BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ: BJRI) today announced that co-founders
Paul Motenko and Jerry Hennessy will be stepping down from the Company’s
Board of Directors effective December 30, 2008 to devote their full-time
attention to new entrepreneurial ventures.
"We are very supportive of the Company’s leadership and remain excited
about the direction they are taking the BJ’s concept,” commented Motenko
and Hennessy. "While we will no longer be officially involved with the
Company, we intend to remain very loyal supporters and significant
shareholders.”
"Paul and Jerry’s vision, hard work, tenacity, integrity and
philanthropy have inspired all of us that have followed in their
footsteps at BJ’s,” commented Jerry Deitchle, Chairman and CEO. "Their
body of work over the past 17 years has also provided a solid foundation
for BJ’s continued expansion across the country. Our entire Board and
our leadership team extend our most sincere thanks to Paul and Jerry for
their many years of dedicated service to BJ’s, and we wish them success
in their next venture.”
BJ's Restaurants, Inc. currently owns and operates 82 casual dining
restaurants under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery, BJ's Restaurant &
Brewhouse or BJ's Pizza & Grill brand names. BJ's restaurants offer an
innovative and broad menu featuring award-winning, signature deep-dish
pizza complemented with generously portioned salads, appetizers,
sandwiches, soups, pastas, entrees and desserts. Quality, flavor, value,
moderate prices and sincere service remain distinct attributes of the
BJ's experience. The Company operates several microbreweries which
produce and distribute BJ's critically acclaimed handcrafted beers
throughout the chain. The Company's restaurants are located in
California (44), Texas (13), Arizona (5), Colorado (3), Oregon (2),
Nevada (2), Florida (4), Ohio (2), Oklahoma (2), Kentucky (1), Indiana
(1), Louisiana (1) and Washington (2). The Company also has a licensing
interest in a BJ's restaurant in Lahaina, Maui. Visit BJ's Restaurants,
Inc. on the Web at http://www.bjsrestaurants.com.
Certain statements in the preceding paragraphs and all other statements
that are not purely historical constitute "forward-looking statements"
for purposes of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities and
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the
safe harbors created thereby. Such statements include, but are not
limited to, those regarding expected comparable restaurant sales growth
in 2008, those regarding the effect of new sales-building initiatives,
as well as those regarding the number of restaurants expected to be
opened in 2008 and the timing and location of such openings. These
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results to be
materially different from those projected or anticipated. Factors that
might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) our
ability to manage an increasing number of new restaurant openings, (ii)
construction delays, (iii) labor shortages, (iv) minimum wage increases,
(v) food quality and health concerns, (vi) factors that impact
California, where 44 of our current 80 restaurants are located, (vii)
restaurant and brewery industry competition, (viii) impact of certain
brewery business considerations, including without limitation,
dependence upon suppliers and related hazards, (ix) consumer spending
trends in general for casual dining occasions, (x) potential uninsured
losses and liabilities, (xi) fluctuating commodity costs, the effect of
any resulting menu price increases on our sales, the availability of
food in general and certain raw materials related to the brewing of our
handcrafted beers and energy, (xii) trademark and servicemark risks,
(xiii) government regulations, (xiv) licensing costs, (xv) beer and
liquor regulations, (xvi) loss of key personnel, (xvii) inability to
secure acceptable sites, (xviii) limitations on insurance coverage,
(xix) legal proceedings, (xx) other general economic and regulatory
conditions and requirements, (xxi) the success of our key sales-building
and related operational initiatives and (xxii) numerous other matters
discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or
alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
