DineEquity Continues Its Transformations of Applebee's, IHOP

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Diners may soon notice more big changes at their Friday evening happy hour spot, DineEquity (DIN - Get Report) owned Applebee's.

Long known as a suburban staple with a menu featuring tried-and-true entrees and cocktails, Applebee's has been undergoing a transformation of its menu and dcor during the last few years. Since December 2007, 90% of the Applebee's menu has been upgraded or changed, according to the company.

The makeovers at Applebee's and fellow DineEquity-owned chain IHOP have certainly attracted the notice of investors, who have sent DineEquity shares to a 52-week high recently, spurred by a strong finish to last year.

In the fourth quarter, Applebee's reported a 2.8% increase in same-store sales, its best showing since the second quarter of 2011. IHOP's same-store sales rose 6.1% in the fourth quarter, representing its highest quarterly sales increase since the first quarter of 2004.

Together, the two chains account for about 70% of DineEquity's total annual revenue.

As part of its revamp, Applebee's is now advertising its shareable and pub plate bar snacks, which includes novel, chef-inspired dishes such fried shrimp with BBQ spice & sriracha chile lime sauce (see photo below), as well as desserts such aschurro s'mores. At the bar, drinks such as the Fireball Whiskey Lemonade are sure to appeal to thirsty millennials.

Applebee's restaurants are also receiving a facelift. Franchisees are rolling out sleeker-looking bars with more modern seating, and dining sections for families that are devoid of funky patterned cushioning.

"We have made progress on this notion of the modern grill and bar," said DineEquity Chairman and CEO Julia Stewart in an interview with TheStreet at the world's largest Applebee's,locatedin New York City. DineEquity expects Applebee'ssales to rise by 1% to 4% this year due to improvements to the chain's dcor and menu. Stewart also sees a significant opportunity for Applebee's to expand internationally. As of the end of 2014, there were 1,870 domestic Applebee's locations, with 26 franchisees operating just 147 sites internationally.

"The international side of the business is small, but a huge opportunity for us in terms of growth," said Stewart. "Internationally, we really have a lot of malls, especially in the Middle East, as it's the place to entertain and go, so Applebee's in a mall is an opportunity."

According to DineEquity's latest annual report, the Applebee's development agreements currently in place call for the opening of 102 domestic restaurants and 19 international restaurants in 2015 and 2016. DineEquity does not disclose same-restaurant sales for international locations. Meantime, IHOP is also about to undergo a menu revamp, and is starting to roll out a new prototype restaurant. According to Miller Tabak restaurant analyst Stephen Anderson, IHOP's performance has been the main driver of DineEquity's surging stock price, while Applebee's has more work left to do to close the gap with rivals such as Chili's, which is owned by Brinker International (EAT - Get Report). "I think Chili's has done a successful job of focusing back on its Tex-Mex roots within the mid-scale bar-and-grill segment," Anderson said.

For the quarter ended Dec. 24,Chili's produced a 4.2% same-restaurant sales increase at franchised locations in the U.S.Must Read: Go Inside Dunkin' Donuts Plans to Dominate the K-Cup Industry

Source: http://www.thestreet.com/story/13066369/1/dineequity-continues-its-transformations-of-applebees-ihop.html

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Analysis / Netanyahu's speech leaves rivals at a loss

Minutes after the last standing ovation in Congress subsided, Israels politicians were trying to grab back the narrative of a local election campaign that had been hijackedby Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 9,500 kilometers away in Washington, D.C.

In Jerusalems downtown Mikes Place bar, Zionist Unions candidate for finance minister, Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, was engaged in earnest conversation with about 20 young voters on banking controls and housing policy.

It was the sort of campaign event that rarely features in the media one that dealt with the actual details of issues impacting on Israelis lives. The white-haired Trajtenberg, a newcomer to politics, seems to have quickly adapted to his new environment, compressing a complex economic issue into sound bites.

He tried to avoid referring to Netanyahus speech, but just before he left, he said,Enough of this fearmongering. We have a real crisis in housing now, which is affecting our real lives.

Outside, someone suggested to him that Zionist Union would have done better to invite the television cameras to his meeting than to party leader Isaac Herzogs lackluster speech at the Gaza border.

Herzog, looking pale and slightly out of breath in a small hall with bad acoustics, could not have done more to highlight the contrast between a global statesman holding the worlds attention for a nearly hour-long speech at the most prestigious venue, and a local politician.

The painful truth is that behind the applause, Netanyahu remains alone, said Herzog. Israel remains isolated and the talks with Iran continue without any Israeli involvement.

He was right, but the lingering impression was of a lonely and forlorn Herzog. It was an unfair match, and a stark reminder that Netanyahus strategy of fighting this election over the issue on which the Israeli public still view him favorably seems to be working.

Likuds campaign had a couple of dismal weeks with the state comptrollers reports on the misuse of the prime ministers official residence budget and the ongoing failure of successive governments to deal with the housing crisis.

In the polls, a small gap opened in Herzogs favor. But the trip to Washington blew the plan to hold Netanyahu accountable for his domestic failings out of the water. With 12 days of campaigning left, what can Zionist Union and the other parties challenging Likud do to grab back the narrative and reclaim the agenda?

Bennett, Dery: If you can't beat him, join him

Two of Likuds natural partners are not even trying any more. Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett joined Netanyahu in Washington and has done everything possible to prove himself a mini-Bibi. Shas chairman Arye Dery on Tuesday night abandoned his partys policy of not recommending a candidate until after the elections and announced at the partys largest campaign rally, Mr. Prime Minister, we want to be with you and we want you to be prime minister.

Bennett and Dery are both aware that many of their potential voters are essentially Likudniks, and to keep them from voting for Netanyahus party, they are reduced to embracing him and promising that, no matter what, they will support him as prime minister.

For the other parties trying to present themselves as alternatives to Likud and appeal to voters who would like to replace Netanyahu, the question is how to move the discussion forward.

The two comptrollers reports are already old news, other domestic issues such as overcrowding in hospitals, which Herzog and his party colleagues tried to play up yesterday, are difficult to politicize and besides, the health minister in the last government was Yesh Atid's Yael German, so it will be difficult to pin this problem on the prime minister.

If the polls this weekend show that the speech had no effect on the electorate, Netanyahu will be in trouble. But all he needs is about 30,000 Likudniks who were planning to vote for Moshe Kahlons Kulanu party and a similar number who were thinking of voting for Habayit Hayehudi to return home, and he will be in pole position again. What else can be done in 10 days for Likuds rivals to regain momentum?

Of course, Iran could be a double-edged sword for Netanyahu. If, despite his efforts, a deal is signed before Israelis go to the polls, his opponents will be in a position to accuse him of damaging relations with the United States with nothing to show in return. But while some Western diplomats (not all) believe an agreement is imminent, it is highly unlikely to be signed before the deadline at the end of the month. Netanyahus rivals just want Iran to disappear for the next 10 days.

Next week the last full one of the campaign Zionist Union, Kulanu and Yesh Atid will all fire off their last salvos before Election Day organization becomes the name of the game.

They have no idea how to take hold of the agenda. At this stage, they are undecided even whether to target Netanyahu or each other.

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-election-2015/.premium-1.645359

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Kim Kardashian Hires A Classical Pianist To Teach Her How To Play -- But ...

Learning how to play the piano isn't the only thing on Kim Kardashian's bucket list!

It sounds like the reality TV star wants to be well versed in multiple instruments!

[ Related: THIS Is Why Kim Skipped The Oscars For Piano Lessons! ]

According to a source close to the Kardashian family, the 35-year-old is taking lessons from the best a classical pianist by the name of Oksana Kolesnikova who was highly recommended by Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds!

You know things are pretty crucial when Babyface is involved!

While Kanye West is just a part of her inspiration to take these lessons, the source continued to reveal Kim's interest in the instrument goes way back to when her dad used to play!

But North West's mommy isn't just focusing on the ivories!

Apparently Kim used to play the violin in grade school and is planning on relearning it not to mention Kourtney gave her one for Christmas, so she kinda has to.

The star could make her debut in May at a recital where Oksana's students perform in front of their families!

It is also being said that Mrs. West has a special song planned for the big debut.

She revealed on Twitter that it was one of Yeezy's jams, we're just dying to know which one!

Sounds like Kimmy REALLY wants to impress her musically talented hubby with her own skills!

[Image via Pacific Coast News.]

Tags: classical pianist teacher, gifs, kim kardashian, learning, lessons, music minute, pianist, piano, serious, songs

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Source: http://perezhilton.com/2015-03-03-kim-kardashian-piano-lessons-pianist-music-surprise-family

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A woodpecker carrying a weasel on its back is taking the internet by storm.

However, the photo is leaving us with some big questions. Is it real? How can it carry such a big weight and fly? Is anything stronger in the animal kingdom?

There is a only one person to turn to in times like this... Deadly 60 presenter Steve Backshall.

"For the bird to be able to fly is pretty extraordinary, but not unheard of, so I have no reason to doubt it."

Steve may have no reason to question the image being real, but some people on social media think it's a fake.

"If the image is real, it's remarkable, but nothing in it is totally unbelievable.

"For the green woodpecker to be able to fly away would be extraordinary, but a young or female weasel would be a pretty lightweight passenger."

He told us that he is a bit of a fan of the creature apparently taking a ride.

"The weasel is pretty fascinating," he says, adding that it was probably trying to attack the bird.

"It can kill things much bigger than itself, so it's an impressive little creature in itself when you think about its size."

Steve's hunch is backed by the photographer who took the shot on Monday - Martin Le-May.

He said the bird was making a "distressed squawking" during its struggle in the sky above Hornchurch Country Park, east London.

This image has left the curious minds at Newsbeat with lots of questions, mainly what is stronger than a woodpecker in comparison with its size.

Steve says: "The champion weight lifter amongst animals is the rhinoceros beetle, they can withstand 850 times their body weight bearing down on them. That's the champion carrier."

We've done some pretty amateur maths and worked out how strong that is compared to a human and we reckon it's like a human carrying an Airbus 320 plane full of 174 passengers.

If you want to check out our sums to see how we came up with that, we took the average weight of a male in the UK, multiplied that by 850 and looked to see what weighed the same.

Perhaps not thoroughly scientific but it does show how weak we humans are in comparison.

Steve told Newsbeat that humans just can't compare to the likes of a beetle on size-to-weight ratio.

"Invertebrates generally have a greater strength to body weight ratio than other animals.

"Leafcutter ants carry vast sail-like chunks of leaf in their jaws; often with another small ant on top to act as their guardian, protecting them from parasitic wasps."

It all makes us feel a bit puny. However Steve doesn't think we should worry about it too much.

"We're not necessarily weak in comparison to other animals, but everything in evolution is about trade offs. Having a big brain consumes energy, having dexterous fingers means they are less powerful."

Nature is full of creatures we might consider freaks. Steve says there are a few we should all check out.

"One we should look out in the weasel family would be the wolverine, which is not much bigger than a badger, but can kill an adult moose by tearing out its achilles tendon.

"Or check out the sea otter, another weasel which uses tools to smash open crabs and mussels on its chest.

Steve reckons the sea is full of great creatures with super strength.

"How about the sperm whale, a free-diving mammal that can dive to two miles of depth on a single breath, and stay down for two hours?"

And one of the most amazing things about sperm wales is that "the males can produce bursts of 220 decibel sound that can be used to paralyse their prey."

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/31710443

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Elmira kids read Dr. Seuss, love book use, no excuse

Jeff Murray, jmurray@stargazette.com | @SGJeffMurray 1:30 p.m. EST March 2, 2015

Olivia Stanley, a senior at Notre Dame High School, reads Dr. Seuss to first grade students at Diven Elementary School in Elmira on Monday.(Photo: JEFF MURRAY / STAFF PHOTO)

Story Highlights

• Notre Dame students rhyme their way into the hearts and minds of school children
• Notre Dame presented Diven Elementary School with a new bookshelf made by a former student
• The bookshelf was filled with children's books collected during a book drive

It isn't a recognized holiday yet but children at Diven Elementary School on Monday celebrated the birthday of author Dr. Seuss, and they got some help from students at Notre Dame High School.

As part of the celebration, Notre Dame students unveiled a bookshelf that was constructed by 2014 graduate Thomas Smith, and painted by Service Learning and Advanced Art students Brooke Harvey and Marlene Makowski.

Notre Dame students also held a book drive to collect new or gently used children's books to stock the new bookshelf.

Also Monday, Notre Dame students read books written by Dr. Seuss whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel to students in pre-K through second grade.

"It's nice to read to them and reach out to them. I want to work with kids some day," said Notre Dame Senior Olivia Stanley, of Columbia Cross Roads. "It's good for them to know reading is important. Some kids don't think reading is fun but it is."

Stanley read to a group of rapt students in teacher Summer Berry's first grade classroom.

Berry was grateful for the extra help.

"This partnership is extremely beneficial to our students of our school. One thing many of them are lacking is having someone outside of class to read to or to be read to," she said. "It's really invaluable to have someone here and read to the children and see how much joy we can get from reading. Dr. Seuss is a perfect author to celebrate. Children can relate to his silly stories, but they also read them."

Follow Jeff Murray on Twitter @SGJeffMurray.

Read or Share this story: http://stargaz.tt/1AwSwTD

Source: http://www.stargazette.com/story/news/local/2015/03/02/diven-dr-seuss/24265049/

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Eric Wood, other Buffalo Bills players react to LeSean McCoy for Kiko Alonso trade

Eric Wood

Buffalo Bills center Eric Wood (70) runs on the the field before an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert) (Bill Wippert)

Orchard Park, N.Y. The Buffalo Bills sent shockwaves through the NFL on Tuesday night when they traded linebacker Kiko Alonso to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for 2013 first-round pick LeSean McCoy.

Within minutes, NFL Network and ESPN were breaking down the trade while seemingly everyone on Twitter had an opinion. The players still on the Bills' roster had quite the reactions to losing a star defensive player and gaining another superstar on offense.

Here's how Buffalo players reacted in the moments following the noteworthy deal.

Source: http://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2015/03/eric_wood_other_buffalo_bills_players_react_to_lesean_mccoy_for_kiko_alonso_trad.html

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Texans begin exploring options on how to replace Andre Johnson

How will the Texans replace veteran wide receiver Andre Johnson, the greatest player in franchise history?

The normal ways: Free agency and the draft.

Green Bays Randall Cobb tops the potential 2015 free-agent class and could command a contract of at least $10 million annually. Cobb collected 91 catches for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns last season for the Packers, who came a couple minutes away from advancing to the Super Bowl.

Wide receiver Amari Cooper (9) Cooper was Alabamas biggest offensive weapon by far, and one of the nations most prolific receivers. (AP Photo / Jonathan Bachman, File)

Philadelphias Jeremy Maclin (85 catches, 1,318 yards, 10 TDs in 2014) had a career season in 2014 and is entering the prime of his career after recovering from ACL surgery.

San Franciscos Michael Crabtree, Baltimores Torrey Smith and Jacksonvilles Cecil Shorts are among top receivers who could also be available on the open market.

With Johnson set to make $10.5 million in guaranteed money and count $16.1 million against the Texans 2015 salary cap, the Texans could add a comparable receiver at less cost in the short and long term. By releasing Johnson, they would enter free agency with almost $22 million in cap space.

The 2015 draft class is again deep at receiver, initially appearing to match an especially strong 2014 group that included the New York Giants Odell Beckham, Buffalos Sammy Watkins and Tampa Bays Mike Evans. Kevin White (West Virginia) and Amari Cooper (Alabama) are expected to be off the board when the Texans make the No. 16 overall pick this year. But Louisvilles DeVante Parker, Arizona States Jaelen Strong and Missouris Dorial Green-Beckham should be available, with premier talent remaining in rounds 2-3.

Last December, Johnson proudly linked his football future with the only team hes ever played for.

Thats the dream. Thats what I hope for, Johnson said. When youve spent a lot of time somewhere, you hope that you can finish your career there and walk off into the sunset in that one place.

The longtime Texan, who is already building his retirement house in Houston, will now seek a new team while the Texans explore how to best replace No. 80 in 2015.

brian.smith@chron.com

twitter.com/ChronBrianSmith

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Source: http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2015/03/texans-begin-exploring-options-on-how-to-replace-andre-johnson/

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