There may be no more difficult task in business than bringing a brand back from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. But those who counted out the Irish-themed Bennigan's restaurant chain once it failed a few years ago didn't reckon with CEO Paul Mangiamele or a cadre of new franchisees willing to take a flyer on the venerable marque.

"There are no boundaries that can be set on a team that is so passionate and committed to a brand that nothing becomes an obstacle," Mangiamele told brandchannel. The restaurant-industry veteran was recruited by investors in 2011 to lead a turnaround of the brand that was bought out of bankruptcy in 2008 by a private-equity firm.

These days, Mangiamele is out touting the story of the iconic restaurant brand that was left for dead but has since reinvented and reopened with 85 restaurants, aiming for a total of 200 outlets of the new Bennigan's within five years. Mangiamele details the experience so far in a book, "Bennigan's Return to Relevance ... Bleeding Green 25/8."Continue reading...

Double dip or a single dip with sprinkles on it, the recessionary feeling of the economy is something that Americans may be getting used to. And increasingly, quick-serve and fast-casual restaurant brands are adjusting to this "new normal" and simply trying to do business in spite of it, instead of assuming that better days are ahead.

Take Bennigan's. One of the original definers of the modern fast-casual restaurant segment, the 80-unit chain knows a thing or two about hard times, and by its own admission the Irish pub chain had grown rather stale and lifeless. It filed for bankruptcy-court protection in 2008, closed its corporate-owned stores across the US, and last November relaunched under new ownership. And certainly the three-year slump in the restaurant industry hasn't helped.

But instead of crying the blues, the Dallas-based chain, which now operates about 100 stores in the US and internationally is bringing out the green: It is launching a deep overhaul that includes re-connecting with the Irish green that was a key part of the optics of the original Bennigan's brand.Continue reading...

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Conde Nast aggregates popular content with Social Sidekick.Continue reading...