Article Excerpt:
TWST: Would you begin with an overview of Meritage?Mr. Schermer First, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak with you today about our company. I would like to preface our interview subject to our forward-looking statement disclosures which can be found in our SEC Form 10-K. Meritage Hospitality Group in the nation's premier publicly traded franchise operator engaged in the development and operations of franchised restaurants. All of our restaurants are operated pursuant to franchise agreements, in proven concepts with broad customer appeal. Meritage is the nation's only publicly traded Wendy's restaurant franchisee and the nation's only publicly traded O'Charley's franchisee. We currently employ approximately 1,800 people and expect to add 300 new positions this year.
TWST: Could you give us an overview of the strategy that you will follow
over the next several years
Mr. Schermer Over the next five years, we are focused on a multi-segment
'best of class' restaurant brands growth strategy aimed at internal unit
growth, which will expand sales from $53 million to $130 million. The
goal is profitable growth and outperforming the industry in operating
metrics while achieving segment diversification. We have made a
significant investment in training and infrastructure over the past 18
months preparing for our O'Charley's restaurant growth initiative.
Casual dining segment diversification helps guard against concentrated
commodity exposure such as the QSR segment is experiencing with beef
costs. Our strategy is to grow the business to $130 million over the
next 60 months, using a multi-brand, multi-segment strategy. In our next
12 ' 24 months, we forecast that the company will be approaching the $90
million sales benchmark. The real goal is growing profitability,
outperforming the industry in operating metrics and achieving segment
diversification.
Tickers included in this excerpt: MHG
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