| To: Jon Koplik who wrote (987) | 10/27/2006 12:46:16 AM | | From: gladman | | | | | the experience at cold stone was incredibly annoying... 8 people in front of me in line and each took about 4-5 minutes to complete the order with all the stirring and adding cake and bananas and all the other bullshit. i don't know how they stay in business. |
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| To: gladman who wrote (988) | 1/31/2007 1:36:11 PM | | From: Jon Koplik | | | | WSJ -- Krispy Kreme Continues Its Turnaround Efforts .............................
January 31, 2007
Krispy Kreme Continues Its Turnaround Efforts
Plans to Eliminate Trans Fats, Introduce Lower-Calorie Doughnuts
By RICK BROOKS
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. still is in a "turnaround" but "making some progress" toward finding new sources of growth and resolving a string of accounting and managerial woes that have battered the doughnut maker, said Daryl G. Brewster, Krispy Kreme president and chief executive.
Speaking at the company's first annual meeting of shareholders since May 2004, Mr. Brewster spent more than 45 minutes outlining a series of moves underway are that aimed at eventually restoring Krispy Kreme to its past glory. "We are making the move from survival mode to stability," he said at the M.C. Benton Jr. Convention and Civic Center, located just a few miles from the company founder's first shop.
For example, Krispy Kreme plans to introduce within the next two months a whole-wheat version of its signature glazed doughnut, which will have 180 calories, or 20 fewer calories than the traditional version. Shareholders munched on samples of the whole-wheat doughnuts before today's meeting, and some packed leftovers into cardboard boxes to take home. The new doughnuts have a slight maple flavor but seem just as sweet as the fried sugar bombs that made Krispy Kreme famous and propelled it to years of rapid growth.
Krispy Kreme also is working to eliminate trans fats from its doughnuts, though no timeline has been set for doing so, Mr. Brewster said. Meanwhile, the company is increasingly experimenting with variations in store format and size in order to align sales more closely with operating costs.
Krispy Kreme is battling to reverse a downturn in sales that began in 2004 and has continued over the past several months as the company aggressively thins its ranks of underperforming stores under Mr. Brewster, who was hired last March. Krispy Kreme now has roughly 300 so-called factory stores, which function as retail shops and wholesalers to other locations, down from 396 in early 2005.
In the nine months ended Oct. 29, revenue at Krispy Kreme fell 17% to $349 million from $421.1 million a year earlier, reflecting the store closings. But average weekly sales per store have begun rising, making Krispy Kreme executives optimistic that a long list of remedies ranging from heavy promotion of seasonal doughnuts to trying to patch up relations with franchisees is starting to gain traction.
For the same period, Krispy Kreme posted a net loss of $17.8 million, or 29 cents a share, sharply narrower than a year-earlier loss was swelled by lease terminations and other costs related to the company's problems.
Krispy Kreme shareholders rejected a proposal by Courage Capital Management LLC, a Nashville, Tenn., asset-management firm holding a 6.9% stake in Krispy Kreme as of Dec. 8, that would've required directors to face election yearly. Krispy Kreme currently uses three-year staggered terms.
Courage contended that putting directors up for a vote at every annual meeting would likely make them more engaged and responsive, but Krispy Kreme said directors elected under the current system are just as accountable to shareholders.
The proposal was supported by about 32% of outstanding Krispy Kreme shares, far short of the two-thirds needed for it to pass.
Krispy Kreme still faces ongoing probes by the Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, plus Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of its income-tax returns for certain years. Mr. Brewster said the company is cooperating fully.
After catching up on its last overdue securities filing earlier this week, Krispy Kreme plans to hold its next shareholder meeting June 4.
Write to Rick Brooks at rick.brooks@wsj.com
Copyright © 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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| To: Jon Koplik who wrote (987) | 5/19/2008 11:28:08 PM | | From: Jon Koplik | | | | NYT -- parent of Marble Slab Creamery & MaggieMoo’s (ice cream) near bankruptcy .................................
May 20, 2008
Owner of Bill Blass Faces Cash Shortage After Acquisition
By MICHAEL BARBARO
The fast-growing buyout firm that owns the fashion house Bill Blass, the retailer Athlete’s Foot and the ice cream chain MaggieMoo’s appears to be on the verge of collapse.
NexCen Brands, a little known firm that owns many high-profile brands, said on Monday that it faced a severe cash squeeze and warned that there is “substantial doubt” that it will remain in business.
The company, which dismissed its chief financial officer two months ago, said that its 2007 financial statements could no longer be relied upon and that it was investigating its financial reporting practices.
NexCen, which earns revenue from 1,900 franchised stores, said it might try to sell off some, if not all, of its brands. That could put eight chains — including Marble Slab Creamery, Pretzel Time, Pretzelmaker, Great American Cookies, Shoebox New York and Waverly home furnishings — up for grabs. And it could put the future of Bill Blass, an influential clothing label sold at high-end stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, in doubt.
NexCen’s stock plunged 77 percent on Monday, to 58 cents a share, after its announcement.
NexCen appears to be the latest victim of a tight credit market and a slowdown in consumer spending, which have helped push nearly a dozen big chains — like Linens ’n Things and The Sharper Image — into bankruptcy over the last year.
NexCen said it must repay about $21 million it borrowed to finance the $93.7 million acquisition of Great American Cookies by October, leaving it with little cash to operate. The company had tried to refinance the debt but, with banks reluctant to lend, it failed to find a quick solution.
But the economy is not the company’s only problem. NexCen said it had previously failed to disclose the $21 million debt — and other financial information, which it did not specify — to investors in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It dismissed its chief financial officer, David B. Meister, in mid-March. And the company said its audit committee had hired lawyers to carry out “an independent review” of its conduct.
NexCen was created in 2006 with an unusual business plan. Unlike most buyout firms, which hope to sell off acquisitions quickly for a profit, it intended to create a conglomerate whose disparate divisions in food, fashion, furniture and sports would play off one another.
The idea was for Bill Blass designers to make athletic clothing to be sold at The Athlete’s Foot, or for Athlete’s Foot store operators to branch out and open a MaggieMoo’s or a Pretzel Time.
Robert W. D’Loren, the chief executive of NexCen Brands, has called it a “think tank” approach to building brands that cuts across industries. No less a retail star than Marvin Traub, the former chief executive of Bloomingdale’s, gave his stamp of approval, joining NexCen’s board.
Mr. D’Loren has pioneered the business of buying and expanding consumer brands that did not own their manufacturing plants or stores, minimizing investors’ risk. He previously worked at or closely with companies like Iconix and UCC Capital, which are structured similarly to NexCen.
Most of NexCen’s revenue comes from royalties — from franchisees, in the case of The Athlete’s Foot, or licensees, in the case of Bill Blass. NexCen lost $4.6 million in 2007. But it had revenue of $34 million, up from nearly $2 million in 2006.
Analysts have become skeptical of the company’s strategy and leadership. “We believe management credibility has hit, incredibly, a new low,” Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray, Carret & Company, said Monday in a note to investors. “Investors should avoid the stock until there is some semblance of normalcy and credibility at the company.”
Mr. D’Loren did not return phone messages Monday. The company held a conference call on Monday, during which Mr. D’Loren read a prepared statement, but did not take questions.
The troubles at NexCen have riveted New York’s fashion community, because of the uncertainty regarding Bill Blass. NexCen had promised to revive the clothing brand, which has struggled since Mr. Blass’s death in 2002.
Ronald L. Frasch, president of Saks Fifth Avenue, said that until now, there had been no outward signs of trouble at Bill Blass or NexCen. “From our side, it’s all been very positive,” he said. “This is a little bit of a surprise.”
But he said that “re-establishing a brand such as Bill Blass at that level takes deep pockets.”
“It’s a lot of expense going out before it comes back in,” he said.
Emanuel Weintraub, president and chief executive officer of Emanuel Weintraub Associates, a retail consulting firm, said NexCen “has a lot of brands that should be doing well.”
“If they are running out of money,” he said, “they are not running the company well.”
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company. |
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| From: Jon Koplik | 12/8/2008 6:48:00 PM | | | | | | I bought my first "no trans fat" KKD doughnuts yesterday .......................................
(First time I have managed to get to a KKD store in several years.)
(We went to the one on 167th St. in Miami, FL.)
If anything, I thought they tasted better than the old ones.
And, I was expecting the new ones to "leak" cooking oil on to the box worse than the old ones, but ... nope !
Wasn't part of the whole point of trans fat to give a sort of "solidity" to the fat / oil content of food items ?
Anyway ... after all of the "vociferous" complaining by the food industry, it does seem that using trans fats was not necessary.
Jon.
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| To: Jon Koplik who wrote (991) | 11/23/2009 7:47:45 AM | | From: blankmind | | | | Jon, u still holding KKD?
To me, KKD looks like is hitting on all 8 cylinders. Stock is at $3.35. Yet the # of franchisees they’re signing up is impressive. The franchisee in AZ has expanded to 9 outlets vs. the last franchisee there that went out of busines a few years ago. KKD just announced a deal for 20 franchise Krispy Kreme retail shops in Thailand. I like the fact that KKD is doing a lot more traditional franchising; which is more of fee-based business with less risk. Plus, KKD should soon be solidly profitable; they got rid of their hydrogenated fats; and they have one of the most appealing names in the industry. |
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| To: blankmind who wrote (992) | 11/25/2009 10:26:23 AM | | From: Jon Koplik | | | | I have no position (long or short) in KKD now. The last time I was involved was several years ago. (And -- that did not "turn out well.")
One thing that really "bugs" me about the whole absurdity of what is "in vogue" or not "in vogue" with Wall Street at any particular point in time :
I am old enough to remember the "mania" back in the 1980s regarding the value and "power" of ... a BRAND.
(Such as : some dumb old type of toothpaste that you have never heard of. Yet -- if you looked at store shelves ... there was that dumb brand of toothpaste, so ... YES, some people were indeed buying it.)
Beatrice Foods was (if I remember correctly) the classic example of a "tired" old stodgy company that was a collection of a whole bunch of "brands."
Around 1985 or 1986 (?), Wall Streeters whipped themselves into a "lather" about brands, and Beatrice Foods was eventually "taken out" at some huge premium via either an acquisition or an LBO.
Anyway -- remembering all of this ...
It sure seems to me that if and when anyone on Wall Street ever starts thinking in this "mode" again,
KKD is "one heck of a" valuable brand.
As I think I have said earlier (years ago) on this message board : just the rights to the name and logo of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts seems like it ought to be worth WAY MORE than the (recent) total market capitalization of KKD.
But, I am still waiting for anyone else to "come around" to this idea ...
Jon. |
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| To: Michael Wong who wrote (994) | 10/3/2013 10:23:07 PM | | From: Jon Koplik | | | | My thought on KKD (when the stock was "crazy low" ) was always : WTF is the stock doing down so low ???
As I think I said here on this message board previously --
Just the rights to the KKD name / logo / "brand" / etc. should be worth a LOT of money.
According to the Yahoo finance page on KKD
finance.yahoo.com
the market capitalization of KKD based on today's close (a bit above $21.00 per share)
is about $1.4 billion.
This (to me) does not seem "irrationally" high to me.
(It does not appear "crazy low," either.)
---------------------------
Main conclusion / analysis of KKD price / trading behavior over the past years :
The market was just WRONG when the shares were around $2 or $3 (roughly three years ! ) ( late 2007 through mid-2010)
It was "priced for" imminent Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, possibly (?)
The thing that annoys me ("to this day") is :
during those three years, several times, I seriously considered buying a lot of KKD, and the plan was : to then ... TRY real hard to do "buy and hold"
But -- three years of "the whole world" saying : you (Jon) are just stupid, and all of KKD is worth only a few hundred million dollars ...
just "wore me down," and I never bought any.
This "episode" will be "etched" in my memory for the rest of my life.
A business that has been around since ( I think) the 1930s, with huge "brand recognition," should be worth a fair amount of money !
Jon.
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| To: Jon Koplik who wrote (995) | 10/4/2013 12:06:22 PM | | From: Michael Wong | | | | I think that the present price, about 22, up about 1.4 today is definitely in the overvalue range. I sold mine in the 18 to 19 range and have no complaints, though I wish I bought more
I have noticed in the past 9 to 10 months is that on big up days and sometimes on down days, the bid ask spread can be 2 to 4 cents and usually on the up days.it is as though something or someone is holding the price up. A similar thing happen but in the opposite direction during the down phase in 2011 thru around November 2012 where the down direction, and the price is driven down.
You have bunches of days in the sub million to million days, the all of a sudden a pop to 2+ to way more on no news. On all of these heavy days, outside of earnings announcement days, the bid ask spread widens.
It just feels to me that someone is holding up the price and is strategically popping the price up at critical times.
I could be all wet in this, but I could not work out the logic of the last 2 years move when the stock in literally trashed and then walked up.
Any idea or comments ?
PE is about 70 with the forward PE in the mid 30's. Is a donut company worth that much when AAPL is at 12 ? |
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| To: Jon Koplik who wrote (995) | 10/5/2013 10:34:45 AM | | From: richardred | | | | | JON I took a look also and didn't buy. I was thing the same thing about Panera Bread when the Carbs are bad for you craze took hold, Now look at the stock! Obviously you still have to consider many other factors. RE: Hostess/Interstate brands. |
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