sales

Financing

Consumers are more likely to say they’re cutting back on restaurants

The Bottom Line: Survey data from Revenue Management Solutions highlights a key challenge for all operators: Consumers are cutting back on their restaurant spending.

Financing

The newest key restaurant metric: Consumer confidence

With gas prices and job numbers stable over the past couple of years, consumer confidence in the economy is the metric driving your traffic results, or lack thereof.

The Minnesota State Fair can bring in 2 million visitors over a 12-day period. For the food vendors, it can be big business, where a cookie stand can make as much as an In-N-Out restaurant does in a year.

The fast-food giant generated strong traffic last week after bringing back the product, according to data from Placer.ai. Social media reports also suggest it’s popular.

The Bottom Line: Only 14 chains have been on the list of the 10 largest concepts over the past two decades. But that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t changed with consumer demand.

The Bottom Line: Before the pandemic, double-digit same-store sales results were rare and 20% increases were almost unheard of. Not anymore. Why social media is changing the possibilities of quarterly restaurant results.

Data from Black Box Intelligence shows weaker traffic to restaurants in areas with a heavy population of people with a Mexican heritage since the 2024 presidential election.

Industry and government data suggest that quick-service restaurants have cut back on price hikes. But it has yet to show up in the form of consistent traffic.

The food-and-games chain, which struggled with steep sales declines for more than two years, saw sales improve in recent months thanks to better value, marketing and operations.

Some struggling and bankrupt brands, like Au Bon Pain, Macaroni Grill and Fuddruckers are among the most notable concepts that fell off the ranking of the largest restaurant chains in the U.S.

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