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To: Travis_Bickle who wrote (256813)	6/26/2010 3:41:35 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Respond to of 306849

BK will be returning to marketing "premium items" towards its core customers... once they get a job ------- Burger King Executive Says Breakfast Sales Have Been Strong \| Respond to Editor \| Print By Paul Ziobro Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Burger King Holdings Inc.'s (BKC: 17.63, 0.25, 1.44%) sales in the U.S. have been strongest at breakfast since the fast-food chain began a renewed focus on morning sales in recent months, a Burger King executive said Wednesday. Breakfast is "the best performing daypart in the portfolio" since the chain added a $1 BK Muffin sandwich and a higher-priced BK Breakfast Bowl at the end of March, Burger King Senior Vice President of Investor Relations Amy Wagner said Wednesday at a Nasdaq conference in London. Burger King, which does about 14% of its business during breakfast, is trying to make up ground during the morning, where it trails top competitor McDonald's Corp. (MCD: 67.59, -0.14, -0.21%), which gets more than a quarter of sales during breakfast. Burger King is trying to boost breakfast sales, which have taken a hit due to high unemployment as more customers eat breakfast at home. The chain had planned to revamp breakfast sometime last year, but delayed the plan due to the downturn. The chain expects to get a boost during breakfast from selling Seattle's Best Coffee, Starbucks Corp.'s (SBUX: 26.81, 0.14, 0.52%) secondary brand, at its stores. Burger King stores are just beginning to add Seattle's Best at its restaurants, with all stores expected to have the new coffee by the end of September, Wagner said. Soon thereafter, Burger King will launch a major marketing push behind breakfast, and add additional menu items such as breakfast platters with pancakes. Wagner said she couldn't "answer when that will happen specifically," but said the chain hopes that the U.S. employment picture will have stabilized at that point. "We do feel that at that point at least unemployment will have stabilized in the U.S. where we can take advantage of rolling out that breakfast daypart," Wagner said. An improving employment situation in the U.S., especially among some of fast-food's core customers such as young men, African-Americans and Hispanics, would also allow Burger King to try to sell more premium items, like its recently launched Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich, served on a whole-grain ciabatta bun with a suggested price of $3.99. Selling more higher-priced items will be key to helping to increase Burger King's average sale to each customer, which has fallen due to the chain's recent aggressive promotions of $1 sandwiches. "As we move through the year, and as consumers feel better, you'll see us flexing more toward the premium side," Wagner said. In Europe, Burger King plans to have up to 300 restaurants in Russia over the next five years, up from just five currently after entering the market in recent months, said John Fitzpatrick, Burger King's senior vice president of franchise operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Fitzpatrick said Burger King restaurants in Spain continue to post positive same-store sales and customer traffic despite high unemployment there. Burger King shares were recently down 12 cents, or 0.7%, at $17.68, and have underperformed the broader market over the last 12 months with a 5.1% gain. Copyright © 2009 Dow Jones Newswires