Dive Brief:

• Bloomin’ Brands will dramatically slow down its U.S. restaurant openings as it focuses on a combination of corporate restructuring, operational simplification and a brand turnaround at Outback Steakhouse, executives said on the company’s Q4 earnings call.
• Following major layoffs in the last week, Bloomin’ is working to decentralize some of its corporate support and increase flexibility by transferring some decision making to the brand level.
• Bloomin’ projects it will build 18 to 20 company-owned restaurants and about 30 franchised restaurants in 2025, but this rate will slow down dramatically by 2026. This drawdown will free up about $40 million for remodels, Chief Financial Officer Michael Healy said on the earnings call.

Dive Insight:

All of Bloomin’s brands, with the exception of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, saw declines in same-store sales, according to the company’s earnings release. These sales troubles have prompted Bloomin’ to embrace a set of interlocking priorities for remaking its brands before committing to new unit growth.

“Particularly for Outback, we need to focus on getting the guest experience right before we earn the right to grow units,” Healy said. In Q4, Outback’s comp sales fell 1.8%. By contrast, comparable sales fell at Carrabba’s Italian Grill by 0.9% and at Bonefish Grill by 1.5%, but Fleming’s saw a 3% increase.

At Outback, Bloomin’ is working to test in-store changes and how they can impact traffic, guest intent to return, employee engagement and profitability. These started at a single pilot location used as a lab, with 14 restaurants testing various changes by the end of February, said CEO Michael Spanos, who joined the chain from Delta last year.

Likely the largest change Spanos announced was that shift from growth to remodeling. Bloomin’ is evaluating the repair and maintenance of its restaurants before “remodel activity will begin in earnest in the latter half of this year,” he said.

In addition to its focus on Outback, Bloomin’ made several changes at the corporate level, including laying off 100 corporate support workers last week. 

Those job cuts will make Bloomin’ “a more operation-centric and simple organization at our restaurant support center,” Spanos said.

The cuts removed layers from the organizational structure and devolved power to brand presidents. Before these changes, Bloomin’s marketing, training, culinary, off-premise and domestic franchisee leadership were all centralized. Now, the company’s individual brands are responsible for these functions, Spanos said.

Cuts extend from the restaurant support center to the menu. 

“We need to make fewer items, but make those much better. We are reducing our menu items in all brands, by 10% to 20%, in 2025,” Spanos said. In particular, Bloomin’ is targeting low-volume, low-satisfaction items and dishes that require significant prep labor for removal.

Across the board, Bloomin’ is retreating from its current promotional strategies, which rely on the addition of new menu items every 10 to 12 weeks, Spanos said, in favor of a consistent emphasis on value. Strong value messaging has worked well for Bloomin’s competitor, Chili’s, which saw stellar same-store sales growth in 2024 based on marketing that emphasized its portions and price-competitiveness with QSR.