SURF'S UP FOR ARBY'S

     Triarc Companies Inc., which owns Royal Crown Cola and
Arby's, is spending $525M in cash for Long John Silver's
Restaurants Inc.  "The deal will create a company with a combined
4,200 restaurants, generating more than $2.5B in annual system-
wide sales."  Nelson Peltz, Triarc Chair/CEO:  "The proposed
addition of Long John Silver's nearly 1,450 locations to our
existing system of 2,700 Arby's restaurants will propel us
overnight to the top tier in the quick-service restaurant
industry" (AP/WASHINGTON TIMES, 9/22).
     DUAL-BRANDING, THE NEXT WAVE:  "Triarc will try to turn the
acquisition into a venture that would be the most ambitious
attempt at fast-food dual branding" -- which is "the retailing of
two separate brands from the same restaurant outlet."  Don
Pierce, head of Triarc's restaurant group:  "Multiple branding is
the next wave in the restaurant business" (Glenn Collins, N.Y.
TIMES, 9/22).
     OR IS IT?  According to this morning's WALL STREET JOURNAL,
"not everyone in the restaurant industry is so enamored of the
multiple-restaurant approach."  PepsiCo has tested several three-
in-one and two-in-one restaurant locations across the country,
"with less-than-overwhelming results" (Emory Thomas, WALL STREET
JOURNAL, 9/22).