Grill Concepts Expanding Daily Restaurants

LOS ANGELES-Coming off a strong 2006, Grill Concepts is speeding up its expansion of its Daily Grill restaurants, executives said in an announcement of its fourth-quarter and year-end results. The company will open up to nine Daily Grills through 2008, including units in Memphis, Seattle, Dallas and Austin, Texas. “Reinvigorated by our strong sales trends, our team has worked cohesively to make significant progress with our accelerated expansion plans,” CEO Philip Gay said.

For the 14-week fourth quarter, total revenues rose 22.1% more than the previous year to $23.4 million. Same-store sales for the 14-week quarter rose 17.5% from the same period in the previous year. Based on a 13-week comparison, the company’s consolidated same-store sales were up 9.4%. Net income was $1.5 million, compared with earnings of $308,000 for the prior-year period.