Sysco (NYSE: SYY) is practically the epitome of boring. The company distributes foodstuffs to hundreds of thousands of customers around the country so that those customers can chop, fry, cook, and put delicious meals in front of us when we go out to eat.
The company is a big dog in an even bigger industry, but it's neither a sexy industry nor one that promises scorching growth. On the flip side, though, Sysco's competitive position, scale, and industry make it a particularly safe and stable pick in a world where security seems to be AWOL. At the same time, Sysco's stock pays a none-too-shabby 3.6% dividend and has an enviable record of growing its payout.
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tulsa Crown Plaza becomes a Hyatt
The Crowne Plaza Hotel, once mired in bankruptcy and foreclosure, will soon have new life as a Hyatt Regency.
Jeff Keeley, general manager of the downtown hotel, announced the brand change Monday morning during an interview on local radio station KMYZ.
He said on the air that the changeover, effective Jan. 1, apparently means that the 462-room hotel's new owner, Sorin Real Estate, intends to invest in the property for the long term.
Keeley declined to comment further after the radio show.
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Jeff Keeley, general manager of the downtown hotel, announced the brand change Monday morning during an interview on local radio station KMYZ.
He said on the air that the changeover, effective Jan. 1, apparently means that the 462-room hotel's new owner, Sorin Real Estate, intends to invest in the property for the long term.
Keeley declined to comment further after the radio show.
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Google Hotpot challenges Yelp's restaurant rater
Google is getting into the restaurant rating biz, with its new launch of Hotpot, a sort of Yelp/Foursquare/Facebook mash-up linked to Google Places.
Google maps already aggregate ratings from other rating websites like Citysearch and OpenTable, but Hotpot is more personalized. It tailors its recommendations based on places that you, and others in your social network, have rated highly. (It's similar to Facebook Places, but instead of just "like"ing a place, the user can give a rating somewhere between Love and Hate.) After Yelp rejected Google's purchase offer last year, might this competing product be considered an act of revenge?
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Google maps already aggregate ratings from other rating websites like Citysearch and OpenTable, but Hotpot is more personalized. It tailors its recommendations based on places that you, and others in your social network, have rated highly. (It's similar to Facebook Places, but instead of just "like"ing a place, the user can give a rating somewhere between Love and Hate.) After Yelp rejected Google's purchase offer last year, might this competing product be considered an act of revenge?
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Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Inc. Reports Financial Results for the Third Quarter 2010
-- Revenues increased 8.9% to $83.7 million from $76.8 million
-- Total comparable restaurant sales increased 1.1%
-- Restaurant-level operating profit increased 3.1% to $14.4 million from
$14.0 million. Excluding a non-recurring gain of $1.2 million recorded
in the third quarter of 2009 related to the sale of a restaurant,
restaurant-level operating profit increased 12.7%.
-- GAAP net loss available to common shareholders of ($0.3) million, or
($0.04) per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income available to
common shareholders of $0.5 million, or $0.07 per diluted share for the
year-ago period.
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-- Total comparable restaurant sales increased 1.1%
-- Restaurant-level operating profit increased 3.1% to $14.4 million from
$14.0 million. Excluding a non-recurring gain of $1.2 million recorded
in the third quarter of 2009 related to the sale of a restaurant,
restaurant-level operating profit increased 12.7%.
-- GAAP net loss available to common shareholders of ($0.3) million, or
($0.04) per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income available to
common shareholders of $0.5 million, or $0.07 per diluted share for the
year-ago period.
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Arturo Carvajal, Miami Doctor, Sues Houston's Restaurant For Not Teaching Him How To Properly Eat Artichoke
Your average person knows how to eat an artichoke: Using your teeth, you scrape the meat from the bottom of each leaf.
But Miamian Arturo Carvajal, a doctor with a family practice in Hollywood and litigant in one of the stranger lawsuits we've ever seen, was mystified by the vegetable.
"It takes a sophisticated diner to be familiar with the artichoke," says Carvajal's lawyer, Marc R. Ginsberg. "People might think that as a doctor, he'd know how to eat one. But he was thinking it was like a food he might have eaten in his native Cuba, where you eat everything on the plate."
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But Miamian Arturo Carvajal, a doctor with a family practice in Hollywood and litigant in one of the stranger lawsuits we've ever seen, was mystified by the vegetable.
"It takes a sophisticated diner to be familiar with the artichoke," says Carvajal's lawyer, Marc R. Ginsberg. "People might think that as a doctor, he'd know how to eat one. But he was thinking it was like a food he might have eaten in his native Cuba, where you eat everything on the plate."
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BankServ and BirchStreet Systems Partner to Speed and Simplify Procurement Payments for the Hospitality Industry
SAN FRANCISCO, CA and NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwire - November 17, 2010) - BankServ and BirchStreet Systems, Inc. today announced they have entered into a strategic partnership to package remote check capture capability with BirchStreet's award-winning procure-to-pay platform. Under the terms of the deal, BirchStreet clients will gain the option to use BankServ's DepositNow online check deposit and receivables management system to speed and simplify payments related to the global procurement-to-pay process.
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Auction of 1-800-Hotels set to pay creditors
A Tampa Internet hotel booking company whose fight with suppliers left thousands of customers stranded without rooms this summer will be sold to pay creditors.
Bankruptcy Judge Caryl Delano has approved a Nov. 29 auction of 1800Hotels. The company filed for bankruptcy reorganization in July but last month asked the court to liquidate its assets.
Dubliner Graham Peakin founded 1800Hotels to sell discount hotel rooms first by phone, then online to Irish travelers. The company expanded to Tampa in 2008 to tap the U.S. market with the website 1800Hotels.com .
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Bankruptcy Judge Caryl Delano has approved a Nov. 29 auction of 1800Hotels. The company filed for bankruptcy reorganization in July but last month asked the court to liquidate its assets.
Dubliner Graham Peakin founded 1800Hotels to sell discount hotel rooms first by phone, then online to Irish travelers. The company expanded to Tampa in 2008 to tap the U.S. market with the website 1800Hotels.com .
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Bob Evans misses analysts fiscal Q2 expectations
Bob Evans Farms Inc., owner of an eponymous restaurant chain as well as Mimi's Cafe, reported Tuesday that its second-quarter revenue and net income fell. The company beat its own guidance, however, and raised its forecast for the fiscal year.
In the quarter that ended Oct. 29, 2010, the company's earnings fell to $7.8 million, or 26 cents per share, from $15.5 million, or 50 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 40 cents per share, excluding one-time items, according to Thomson Reuters.
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In the quarter that ended Oct. 29, 2010, the company's earnings fell to $7.8 million, or 26 cents per share, from $15.5 million, or 50 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 40 cents per share, excluding one-time items, according to Thomson Reuters.
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Steakhouse bigwig Glazier Group files for bankruptcy
The Glazier Group, which owns Michael Jordan's The Steakhouse NYC in Grand Central Terminal and six Strip House restaurants, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday.
Co-owners Peter and Penny Glazier said the filing in U.S. Southern District Court does not affect the company's restaurants or catering venues, including Bridgewaters and Twenty Four Fifth in Manhattan
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Co-owners Peter and Penny Glazier said the filing in U.S. Southern District Court does not affect the company's restaurants or catering venues, including Bridgewaters and Twenty Four Fifth in Manhattan
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McDonald’s raising prices in China
McDonald’s Corp, the world’s largest restaurant chain, increased prices for its burgers, drinks and snacks in China yesterday to offset costs after the country’s inflation surged to a two-year high.
Product prices were raised between 0.5 yuan and 1 yuan (US$0.08 and US$0.15) because of higher raw material costs, Sophia Luan (欒江紅), China spokeswoman for the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company, said in a telephone interview. She declined to provide an average percentage increase.
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Product prices were raised between 0.5 yuan and 1 yuan (US$0.08 and US$0.15) because of higher raw material costs, Sophia Luan (欒江紅), China spokeswoman for the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company, said in a telephone interview. She declined to provide an average percentage increase.
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Charlie Brown Steakhouses the latest to feel the recession squeeze
Charlie Brown's Steakhouse restaurant chain appears to be the latest victim in the steakhouse category since the nation began to feel the recession's squeeze as early as 2006.
Chain owners CB Holding Corp. in Mountainside said Monday that 13 restaurants were closing in New Jersey, including eateries in Tenafly, Clifton and Montclair. According to Charlie Brown's website, 22 remain open, five of them in Bergen and Passaic counties.
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Chain owners CB Holding Corp. in Mountainside said Monday that 13 restaurants were closing in New Jersey, including eateries in Tenafly, Clifton and Montclair. According to Charlie Brown's website, 22 remain open, five of them in Bergen and Passaic counties.
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Man charged over unpaid restaurant bills
An unemployed man arrested at a top London restaurant will appear in court today accused of eating a meal costing a thousand pounds and walking out when it came to paying.
Janis Nords, aged 27, was arrested last night at L'Oranger in central London, which is owned by the Michelin three-star chef Laurent Michel, after being detained by staff.
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Janis Nords, aged 27, was arrested last night at L'Oranger in central London, which is owned by the Michelin three-star chef Laurent Michel, after being detained by staff.
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Marriott Plans to Boost Hotel Count in Brazil to 54 From Four
The company will develop 50 Fairfield by Marriott hotels throughout Brazil in a partnership with Rio de Janeiro-based real estate developer PDG Realty SA Empreendimentos & Participacoes, the Bethesda, Maryland-based hotelier said in a statement today.
Marriott, the largest U.S. hotel chain, said earlier this month that it’s planning to add 30,000 rooms annually for the next three years. Brazil’s economy will expand 7.6 percent this year, its fastest pace in more than two decades, according to the median forecast in a Nov. 5 central bank survey of economists. Read More:
