Darden Restaurants President Rick Cardenas will take over when the company’s current chairman and CEO, Eugene Lee Jr., retires, the company said while announcing significant sales growth in its most recent quarter.
The Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.-based operator of LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, and other major restaurant brands said Lee will retire as CEO effective 29 May 2022.
The restaurant company’s board unanimously elected Cardenas as its new CEO as well as a member of the board, effective 30 May, 2022.
Sales at Darden’s fine-dining segment jumped 61.6 percent for the fiscal second quarter of 2022, while overall sales surged 37 percent to reach USD 2.27 billion (EUR 2 billion). The sales were driven by a mix of a same-store restaurant sales increase of 34.4 percent and the addition of 34 net new restaurants, the company said in a press release.
LongHorn Steakhouse sales jumped 31.2 percent in the quarter, while Olive Garden sales rose 29.3 percent.
Lee also said Darden is “accelerating a commitment we announced earlier this year” to increase the company’s minimum hourly earnings for restaurant team members to USD 12.00 (EUR 10.66), which includes income earned through gratuities, effective 1 January, 2022.
“With this change, we expect our restaurant team members will earn, on average, approximately USD 20.00 [EUR 17.77] per hour.”
Photo courtesy of rblfmr/Shutterstock
