Steak 'n Shake is eliminating cherries from the annual food budget as a last ditch effort to save the company. According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, CEO Sardar Biglari is looking to cut costs and offset ongoing financial decline. Though the publication suggests it won't be enough: "Steak 'n Shake might not make it."
During a recent shareholders meeting, Biglari told investors the brand spends $1 million on cherries per year and that he would "love to get rid of that $1 million." While it seems like a massive number to a mere mortal like myself, it's nothing in the scheme of Steak 'n Shake's struggles. The Journal reports that the burger chain lost $10.7 million in 2018 and a whopping $18.9 million in 2019's first quarter alone.
However, nixing cherries from atop milkshakes isn't Biglari's only plan of action. "He is literally inventing a new milkshake making process—he said at the meeting that this was going to be a patented process—and that is going to speed up service," an anonymous investor told the outlet. "The shareholders seemed to think this was ridiculous—and I would tend to agree—to think that Sardar, with all his free time, is going to be able to invent a milkshake process to turn the whole chain around."
Amidst profit drama, the company was slapped with two lawsuits. Just last week, a judge ordered Steak 'n Shake to pay $7.7 million in damages to over 200 St. Louis-based store managers. They're also facing a class action in Missouri for the same reason: unpaid overtime. Though the chain is hoping to appeal the original ruling and fight the current suit, I've got to side with the Journal on this one. It's really looking like Steak 'n Shake might go under after over 80 years in operation.
