Jenkins said the brand plans to feature food more prominently in marketing campaigns moving forward. The broader conversation, however, is a larger target. Short-term headwinds and levers will always push the balance one way or the other for Dave & Buster’s. This time around, roughly $1 amusement pricing in half of Dave & Buster’s stores sagged traffic, along with a more-muted impact from the wings initiative. This was much starker than Q4, when amusements upped 4.4 percent and F&B rose 1.1 percent, comprised of 1.3 percent growth on the food side and 0.9 percent in the bar category, respectively.ĭave & Buster’s narrowed the gap last quarter thanks to an All You Can Eat Wings promotion that drove a favorable impact. Meanwhile, food fell 2.8 percent and bar declined 0.4 percent. “Amusements and other” represented 59.2 percent of the chain’s total revenues, an increase of 130 basis points, year-over-year.īut if you break apart the comp figure, walk-in sales fell 0.6 percent. How wide is the gap exactly? This past quarter, amusements grew 11.9 percent (in overall sales) and F&B increased 6.1 percent as Dave & Buster’s continues to expand unit count. ![]() The company also added fresh juices and purées systemwide to enhance its cocktail program, and standardized core recipes and preparation techniques to improve consistency. The chain’s guest poll scores for speed of service in the dining room and bar improved over the prior-year period. While bridging that amusement and F&B divide, at least to a comp-raising level, will take time (it’s unlikely the roles of amusements and F&B will ever come close to flipping, and Dave & Buster’s doesn’t expect or court that) the chain did see some positive impact from simplification efforts, Jenkins said. Additionally, same-store sales are projected to range from negative 1.5 percent to positive 0.5 percent compared to flat to 1.5 percent growth.ĭave & Buster’s credited the volatile quarter and mixed start to Q2 to the net impact of the Easter rollover and April spring breaks. Revenue downgraded to $1.365 billion to $1.39 billion from $1.37 billion to $1.4 billion. Dave & Buster's said earnings would come in at $103 million to $113 million for the year versus prior guidance of $105 million to $117 million. You can see the period Jenkins initially referenced, when mid-single digit drops pressed Dave & Buster’s top line.Įarnings in Q1 were $1.13 per share (below analysts’ expectation of $1.15) and revenue of $363.6 million missed forecasts of $372 million. This after turning to positive territory to close out the year. Dave & Buster’s has now reported red comps six of the last seven quarters. The company’s same-store sales dropped 0.3 percent, year-over-year, stacked on the Q1 2018 result of negative 4.9 percent. Dave & Buster’s stock was moving at $41.75 as of 9:44 a.m.-its lowest intraday level in more than a year. The 128-unit brand’s shares sank 21.9 percent in trading Wednesday morning after sales missed Wall Street estimates and the company lowered fiscal-year guidance across several key metrics. “Increasing guest awareness of the changes that we have made in food and bev, really improving that attachment rate to amusement, I think it’s going to take some time,” Jenkins said during Tuesday’s first-quarter review.ĭave & Buster’s carried some momentum into the fiscal 2019 calendar, but is off to a choppy start. So driving awareness into these culinary improvement is a steep-and slow moving-challenge. And most of that frequency comes from the arcade. The chain installed forceful changes to remedy the issue, slicing its menu 35 percent, improving quality, and replacing or recrafting a whopping 75 percent of its offerings.īut here’s the current plight: Dave & Buster’s is, historically, a low-frequency brand. ![]() ![]() In the early part of last year, a significant gap flashed between the eatertainment giant’s amusement business and its food and beverage. Dave & Buster’s chief executive Brian Jenkins didn’t mince words.
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