Beverage
Boosting profits at the bar
Amid flat bar traffic, operators turn to other tactics to increase sales.
David Zebny's non-chain chain Z Square
David Zebny, the man behind Z Square, may have discovered an underserved niche between the bakery-cafes (read: Panera) and the casual dinnerhouses (Applebee’s, et al).
Restaurant operators have seen improving same-store sales and increases in customer traffic, triggering a rise in the Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) in October, 2010. The RPI, a monthly index that tracks the health and outlook of the U.S. restaurant industry, is the highest since 2007, sparking optimism from restaurant operators hit hard by the recession.