Snooze, an A.M. Eatery has shaken up its C-suite over the past year. The Denver-based brunch brand known for its daytime party vibes hired former SPB Hospitality CEO Josh Kern to head the brand in October 2025. Then, last month, the company announced that Amy Hom was joining Snooze from Barcelona Wine Bar.
As the brand approaches 70 locations, Snooze faces increasing competition from within the super-hot brunch category — a growing subset of the family-dining sector. In fact, according to Technomic data, Snooze is one of the few brands in the category whose sales growth shrunk in recent years. Comparatively, category leader First Watch is forecasted to grow sales by 71% from 2022 to the end of 2026, Technomic data shows.
But Snooze’s leadership team is optimistic about the future. Kern said in an interview that the company is “back on a growth trajectory” after slowing down for a while and plans to open six or seven new restaurants in 2027, likely in the Phoenix and California markets.
“We feel that there’s so much white space for the brand, but you have to be very careful. We have to have great restaurants today and earn the right to open new restaurants,” Kern said. “That’s the difficult part of a funky brand like Snooze that’s a niche within the brunch and breakfast category. So, getting the right people in here for consistent operations is critical, and allows us to grow.”
Hom said from day one, her priorities are to listen to team members, focus on execution and to ramp up creative innovation. After all, as the brunch category has grown, so have guest demands and menu options. It’s not just pancakes and eggs-any-style anymore.
“We are in an industry right now that has to be extremely nimble,” Hom said. “So, things are constantly being innovated and turning on a dime. We need to stay ahead of that. For us, right now, it’s about accountability. … When people leave Snooze, there’s a little more skip in their step, so how do we stay consistent with that?”
As Snooze balances growth with consistency of quality, the brand’s leadership is also working on playing catchup with competitors in certain areas. Snooze’s beverage platform is one example. Although the company was slinging mimosas years before First Watch first added alcohol to the menu, Kern said it’s time for a shakeup.
“We’re the OG of adding cocktails to the morning daypart, but there’s so much innovation now in this category, like mocktails, flavored coffees, smoothies—you name it,” Kern said. “We’re really leaning into that area and just recently relaunched our mimosas program.”
Snooze isn’t just competing with other casual-dining breakfast chains though. Kern pointed out that the company is also competing with growing drive-thru coffee chains like Dutch Bros, which provide a morning fix for folks without the wait.
“Our Achilles heel is our waitlist, and when Snooze came on the scene 20 years ago, a line out the door got your attention,” he said. “Now there’s so much competition and we’ve got to get better in terms of managing expectations of when people get seated. People are busy and their time is constrained. They have a soccer game to get to in the afternoon.”
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