Buffalo Wild Wings Has an Explosive Year on Tap Despite Earnings Miss
Hearty sandwiches paired with booze inspired by March Madness regions, the rollout of new concepts, and higher prices on the menu were the main ingredients that caused investors to overlook a rare earnings miss from wing destination Buffalo Wild Wings for the fourth-quarter. Well, that and the fact sales have spiked almost 12% five weeks into the start of the new year, helped by strong interest in the Superbowl and college bowl games. Here is what’s on tap at the popular sports bar. Buffalo Wild Wings will launch sandwiches and alcoholic drinks inspired from the four regions that make up the NCAA 'March Madness' college basketball tournament. For example, on the menu will be a sandwich called the New Yorker, which features pastrami on a pretzel roll and paired with a Sam Adams Boston Lager. The company is also considering another modest menu price increase for the fourth quarter, but not before, following a 3% increase taken in November of last year to offset wing price inflation. And finally, the company is well underway in opening more of its emerging fast-casual restaurant brands: pcreate your own pizza place PizzaRev and Mexican street food inspired Rusty Taco. Brian Sozzi shares his takeaways from a chat with Buffalo Wild Wings President and CEO Sally Smith.
