Julia A. Stewart (born August 4, 1955) is an American businesswoman and former chief executive of DineEquity, Inc., now known as Dine Brands Global Inc., a publicly traded food and beverage company based in Pasadena, California.
On February 18, 2017, Nation’s Restaurant News reported “Applebee’s sales decline pushes out Julia Stewart”.
[1] In 1971, Stewart, when she was 16 years old, started working for International House of Pancakes (IHOP) as a waitress.
[3] Dine Brands Global was formed as "DineEquity" in 2007, when Stewart led IHOP to take over the larger Applebee's for US$1.9 billion and debt.
Prior to the takeover, Stewart had led IHOP through 18 consecutive quarters of growth, by moving over to a primarily franchise-driven business model.