Yummy as Riblets: Applebee’s Julia Stewart

Posted by Baylen on Aug. 20, 2008

Today’s NYT has an entertaining and revealing profile of the very powerful and attractive Julia Stewart, the fifty-something head of the DineEquity empire–the world’s largest restaurant chain–which includes IHOP and Applebee’s.

Key fact: Julia is overlord of 95% of the world’s riblets. 95%!

Last year Ms. Stewart became chief executive. She left the company as president of the domestic division in 2001 after being passed over for the top spot. She landed at IHOP (where she had worked as a waitress in high school), and began to rehabilitate what has become the nation’s largest family restaurant chain. Then, in a turn soaked with satisfaction IHOP absorbed the Applebee’s chain.

[...]

Spending time with her is like having a direct view of what America wants to eat.

In her business, people use phrases like “drink equity” and “healthy indulgence rebranding.” Everyone is on the hunt for the next “craveable,” an item like a whole deep-fried onion, a potato skin stuffed with bacon or, in Applebee’s case, the riblet.

[...]

At Applebee’s, she has to tread as carefully. Tweaking the sweet, artificial hickory taste of the riblets is one thing, but losing the mozzarella stick? Dream on. “Don’t get me started on the mozzarella stick,” she said. “Can we get rid of them entirely? Probably not. All I know is we can do better in appetizers. Maybe it’s a panko breaded calamari. Maybe a baked wing.”

More here. Speaking of powerful women and Applebee’s, learn what Sleater-Kinney has to do with the restaurant chain here.

Tagged: applebee's, riblets, sleater-kinney Share This