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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Dave & Buster’s CEO spells out everything that’s wrong with his
company (and how he’ll fix it)
By David Goldman, CNN
Updated:
12:14 PM EDT, Tue September 16, 2025
Source: CNN
Dave & Buster’s new CEO is not holding back.
Tarun Lal, who took the reins in July, said on his first earnings call
with Wall Street analysts Monday night that his company is in more
trouble than previously believed. Profit growth continued to shrink,
sales have flatlined, and the stock is sinking sharply: down 17%
Tuesday.
With just a couple months under his belt, Lal has the advantage of
using a tried and true new-CEO strategy: blame the last guy. In a
presentation to analysts, Lal detailed a laundry list of prior Dave &
Buster’s () strategies that were broken.
“In reviewing our performance, it became very clear where our
approach was falling short,” Lal said on the call. “We’re not
waiting to make changes and implement our refocused strategy. We are
making changes and implementing them real-time.”
Lal said the company has started advertising on TV again and reduced
the number of promotions it offers. It changed up its menu, pushing
more profitable entrees over appetizers. The chain also introduced new,
streamlined communications initiatives and started re-training
employees. It launched 10 new games in locations and started making
customers aware of its remodeling efforts.
It’s early days, but Lal said the results have already been fruitful.
Dave & Buster’s food and beverage business is turning “solidly”
positive, Lal said, and newly remodeled stores are now outperforming
older stores by a substantial margin.
But investors have heard this story before. Sales at Dave & Buster’s
have been on the downswing for quite some time, and Lal acknowledged
that the trend is continuing this quarter. Past management unveiled a
growth strategy to help the company rebound, but it didn’t work –
and the chain now has a new leadership team.
Lal said past leaders may have been onto something, but the all-at once
change strategy was inefficient.
“As you all know, our company unveiled a comprehensive strategic plan
at our investor day in 2023,” Lal said. “I believe this plan had
the right ideas. We just attempted to implement too much at the same
time.”
Lal noted that a rebound in inflation threatens to hurt the company in
the near-term as customers look for more value for their money. But the
CEO said his new marketing efforts can help overcome that.
“With value, remember, it’s all about trust. It’s not how much
you’re paying; it’s about the value that you’re actually
receiving from the brand,” Lal said. “So I really believe that a
key part of the pivot that we are making is kind of really simplifying
the messages and making it really transparent for our customers on what
they are getting for the money they are spending.”
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