Chipotle Founder to Step Down as CEO After Comeback Falters

[pasha0672]

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. founder Steve Ells agreed to step down as chief executive officer after struggling to pull out of a two-year slump, a shake-up that sent shares of the burrito chain surging.

CMG share price, Bloomberg

And part of the official press release from Chipotle:

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) today announced that Steve Ells, chairman and CEO – and the founder of the company in 1993 – will become executive chairman following the completion of a search to identify a new CEO. The Board has formed a search committee comprised of Directors Robin Hickenlooper and Ali Namvar, as well as Ells, to identify a new leader with demonstrated turnaround expertise to help address the challenges facing the company, improve execution, build customer trust, and drive sales.

 

[roleyo5472]

@pasha0672 What I wanna know is why they don't expand more internationally. They only have stores in weird ass places right now outside of London. Everyone in Europe fucking loves burritos, yet they don't open any stores. Really poor leadership.

 

[newchopmarty]

@roleyo5472 Makes no sense at all that they went for UK/France/Germany over Norway/Sweden/Finland/Denmark. Taco's and burrito's are almost a staple in Scandinavian food, we've appropriated that stuff like Americans appropriated pizza. Add to that the whole healthy organic food thing and I really don't understand how they could fail.

 

[roleyo5472]

@newchopmarty They only have one location in Germany, and it's in Frankfurt which is really fucking stupid considering it's the business center of Germany. Business people and bankers aren't typically fast casual burrito people. Meanwhile I live in hipster central AKA Berlin where everyone here wants good burritos and would eat them daily, yet they have only really bad ones that always have tons of customers.

 

[resjudicata]

@roleyo5472 I work at a BB that has a chipotle on the ground floor and most of the people who buy lunch either buy Chipotle or Pret

 

[helloimjacob7]

@roleyo5472 I had a friend that lived in Germany and he and his friends would go on road trips just to eat at that one Chipotle. There’s definitely a market there I think they are just trying to refine their store blueprint to be the most efficient before they metastasize across Europe.

 

[roleyo5472]

@helloimjacob7 Well it has been open for three years or so. That's plenty of time to get your supply chain up and running. Taco Bell opened its first store in the Netherlands last month and will have 20 there by the end of 2019. That us what you call good leadership compared to whatever the fuck Chipotle is doing.

 

[newchopmarty]

@roleyo5472 Taco Bell is franchised though. Much easier to expand that way.

 

[nb720]

@roleyo5472 How do they have a supply chain for one store?! Starting the supply chain is the hard part, it should be easy to expand if they already have one store.

 

[famof5]

@newchopmarty More fun for execs to visit the former than the latter.

 

[dawei7]

@newchopmarty Show me a good burrito in Stockholm, please, I would love a good burrito. Most pizza in Sweden is like a shadow of good pizza.

 

[resjudicata]

@newchopmarty

Taco's and burrito's are almost a staple in Scandinavian food

Its a bit hard to wrap one's head around Mexican food being a staple food in Scandinavia. Saying that I doubt its the legit thing.

 

[newchopmarty]

@resjudicata The shelf at my grocery store for tex-mex food is larger than the shelf for knäckebröd, and I can guarantee you it's a pretty large shelf of knäckebröd. Taco's on friday is pretty much a tradition by now for families that have small kids.

I can't speak for its authenticity though, I've never been to Mexico/NA. The market is completely dominated by Santa Maria (Swedish company) products so you can judge for yourself.

 

[kalee81]

@newchopmarty It's closer than Taco Bell to being Mexican food but less close than Taco Cabana to give some context to my fellow Americans.

 

[mcross]

@roleyo5472 Indeed a couple of burrito chains have sprung up in the Netherlands in the past 2 years. CMG has missed out on that party so far.

 

[carenski]

@pasha0672 Ive been going to Chipotle for about 15 years. The last 2 years have been a joke in terms of QUANTITY. Chipotle use to have the biggest burrito/bowl with just a ton of meat. Now I'm lucky if I get half a scoop of meat! Its a joke. I used to go 3x a week. Now I go once a month just to see if anything has changed. It hasn't.

 

[pasha0672]

@carenski I've noticed that they're really stingy with rice which is odd because rice is pretty cheap.

 

[theylivewesleep]

@pasha0672 Just ask for extra rice and beans. It doesn't cost any extra.

Chipotle has been getting stingy with the portions but I need to get my moneys worth.

 

[onetruechurch4]

@pasha0672 If you want more rice just ask. The only thing they won't give you more of for free is meat and maybe guac.

 

[%E2%A0%80%E2%A0%80%E2%97%87]

@pasha0672 I think it's because it takes a decent amount of time to make and prep, and the container that holds it is not that big so it takes a good amount of time to swap it. Plus of everything that they need to cook, they definitely go through rice the quickest.