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Darden
Restaurants
Headquarters:
1000 Darden Center Drive
Orlando, FL 32837
Employees: 180,000
CEO: Clarence Otis
Stock Symbol: DRI
Website: http://www.darden.com
Darden Restaurants operates some of the best known restaurant chains in the country including Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Olive Garden is a very popular casual restaurant serving Italian food and Red Lobster is the nation's largest restaurant chain specializing in seafood. Other chains include: LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52.
Darden has a total 1,778 restaurants in the USA and Canada. These include 690 Red Lobster restaurants, 695 Olive Garden restaurants, 322 Longhorn Steakhouse locations, 24 Bahama Breeze restaurants, 38 Capital Grille restaurants and 8 Seasons 52 locations.
For fiscal 2009, Darden had total sales of $7.22 billion, a 9% increase, and net earnings of $338.2 million.
Average annual sales at Red Lobster in fiscal 2009 were $3.8 million per restaurant. Olive Garden annual sales were $4.8 million per restaurant. Longhorn Steakhouse had sales of $2.8 million. Bahama Breeze reported average sales of $5.5 million per restaurant. Capital Grille had $6.8 million in sales per location.
Darden said it plans to open 50-55 new restaurants over the next year.
In September, the company opened a new corporate headquarters in Orlando. The three-story, 469,000-square-foot facility, situated on a 57-acre campus, will house 1,300 employees who provide support to the company's restaurants throughout North America. Within its new Restaurant Support Center, Darden will bring together all of its support center personnel under one roof for the first time. Previously, employees worked in 12 different buildings spread across a two-mile radius.
History
The first Red Lobster opened in 1968 in Lakeland, FL as a "Harbor for Seafood Lovers" and was founded by Bill Darden who preached great service and quality seafood. A 19-year old Joe Lee would help Darden run the restaurants and would become President of Red Lobster as the company expanded in the Southeast. Red Lobster would become the nation's leading restaurant chain.
Darden Restaurants was spun off from General Mills in 1995 and included Olive Garden, which opened its first restaurant in Orlando on Dec. 13, 1982. Olive Garden was developed by General Mills Restaurants.
Current Chairman Joe Lee was the President and CEO of General Mills Restaurants, Inc.
Benefits
Here are some of the benefits provided to restaurant workers by Darden.
Health Insurance: Day one medical coverage with just a $100 deductible and a dental plan with a $50 deductible and you can use any Doctor, Dentist or Hospital you want. For a little extra money you can purchase short-term disability insurance, which provides weekly benefits for up to 6 months. You can also sign up for $20,000 in term life insurance and $20,000 in Accidental Death & Dismemberment coverage.
Discounts: Our Dining Discount program lets you and up to seven friends enjoy a discount of 25% at any Darden Restaurant. And when you're working, eat in the restaurant before or after your shift or during your break at 50 percent off.
Eye Care: You can see for yourself with discounts on eye exams, lenses, frames and contact lenses, which are available through our vision plan.
Education: Get low interest educational loans for you and your family through our ConSern Student Loan Program.
Vacation: One week of paid vacation; two weeks after 3 years and three weeks after 7 years.
Retirement: You can start saving for tomorrow immediately with the Day One Darden 401k savings plan. After one year of employment and 1,000 work hours, the company will match up to 6% of your contributions.
Updated November 7, 2009