Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi, Julie Hyman, and Myles Udland speak with Brinker International CEO Wyman Roberts about how Chili's, Maggiano's Little Italy, and It's Just Wings are faring as the world begins to open back up.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: As we examine the reopening trade, a big part, of course, has been dining. Shares of Brinker are up this year on the outlook for dining. Brinker, the owner of Chili's, as well as Maggiano's Little Italy. And Wyman Roberts, the president and CEO of Brinker International, joins us now. So Wyman, first of all, just sort of level set, if you will, for us. Give us the big picture on how you guys are doing, what kind-- are you at full capacity in all of your restaurants right now, and what kind of traffic you're seeing.

WYMAN ROBERTS: Well, you know, the good news, really, for the industry is that with the vaccine rollout, with some of the stimulus, spring was very strong. And, you know, as we reported last earnings call, we ended April up 10% in sales and 10% in traffic to the pre-pandemic levels at Chili's. Maggiano's was a little bit more challenged because of the large group activity. But overall, we feel really good about where the business is and our future growth opportunities, both because of the strength of these base brands, but also because of our growth vehicle with the virtual brands.

BRIAN SOZZI: Wyman, my local Chili's has gotten pretty crowded over the past month, so I'm not surprised to see the traffic coming back. But when consumers are in the restaurant, what are they buying right now?

WYMAN ROBERTS: You know, the mix is pretty similar to what it was pre-pandemic. You know, people love Chili's. They have their favorites, for the most part. And, you know, we're just still selling a lot of burgers, a lot of ribs, and a lot of fajitas. So that's what they love about Chili's. That's what we do well. I haven't seen a big shift. We're selling a lot more margaritas. We've got a patron $5 Margarita out there now that's selling very, very well. And it's a great value and a great drink.

So we're seeing pretty much people coming back and enjoying the space, as they have always done, but especially, you know, getting kind of post-pandemic and being able to come together and share a meal with their family and friends. It's pretty similar to what we saw, you know, 14 months ago. And we're excited to have that back and that feeling back in our restaurants.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, people definitely excited to go out and have some margaritas for sure. I well understand that feeling, Wyman. What about finding the people to serve them those margaritas? You know, we've been talking a lot about that trend of having trouble finding workers. Are you guys offering incentives of any kind to bring people in? Are you having trouble finding employees?

WYMAN ROBERTS: Well, I mean, again, the good news is, with the vaccines, with the stimulus, it all hit at spring break, you know? There was a huge increase in sales for the industry. And we participated in that as well. And so, there was a demand for more team members. And we quickly identified that we needed more. The good news is we never let go of any of our managers. So we didn't need to go out and find managers.

But with the increase in sales, we needed more hourly team members, which was great. We set a goal to get 10,000 of those in, in 10 weeks. We've surpassed that. We've hired 15,000. So while there still are some spot challenges on individual markets, overall, we feel like the biggest challenge of getting our restaurant staffed is behind us. Now, we've got to train people and get them efficient and comfortable in their jobs. And that takes a little bit of time, but overall, we're feeling like the challenge of finding team members, broadly, is taken care of. So, just a unique situation, really driven by some positive things with regard to sales. So we'll take that.

MYLES UDLAND: And Wyman, what about the footprint in terms of the number of locations you have? I'm wondering if you've seen any opportunities maybe as, you know, some smaller restaurants, mom and pops, were not able to make it through the pandemic, if there's opportunities there for you guys to look at different kinds of locations that you previously may not have explored absent that kind of disruption.

WYMAN ROBERTS: Yeah, I mean, obviously, the biggest kind of example of that is a virtual branch, where there's not even real estate bounce. So introducing It's Just Wings and creating a brand, really, that's almost a year old now-- it'll be $150 million with no capital investment per se-- is the best idea we've got.

But there are going to be additional opportunities, we think, post the real estate selling in and people understanding, OK, what does this mean? Right now, it's a little early, but we anticipate that we can grow our footprint through new restaurant openings to maybe double what we've been doing. Now it takes a little while if you're going to build restaurants to get that pipeline up and running. But we're excited about that potential growth opportunity as well.

BRIAN SOZZI: Wow, Wyman, that-- It's Just Wings. I remember when, I think, we last talked, when that brand was basically getting off the ground. So that's 100 and, what, 50 million in sales this year. How are you going to grow that further?

WYMAN ROBERTS: Well, there's a couple of things we're looking at. Obviously, this is just delivery. There's a takeout potential here. And we're doing all of the things we need to in terms of building an infrastructure on Google, as well as building a website out to create an opportunity where if a consumer chooses, they can just come and pick it up at a Chili's, and we'll just bring it out to them. It's still going to be virtual in terms of there's no place that you'll be able to sit down and eat it. But a lot of people would rather just stop on their way home, pick up food, and take it home. And so, the takeout channel is, we think, going to offer a lot of potential growth.

We're also looking at how to market it more aggressively, more effectively with our partner, and other ways to deliver it more aggressively. So we think it's just the beginning for this really strong brand that does extremely well with consumers. It has a great value proposition, and more importantly and most importantly, it's just great quality product.

BRIAN SOZZI: And Wyman, I just want to go back to some of the trends you're seeing in your business. I've been surprised just how strong the consumer is, just talking to retail executives, and how that momentum has continued over into, what, late April and May. Are you seeing that, too? And consumers are now not just spending their stimulus checks, they're just feeling more confident, and they're just spending on their own, even if they already used their checks.

WYMAN ROBERTS: Yeah, I can't talk specifically past April, but, you know, through April, we saw really significant trend changes and solid growth-- as I mentioned, 10% above pre-pandemic levels. Those are very encouraging signs that the consumer is back, that they're excited to be coming out to restaurants again, to getting to maybe take masks off here and get back to life as it was pre-pandemic. And we're thrilled to have them come into our restaurants. But we will continue to be just as comfortable bringing them their Chili's and their wings and their Maggiano's through any kind of delivery or convenience option they choose.

JULIE HYMAN: Hey, Wyman, just quickly, have you guys removed your mask mandate for your restaurants?

WYMAN ROBERTS: Yeah, I mean, it's been the topic of the day, right? So we just sent out communication to all of our team members supporting the CDC's initiative. We're excited because we think it's another incentive for everybody, especially our team members, to get vaccinated. And anything we can do to create a vaccinated work environment, we think that's the safest place to be.

And so, we've already got our own incentives. If taking your mask off is another incentive, then we're behind it. And we've sent communication out to our team members, saying, hey, if you've been fully vaccinated, you can take your mask off. And believe me, a lot of them-- if you can imagine working in a hot kitchen with a mask, it's not the most pleasant experience. And so, we're thrilled to be able to give them a breather, no pun intended, to deal with this.

JULIE HYMAN: Just quickly, are you guys giving people time off to go get their shots?

WYMAN ROBERTS: We are incenting them, so we do pay them. But we're not giving them time off. We're paying for them for every vaccine that-- vaccination that we get, we reimburse.

JULIE HYMAN: Gotcha, OK. Thanks a lot, Wyman. Good to see you. Wyman Roberts is Brinker International President and CEO. Be well. Go enjoy some wings, I hope.