WOODLAND HILLS Calif. Just weeks after its 12 top executives agreed to 10-percent pay cuts, the operator or licensor of 30 Daily Grill and Grill on the Alley restaurants has reported an $11.1 million third quarter loss and a consolidated 8-percent decline in same-store sales, versus a 9.1-percent gain a year earlier. Grill Concepts Inc.’s quarterly loss was nearly double its $589,000 bottom-line deficit a year earlier.
However, revenues rose 14.5 percent to $24.4 million. Sales at company-owned restaurants were $16.7 million, up 4.7 percent, aided by new Daily Grills in Boston and Fresno, Calif., and a new Grill on the Alley in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Management and license fees grew 29 percent to $846,000, reflecting a Daily Grill opening in Tulsa, Okla.
However, expansion has been "temporarily halted" to conserve capital, CEO Philip Gay said. "Breaking away" from some lease commitments for 2009 resulted in third-quarter costs of $1.7 million, the company added.
Grill Concepts announced late last month that its top executives would take pay cuts. The company also said then it had hired a financial adviser to explore strategic alternatives, such as sale or a merger.
Grill Concepts operates or licenses 24 Daily Grill units, six Grill on the Alley locations, and one In Short Order fast-casual restaurant.