during and after the exit. Know your hurdle rate, and stick to it The most instructive part of GYG’s US retreat is the discipline behind the decision. Founder and co-CEO Steven Marks was explicit that the US business had strong food quality but “did not meet those targeted hurdles” and would have needed “significantly more time and capital than we had expected” to turn around. Rather than chase sunk costs, management walked away once the numbers stopped stacking up against pre-set targets. For retailers eyeing international expansion, the takeaway is to set your investment thresholds before you enter a market and have the discipline to exit when a venture isn’t meeting them – even after six years and heavy public commitment. A clean exit protects the core business GYG’s costs came in at the lower end of its guided US$30-40 million range, and management says there will be no material financial impact carried into FY27. That matters for any retailer contemplating a market withdrawal – a drawn-out, poorly managed exit (GYG faced a class action over redundancy notice periods before it was abandoned) can bleed reputational and financial damage well beyond the closure date. Containing the exit to a single reporting period, rather than letting it drag, is what allowed GYG to pivot the market’s attention back to its underlying growth story within the same results announcement. Expand through proven formats, not ambition alone With the US chapter closed, GYG is doubling down on Singapore and Japan, master-franchise markets that delivered 18 per cent network sales growth this year. This is a markedly different model to the company-owned US stores that failed – franchise partnerships spread capital risk and lean on local operator knowledge. For retailers weighing offshore growth, GYG’s pivot suggests a lesson in format matching. The US required a capital-intensive, directly-operated model in an unfamiliar market, while Asia’s franchise structure allows GYG to scale with partners who already understand local consumer behaviour and property markets. Domestically, the same logic applies – 117 Australian restaurants with commercial terms agreed, 85 per cent of them drive-thru, show a business scaling into a format it already knows works. Let AI do the operational heavy lifting Perhaps the most forward-looking element for retail peers is GYG’s investment in its proprietary Order Management System, an AI layer management system called the “brains” above the restaurant and drive-thru. Since launch, it has dynamically optimised around 15.5 million transactions, working alongside point-of-sale systems to manage order flow during peak periods. Marks is positioning this as a genuine differentiator, with vision AI, smart scales and dynamic wait times next on the roadmap. For retailers under margin pressure, this is a signal that AI-driven operational efficiency, not just customer-facing gimmicks, is where near-term ROI is emerging in food and retail environments alike. Value wins when costs are rising elsewhere GYG kept menu price increases below 2 per cent for the year, well under inflation, while transaction growth outpaced comparable store sales growth. In a climate where many retailers are raising prices to protect margins, GYG’s bet on holding value and rewarding guest frequency paid off in both traffic and franchisee returns, with a median ROI of 47 per cent and restaurant margins of 21 per cent. Combined with a lifted dividend, a 14.4 per cent special dividend and a fresh $100 million buyback, the market reward for that value strategy was immediate. For retailers, the message is clear: disciplined pricing, disciplined market exits and disciplined reinvestment in AI and proven formats are what can turn a headline loss into a credible growth story.