Papa John’s sales slide amid controversy over founder’s remarks
NEW YORK — Papa John’s wants to move on from its famous founder, but John Schnatter says he isn’t going away.
The fight underscores the challenges facing the pizza chain, which has slashed its sales outlook for the year after reporting a third straight quarter of sales declines in North America. Rival Domino’s continues to post gains.
Even before Forbes reported on July 11 that founder John Schnatter used a racial slur, a key sales figure had been down around 6 percent. Then for July, the drop steepened to 10.5 percent at established North American locations, the company said Tuesday.
Disney’s future streaming service won’t compete directly with Netflix
NEW YORK — Disney’s upcoming streaming service won’t try to compete directly with Netflix and Amazon but will focus instead on quality — namely original programs from Disney’s “Star Wars,” Pixar and Marvel brands. The details from Disney CEO Bob Iger came as Disney reported a growth in earnings for the latest quarter, though results missed expectations.
With Comcast out of the bidding war, Disney is planning to move forward with its $71.3 billion purchase of Fox’s entertainment assets, in part to boost a Disneybranded streaming service set to launch in late 2019. In a statement, Iger said he was excited about “opportunities ahead for continued growth.”