Restaurant owners constantly need to evolve their concepts and update their facilities. Owners are aware of this fact and accept this as part of ongoing success. I wish the same could be said about…
Equipment leasing was one of the earliest forms of financing for restaurants, used typically to fund furniture, fixtures, equipment and, at times, leaseholds. I got involved in franchise and restaurant finance in 1980, and…
This is the last in a series of three articles examining the reasons why lenders and investors like the restaurant industry. The first article was about equity investors, drawing insight from three private equity…
Last month we discussed why sophisticated investors like to invest in restaurants. This month, with the help of my partner Randy Evans, we are asking the question, “Why are more commercial banks getting into…
I’m often asked why sophisticated investors invest in the restaurant space, so I queried three individuals who all have extensive experience in restaurant investing—Jeff Brock, a long-time veteran financier, now managing partner of Hargett…
The Monitor’s focus on real estate this month gives me the opportunity to discuss two tax items: allocation of purchase price and like-kind exchanges. These are sometimes overlooked in real estate transactions even though…
When you review the Top 200 list [Restaurant Finance Monitor‘s annual list of 200 top franchisees], you realize the big influence franchisees have on their franchise systems. Nonetheless, there’s always some tension between franchisor…
Recently I spoke at a conference to lawyers on the current status of community banking, and it got me thinking about how much things have changed on that front for the restaurant industry. The…
Much has been written about the pressure on restaurants to contain its labor costs so as to counter the potential impact of the Affordable Health Care Act and the increase in minimum wages in…
