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Author

Andy Moore
March 27, 2026

Hello!

This week we’re talking:

  • Domino's refreshing its most underrated asset

  • A $2 billion exit for Nothing Bundt Cakes

  • And Chick-fil-A’s new distribution centers

Read on…

3 Numbers

$2 billion

Reported sale price for Nothing Bundt Cakes, which private equity stalwart KKR is said to be buying from Roark Capital. Since Roark bought the chain in 2021, it’s hit a runway of +100 openings per year and is expected to generate $120M in EBITDA in 2026.

$90 million

Sale price for most of Krispy Kreme’s stake in a joint venture that operates locations across the Western U.S. The deal means that WKS Restaurant Group will increase its ownership in the JV from 45% to 80%; it will also buy outright 23 company-operated locations in California and Hawaii as Krispy Kreme shifts to a more asset-light model.

53

Number of units Dine Brands expects to buy from Applebee’s franchisee Neighborhood Restaurant Partners Florida, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week. NRPF cited inflationary pressures in the filing. With the transaction, the formerly 100% franchised Applebee’s can lay claim to a growing corporate store base — the company bought 47 locations from franchisees last year.

2 Big Stories

  1. Domino’s is revamping its famed pizza tracker, via QSR Magazine:

Domino’s announced on Tuesday major upgrades to its pizza tracker technology, including new AI enhancements and a sleeker, modernized look.

The world’s largest pizza chain first introduced this innovation in 2008 and has tracked more than 2.5 billion orders since then.

Now, customers will have more information about their carryout or delivery order. With one click, guests can access further details, store information, and a precise, step-by-step breakdown of how their order is progressing. More specifically, consumers can see when their order was placed in the oven, when a delivery driver departed from the store, and track the driver’s progress via GPS.

At the same time, Domino’s is using AI technology—filled with real-time inputs from employees and machine learning models—to give customers a more accurate estimate of when their order will be ready for pickup or delivery. All of this is powered by DomOS, the chain’s proprietary operating system.

Another major update is for Apple customers. Domino’s launched “Live Activities,” which allows iPhone users to follow order progress from their lock screen instead of switching to the app.


It’s easy to forget, 18 years later, how revolutionary the pizza tracker actually was (no, seriously). While it wasn’t the Internet’s first real-time progress bar, it was one of the most visible customer-facing examples of the technology — now, UX designers use “pizza tracker” as a stand-in term for any status tracker.

So it’d make sense for Domino’s to invest a bit in modernizing and refreshing the tool. Weirdly enough, it’s a genuine asset.

  1.  Chick-fil-A has quietly been building out a sizable distribution network under the banner of Chick-fil-A Supply. Via Restaurant Dive:

Chick-fil-A will invest $50 million into building a distribution center in Lubbock, Texas, according to a press release from the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance. Construction will begin in May and could create 80 jobs across warehouse operations, logistics and transportation. 

The facility will store and distribute food and other products using three controlled environments: a freezer, refrigerator and dry storage. The center will serve a network of restaurants, according to the press release. Lubbock offers a strategic location as well as “logistical advantages,” the press release said. 

The company opened its first company-owned distribution center in 2020 to serve up to 300 restaurants….

The fast food giant has since opened centers across the country and now has roughly 11 distribution facilities, including a 120,000-square-foot facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina that opened in 2024 and serves around 100 restaurants. It is building a 244,000-square-foot distribution center in Florida, worth about $150 million, that will serve 170 restaurants across the state and is expected to open in 2027. The chain’s Kentucky facility is expected to open this year. Facilities in Salt Lake City and Denver are coming soon, according to the Chick-fil-A Supply website. 

Chick-fil-A also has distribution locations in Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, and South Carolina.

By my count, Chick-fil-A is the only national chain actively building new distribution capacity at scale. (Domino’s, which we just talked about above, appears to have a fairly well established dough manufacturing network.)

It’ll be interesting to see how far CFA chooses to push this strategy — and whether they’ll begin to touch into other areas of vertical integration à la In-N-Out, which famously places its stores within a day’s drive of its patty-making facilities (and even employs in-house butchers).

Of course, it’s probably not a coincidence that both concepts are closely-held and can afford to make extremely long-term bets. Launching distribution: it ain’t cheap (or easy).

Other Headlines

Name That Chain!

You’ve got three guesses to name this week’s mystery chain:

  • This chain was born out of a college dorm room — not as a class project or a startup pitch, but because the founder couldn't sleep and needed something to eat at 3 AM.

  • The entire concept was built around a daypart that almost no other restaurant wanted — late night delivery, mostly to college campuses, with a menu that fits in a bakery box.

  • In 2018, a well-known sweet treat company acquired the brand, which now operates 300+ locations.

Find the answer at the bottom of the email…

#Content Recs

Power Moves

Here are some notable C-suite moves from the past week:

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next week.

NAME THAT CHAIN ANSWER: Insomnia Cookies

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