tuscan-inspired design will be the template for all new Olive Garden units.

“We believe the Farmhouse design reinforces our vision by creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere that enhances the genuine Italian experience at Olive Garden,” said Dan Kiernan, executive VP operations for Olive Garden. “Within the next few years guests will enjoy the same Tuscan-inspired look and feel inside every one of our family of local restaurants across North America.”

Olive Garden is part of Darden Restaurants, the world’s largest company-owned and operated full-service restaurant company.

Report: Blockbuster to close another 186 stores

Dallas -- A Wall Street Journal report on Monday said that, according to court filings, Blockbuster will start closing 186 more stores by the end of the month, bringing the number of its U.S. locations closed or slated for closure to 1,145, or more than a third of its total, since the video-rental chain filed for bankruptcy protection in September.

In filings Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Blockbuster said it will reject the leases on 186 of its stores by March 31.

Among the markets that will be most affected are California and Texas, which each face double-digit store closings.

In February, the bankruptcy court approved procedures for the auction of Blockbuster, with an initial $290 million stalking-horse offer from a group of senior bondholders led by New York-based hedge fund Monarch Alternative Capital. The ruling staved off the threat of immediate liquidation of Blockbuster's assets.

Blockbuster will use proceeds from the sale, whether it is to the Monarch group or a higher bidder, to pay its debt to movie studios. The studios have agreed to continue shipping DVDs to Blockbuster stores.

shooter · April 7, 2011

OSI Restaurant Partners to remodel up to 150 Outback Steakhouse locations

New York City -- OSI Restaurant Partners LLC, operators of Bonefish Grill and Outback Steakhouse as well as several other restaurant chains, told securities analysts that it planned to remodel as many as 150 Outback Steakhouse units and focus of expanding its Bonefish Grill brand this year.

OSI operates or franchises 968 Outback Steakhouses, 152 Bonefish Grills, 233 Carrabba's Italian Grills, 64 Fleming's units and 22 Roy's locations.

The company it would increase investments this year to between $125 million and $150 million to include restaurant development and improvements in corporate infrastructure and efficiency upgrades.

not to jack your thread but I have a useless piece of information regarding the bonefish grill :scratchhead:

If You've Been to the Bonefish Grill you may have noticed their fish rubbings. It is a very cool process using rice paper and the actual fish prior to being fileted. I happen to know the artist from my Florida fishing connections. He put in a request for a walleye. I furnished him with a nice one that yours truly caught on a Canadian fishing trip! We don't have many of them around here so if anybody sees one take a picture of it for me.

"Reviewed By Dr. Joseph S. Maresca

Go to the Bonefish Grill for a wide selection of food including grilled fish, sirloin steak, filet mignon, Lile's chicken and filet and crab. The menu provides gluten-free choices for people having food sensitivities . The grilled fish is offered sauteed and baked with a variety of soups and greens.

Patrons have a selection of wine and Martinis. There is a very helpful website locator so that first time visitors are able to locate the nearest Bonefish Grill. The site displays the Gyotaku art of making fish prints on rice paper for interested artisans. "