Statement from Applebee's President Mike Archer about Obamacare

[Maraya1969]

Source: Applebees

Applebee’s and the independent business owners who franchise our company's restaurants throughout the U.S. recognize that affordable health care is a critically important issue facing our country. Because final regulations and guidance are still pending from government agencies regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), exactly how our franchisees will implement the law when it takes effect in 2014 is still uncertain. However, we do know that our franchisees will comply fully with the law and take every measure possible to continue doing right by their employees -- the lifeblood of their businesses. Applebee’s franchisees have always led their companies as responsible, caring employers, and implementation of the new law will be consistent with that commitment.

Recent public comments by one Applebee's franchisee about the possible implications of the ACA on jobs within his individual company were not the views or opinions of either Applebee's or other franchisees, although we respect his right to speak freely as an American. Importantly, it is also worth noting that this franchisee opened a new restaurant last week that created approximately 200 jobs, and will be opening another restaurant next month with a similar number of positions. Applebee's and our franchisees remain committed to growing our business and providing opportunities for employees in the future.

About Applebee’s Applebee’s (www.applebees.com) is the world’s largest casual dining chain, with approximately 2,000 locations in 49 states, 15 countries and one U.S. territory. Based in Kansas City, Mo., Applebee’s takes pride in providing a welcoming, neighborhood environment where everyone can enjoy the dining experience. Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar® is a DineEquity, Inc. (NYSE: DIN) brand, and is franchised and operated by Applebee’s Services, Inc. and its affiliates.
Dan Smith, Applebee’s
w: 913-890-0370
c: 913-948-1641
[e-mail]

Read more: http://applebees.mwnewsroom.com/Home/Statement-From-Applebee%E2%80%99s%C2%AE-President-Mike-Archer-R

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I sent a tweet out to @boycottapplebees and they tweeted back this link.

[Le Taz Hot]

1. So, the "rogue" Applebee's franchise owner

opened up a restaurant and hired 200 employees. Sounds good, right up until the time that you realize they are part-time with no benefits which means people will have to have 2 or 3 of these types of jobs to make ends meet and hope they or their children don't get sick.

And nothing's going to change the fact that they have shitty, overpriced food.

[PatrynXX]

3. not sure about shitty

have had some good Mexican style food there. But overpriced yes.. kinda kills Papa Johns on cents... so what makes it so expensive. oh the Decor no doubt..

[Hutzpa]

4. It IS shitty

when was the last time you ate at Applebees? I did three weeks ago and promise to make that my last. Every time I've eaten there they have to take the food back because it was not freshly cooked or it was microwave.

They sell microwave food to the public making a killing over it too.

[Arugula Latte]

8. I don't think I've ever eaten at an Applebees.

One of the things we love about living in a city is we avoid chains like Applebees, Olive Garden, TGIF's, etc. etc. and support small local restaurants.

[Hutzpa]

25. Chains like Applebees should not be in existence

selling bad food to the public. It is a disgrace and their CEO have the nerve to challenge the Obamacare just to prevent his employees from gaining proper health care.

Surreal.

[former9thward]

47. How many more millions would you like to see unemployed?

Is there no upper limit to it?

[Hutzpa]

49. How many more would you like to see without Health Care

since that is not the purpose of our argument we should proceed with the idea of removing unscrupulous businesses that demands everything, but gives anything back. I know what I'll be in favor of though.

[former9thward]

52. So there is no upper limit.

You wish to close hundreds of thousands of businesses, large and small, without regard to the consequences.

[Hutzpa]

55. I know for certain that is not the argument I'm making

asking for upper limit is like trying to avoid the real issue at play here which is this company revolting just so they can avoid paying for health care to their employees that is already on low wages.

[former9thward]

57. I am not here to defend Applebees.

I don't eat there -- not because I hate them -- it is just not what I do. I do know two Applebees' servers and they are paid a very fair wage (including tips of course). I don't think that chain is any different than all of the other moderately priced restaurants. Business people are going to make their decisions based on the financials. They want to stay in business. If you want to blame something then blame the ACA which allows business to pay a fine rather than offer the much higher cost insurance. Once that was passed anyone could see what was going to happen.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

53. Stop trying to conflate issues

Just because you believe your food choices should be implemented on all others, it has nothing to do with the fact that there are large restaurant chains that treat their employees just fine, and are not making the same statements these assholes are.

[Hutzpa]

56. I'm not sure I understand what you meant by conflating the issues

would it help if you can be much more clearer in your next reply, that being said, I am not trying to implement my food choices on anyone, I was merely pointing out that I find their food quality distasteful compared to other restaurant.

Trying to fight against employees receiving health care should be as no surprise as their food quality is not up to standard and since it is not up to standard, we shouldn't be surprise then they are refusing to enroll their employees onto Obamacare. Yes it is unacceptable for their CEO to make outrageous statement too, my position on that has not changed.

[bitchkitty]

33. Have to defend Friday's...

where I worked for 4 years back in the day. Their food is not microwaved, it is freshly prepared, and quite tasty.

They also offered health insurance to their employees.

All that side, I no longer eat in restaurants except for salads, and I'd rather prepare those at home. I haven't been in a Friday's for 10+ years.

[MicaelS]

31. I eat at Applebee's for two reasons.

(1) I work nights and my only non-fast food restaurants (if you can call them that) open when I go to work (10:30pm) are IHOP, Applebee's and Waffle House.

(2) Applebee's has better steaks than IHOP, and Waffle House. I only eat at Applebee's when I want a decent steak at night. IHOP and Waffle House steaks are thin and tough.

[Aerows]

17. Applebee's

Has the highest sodium content dishes of any chain. I believe one dish, it's some pasta dish, has like 3 days worth of salt in it. Mind you, I eat at McDonald's so I'm not one to be too cautious, but really, 3 days worth of sodium?

[Ms. Toad]

40. At least they make the information available.

And most of the items on their menu are actually included.

I'm on a sodium controlled diet as a diagnostic tool (50 days and counting...) - and it is nearly impossible for me to eat out - not as much because of high sodium content (although that does limit my choices) but because the information is not available. I have to hit a 500 mg window, so guessing just doesn't work.

[Aerows]

41. It's okay with you that one meal

That is proclaimed as "lite" has 5100mg of sodium?

[Ms. Toad]

44. It is better, as far as I am concerned, than not making the information available.

I can choose to avoid the meal with 5100 mg of sodium. (And since my current limit is 1500, I would.)

I have no options at all to dine with family or friends in most restaurants which simply do not provide the information. We went out to eat before a performance of the Capital Steps - the other two chose the restaurant: Chinese. I had white rice - it was the only thing on the menu I could reliably determine the sodium content. Most Chinese, Indian, Thai, etc. restaurants do not have nutritional information online, and in many instances there are language barriers so I cannot even be sure when I ask about sodium whether they understand me. My daughter came home from college for a meal & we chose a restaurant to eat at that didn't have nutrition information online, but I found enough information online to be reasonably certain there was one item I could eat. There was more than an hour wait, so we had to switch on the fly. I ended up getting a plain chicken burrito, opening the burrito and picking out the chicken - again - there was no way of knowing the sodium content.

5100 mg is high, and Applebes should lower the sodium content in most of their foods - and they should offer a selection of meals in the 3-500 mg range (the meal allotment for anyone on a low sodium diet).

But - I'll take a restaurant with high sodium content in most foods as long as it makes the information available over one which does not any day. I'm disciplined enough to make wise choices if the information is available - what I can't deal with is not being able to get the information.

And FWIW - in food terms, lite generally means low calories/fat/sugar. When restaurants make "lite" meals they typically bump up salt or MSG to make up for the decrease in flavor they associate with cutting out calories/fat/sugar. On a controlled sodium diet, a "lite" food is the last thing I would look at.

[Le Taz Hot]

24. As a native Californian

Applebee's and "good Mexican style food" just seems wrong. Give me the real Mexican food -- usually at some out of the way dive where few people speak English and the waitstaff has to put up with me and my California Chicken Spanish.

[bitchkitty]

34. True talking!

A good way to spot an authentic Mexican restaurant is to go there on Sundays - if they're crowded with Mexicans, you're in the right place.

In Atlanta, the right place would be El Potro Mexican Restaurant on Buford Highway - ambrosia!

[hedgehog]

35. look for the working pick-up trucks - not the shiny oversized suburban status symbols

but the older trucks that have actually been used for hauling!

[Aerows]

42. I lived in both Florida and Texas

Holes in the wall have the best Mexican food, bar none.

[onehandle]

2. Sorry. Fried sticks of butter wrapped in bacon and dipped in chocolate is not in my diet.

Applebees. Ick.

[getting old in mke]

45. You are SO not from Wisconsin...

[heaven05]

5. pigs

just trying to make the POTUS and ACA look like it will hurt and at the expense of workers who need their jobs. Papa John's comes to mind. Watching Stephanie, she just brought it up. Capitalism, gaining the most capital for the few at the expense of the many. Hey mittshit! I still want to see your fucking tax returns.

[calimary]

6. So do I.

I still want to know what he was hiding, and trying to put over on the American people.

ANOTHER reason why I'm so delighted and relieved that wrongney didn't win. Imagine the bad precedent it would have set, for later republi-CONS, or later ANYBODIES, for that matter: "well, president wrongney never released a lot of tax returns and it didn't hurt him any. Certainly didn't keep him out of the White House! So you CAN get away with it!"

[AAO]

29. He never released any, did he? Wasn't the one he did release not complete?

[xtraxritical]

20. I just went to their corporate website to give them a "piece of my mind" and

you can't even contact them without them collecting as much personal information as they can. Naturally I made up stuff and gave them a really vituperous invective regarding their treatment of employees, less than average food and more than average prices.

[freshwest]

51. +1,000 to what you said.

[MrYikes]

7. but, but they love their employees so much that they pay their wait staff over $2 an hour.

[xtraxritical]

11. And withhold on their tips, which are miniscule because of their bad food and high prices.

[beac]

46. And the whole "cutting to less than 30 hours" is BS.

That has been standard operating procedure in restaurants (large and small) for eons. Unless you are a manager or the chef (and sometimes even then), you are a part-time employee and get no benefits. It was ever thus. The ACA has NOTHING to do with it.

[joanbarnes]

9. I still say boycott, expensive, unhealthy. Shop local instead.

[LP2K12]

10. May I suggest...

Starbucks? They have AMAZING healthcare benefits for part-time workers.

My wife worked there when I was in between jobs and even after I got back on my feet she stayed there part-time for the benefits.

I have yet to find a company that beats them. I even met a teacher, doctor and nurse who were working PT at SBux for the healthcare benefits.

We were actually discussing her going back a few nights ago.

These companies think they are needed. There are other companies out there willing to take care of their employees.

[BlueStreak]

15. Thank you for that recommendation

I have always been put off a bit by Starbucks, just because they were popping up everywhere and crowding out local businesses. But now I will definitely patronize them in places where they aren't hurting other businesses.

But I am still going to make my weekly trek to the local coffee shop where a Starbucks opened up about 50 yards away. Five years later, the local business is still open.

[LP2K12]

18. I agree...

We buy local when we can. Our local coffee shop shut down before Starbucks moved in. I also never preferred them. The wife went to work there on a recommendation from a friend and she's awlays been well taken care of.

[obamanut2012]

21. Costco and IKEA are as good as Starbucks

Costco seems to be even better.

[BlueStreak]

12. Here is an email I sent to the PR agent

Please pass my comments along to Mr. Archer.

I occasionally have dined at your restaurants and found the property clean, the kitchen and menu adequate, and the staff attentive. My wife is a vegetarian, so your restaurants are not a good choice for us personally. I have, however, in recent years made a routine of giving Applebees gift certificates to friends and my own staff -- typically about 30 certificates each year. I did so because I trusted you were an ethical company that would not disappoint those I treated.

I will not be doing so going forward. I was appalled that one of your franchisees has such a low opinion of his employees and his responsibilities in the American economy. As a taxpayer and fellow business owner, I have paid millions of dollars over the years, helping our nation create an environment where people like you have an opportunity to build a business, hire healthy, educated employees, and pursue your piece of the American dream. It has always been my philosophy that employees are the key to any businesses. Anybody who is looking for a way to cheat employees is -- well let me just use the word short-sighted to be polite.

I have operated a franchise system in the past, and I appreciate that franchise law requires an arms length relationship, so you cannot be held accountable for what amounts to free speech of your franchisees. You can, however, be held accountable for your own statement, which I found to be extremely disappointing. What you said, essentially, is that "I promise I will not commit any felonies." Reading between the lines, I see an implication that you will look for every legal opportunity, such as demoting employees to part-time status, to avoid paying your fair share of the cost of the American Dream. By doing so, you are passing that cost along to the rest of us -- like a patron who slips out of your restaurant without paying his check.

The law includes loopholes that will allow you to do that. But I will not patronize your business unless I see a formal, public statement from your office that indicates you understand your full responsibilities to employees in the American system that has been so kind to you.

[dgibby]

43. Perfect! Bravo! n/t

[Rain Mcloud]

13. More Astroturfing!

Lets start a meme and then blame the backlash on the individual franchise owners and frame the debate by blaming the reaction on government.
Notice there is no apology in any of these stories.
The point is that they do not want to pay taxes and will lie,cheat,steal from their employees and everybody else in the country to keep from paying taxes.

[LTR]

14. But the franchisee used the Applebees name in his statements

If Applebees was smart, they would scold franchise owners about doing anything that would bring bad P.R. to the company. Thrifty Rent-a-car did just that with a franchisee who decided to slap very offensive anti-Obama stickers on his entire fleet.

[BlueStreak]

16. Normally there would be such a clause in the franchise agreement

Last edited Tue Nov 13, 2012, 11:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Certainly there would be a provision against disparagement of the brand name, and often the business is explicitly banned from using the brand name in its legal documents and public statements. They must display the brand on the building, menu, and advertising, but their checking account, for example, would say "Fred's Awesome franchise restaurants", and that would be the name to be used in any public statements released by the business unless specifically authorized by the chain.

If the HQ receives enough letters from concerned customers, you can bet they will crack down on that.

We will be seeing a lot of these assholes doing this kind of thing, following the lead of Papa Johns. And the thing all of them will have in common is that they don't actually have a lot of full-time employees in the first place, and the full-time employees are critical to the business. They cannot demote them or else they would lose their key employees. Hell, they may already be providing health care coverage for their managers anyway.

[LeighAnn]

19. I say Bravo!

We are forcing these corporations to pick a side... and they will quickly learn that profits over people will be a losing business model.

Others will follow suit.

[BlueStreak]

22. The most important thing to do is full employment

That forces employers to compete for workers. I know Romney (of all people) made a big issue about the 8% unemployment. but in fat, that is the optimal point for Cheap Labor Republicans [tm]. That is a level that doesn't bankrupt the country, but it leaves the employee with no negotiating power. At 5% or 6%, we see lots of businesses having to compete vigorously for employees. It wasn't long ago that some employers were paying $30,000 signing bonuses to skilled employees in some industries.

I don't think we will ever see signing bonuses for an Applebee's hourly employee, but that supply/demand ration helps everybody.

The difference between 8% and 6% is also huge for lowering our Federal deficit. every time you take a person that was receiving food stamps, unemployment insurance or other assistance and convert them to a taxpaying worker, this makes a huge difference to the the government's operating statement.

That should be our number one issue -- lowering unemployment to 6%. Screw the deficit for now. It isn't nearly as important as getting people back to work.

[SoapBox]

23. Hey Applebees...and OTHER corporations, companies and businesses...

WE, the 47% and/or 99%, of Americans, are going to be watching all of you like a HAWK!

Don't EVEN think about trying any of your Puke/Bagger BULLSHIT on us and your hard working employees.

We will EXPOSE your ass! And if need be, we will BOYCOTT your ass!

The MAJORITY of America spoke on November 6th...this time, WE got the Political CAPITAL and WE are gonna spend it!!!!!!!!!

[AAO]

30. The MAJORITY of America spoke on November 6th...

Yes, but the totality of compassionate Americans spoke on November 6th!

[Arugula Latte]

59. Also ... you might want to look into a little something called SOCIAL MEDIA

You will start to understand its power once it is turned against you.

[PossumSqueezins]

26. Isn't that sweet...

Dan cares.....about his bottom line.

Here's an idea Dan: Try serving edible food instead of hunks of microwaved meat under slabs of processed cheese-food.


<img src=>

[SomeGuyInEagan]

27. One new restaurant created 200 jobs?

Having worked in restaurants myself, that seems unlikely. But that was years ago.

Anybody else closer to this type of restaurant able to provide some insight?

[MoonchildCA]

36. I can believe it.

When you give your employees 1 or 2 days a week, a 4 to 6 hour shift, you can "employ" a lot of people. My daughter has been dealing with this type of "job" from several chains as she's been trying to work her way through college the last 4 years.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

58. Thanks. I my restaurant days - even the chains - had a different model.

Only managers were full-time. But the kitchen, serving, host, sanitation, etc. staffs were typically 20-30 hours-a-week, though you could trade shifts to go over 40 or under ten on occasion. Trying to train and juggle 150 part-timers would be a nightmare.

[Posteritatis]

37. Large franchise, busy area, lots of part-timers? I can believe it.

I wouldn't believe 200 full-time positions or anything close unless the place was measured in acres instead of square feet, but you could cram a lot of two-shifts-a-week positions into a decent-sized place.

[Kablooie]

28. Applebee's food is all prepare able by minimally trained employees.

It's a more expansive version of a fast food joint.
Everything is microwaveable and pre-prepared.
No real chefs are needed.

[radhika]

32. IDEA: Challenge him to join the Single Payer movement...

This is an opportunity for small businesses, franchisees and self-employed individuals didn't lead the push for a single-payer solution.

.

[d_r]

38. man I've already been boycotting Applebees

for years. Not because of any statements other than the food though.

[savalez]

39. Here's what gets me:

although we respect his right to speak freely as an American

Why'd they feel the need to say that? Nobody gives a shit about what he says, we care about what he does? This is not a freedom of speech issue. He's cutting his employees hours to circumvent the AHCA! How is that American?

[southern_belle]

48. Too Late!

I'll never walk into another one of your over-priced, nasty restaurants. The person at the top is ultimately responsible for what his peon's say!

[libdem4life]

50. To me, this is like Fox News. Undigestible.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

54. It seems like it is the end of corporations as we know it

meaning we have them squealing from coast to coast