Introduction and Basis of Reporting

12 Months Ended

Dec. 28, 2022

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Introduction and Basis of Reporting

Introduction and Basis of Reporting

Denny’s Corporation, or the Company, is one of America’s largest franchised full-service restaurant chains based on number of restaurants. As of December 28, 2022, the Company consisted of 1,656 restaurants, 1,582 of which were franchised/licensed restaurants and 74 of which were company operated. The Company consists of the Denny’s brand (“Denny’s”) and the Keke’s Breakfast Café brand (“Keke’s”). Keke’s was acquired on July 20, 2022. See Note 3 for details.

At December 28, 2022, the Denny’s brand consisted of 1,602 restaurants, 1,536 of which were franchised or licensed restaurants and 66 of which were company restaurants. Denny’s restaurants are operated in 50 states, the District of Columbia, two U.S. territories and 12 foreign countries with principal concentrations in California (23% of total restaurants), Texas (13%) and Florida (8%).

At December 28, 2022, the Keke's brand consisted of 54 restaurants, 46 of which were franchised restaurants and eight of which were company operated. All Keke’s restaurants are located in Florida.

Starting in 2020 and continuing through 2022, the global economic crisis resulting from the spread of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”), along with government and consumer responses, has had a substantial impact on our restaurant operations, including impacts on labor and commodity costs and the ability of many Denny’s franchise restaurants to return to 24/7 operations. During 2020, many of our company and franchised and licensed restaurants were temporarily closed and most of the restaurants that remained open had limited operations. Through 2022, many Denny’s restaurants have not returned to full operating hours, particularly at the late night daypart. Our operating results substantially depend upon the sales volumes, restaurant profitability, and financial stability of our company and franchised and licensed restaurants.

We cannot currently estimate the duration or future negative financial impact of these economic conditions on our business. Ongoing material adverse effects of these economic conditions for an extended period could negatively affect our business, results of operations, liquidity and financial condition and could impact our impairment assessments of accounts receivable, intangible assets, long-lived assets and goodwill.