Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Levy Restaurants

Hess, Edward D., M...

Case

Levy Restaurants

Hess, Edward D.; Modica, Shizuka

S-0155 | Published March 6, 2008 | 21 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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Growing from a passive investment in a Chicago delicatessen in 1978, into a national foodservice company by 2007, Levy Restaurants (Levy) served approximately 63 million customers a year at more than 85 different restaurants and sporting and entertainment venues. Then Levy expanded its fine-dining restaurant business into sports and entertainment venues and such unexpected places as Disney World. Levy grew at greater than 20% compounded growth rates between 1999 and 2007 because of a plethora of newly constructed baseball, football, basketball, and hockey arenas and stadiums. When construction growth leveled off, Levy responded by expanding into entertainment venues. How could Levy maintain its stellar growth rate? Levy's answer to this question depended, in part, on how it defined its core competencies; it needed to decide whether it was a fine-dining company or a foodservice company and how its customer-value proposition differed from its competitors. Levy had to determine which new customer segments to expand and whether to grow, maintain, or shrink its restaurant business.