Stewart, chief executive of DineEquity, is dressed in a shocking-red St. John pantsuit with toenails to match. She settles into the back of a town car for the 45-minute drive from corporate headquarters, just north of Los Angeles, to a recently remodeled Applebee’s.
It’s been a trying couple of years for Stewart. There’s recently been some turnover in the executive suite at DineEquity, which owns Applebee’s and International House of Pancakes (IHOP). The chief financial officer left a year ago without a replacement, a move that sent the company’s shares plunging 26% the following day.
The general counsel left in July, and Desmond Hague, hired in July 2008 to run the IHOP unit, quit seven months after he started. On top of this Stewart cleared out the old Applebee’s executives but didn’t hire the unit’s new president until six months later.
