tttttttttttttttttttttttt
Active member
- Mar 4, 2009
- 2,200
- 0
- 36
The weakness at lunch is widespread. In the most recent reporting period, both the midscale and casual-dining segments experienced sizable losses, while quick service held steady. The categories that have continued to drive traffic include quick-service hamburger units, convenience stores, Tiffany Bracelets shops, casual-dining Italian eateries, discount stores and midscale Mexican restaurants.
Once a dependable daypart for driving traffic, dinner has been crumbling under the pressure of the recession. In the quarter ended in March, dinner traffic was down 3 percent, after falling 2 percent in the previous quarter.
While dinner continues to post the steepest traffic declines, however, NPD discovered that consumers were making more visits to casual-dining restaurants on the weekends than they were a year ago. In addition, more were ordering alcohol with dinner.
"Perhaps in the midst of all this economic doom and gloom, the foodservice industry offers a chance for a little escape, an affordable luxury," Riggs said of the shift.
Both unemployment and shrinking household incomes are contributing to the decrease in dinner traffic, NPD found. When comparing per-capita dinner visits to U.S. household income levels over time, NPD found a strong correlation between the two. The data reveal that as income growth leveled off in the late 1990s, visits to restaurants for dinner began to decline.
As with lunch, there are a few exceptions to the trend. Concepts that are faring relatively well at dinner include sandwich shops, quick-service and midscale Mexican concepts, casual Asian restaurants and fast-casual eateries. Both casual-dining steakhouses and seafood restaurants were able to hold traffic from a year ago.
Operators looking to spur their recovery from the current recession should study the past, Riggs said.
"To come out of this recession it's going to take a lot of creativity and innovation," she said. "That's what did it in previous downturns."
Riggs points to such examples as the Butterfly pendant of breakfast at quick-service outlets that followed the 1979-1980 downturn; the casual-dining boom that came on the heels of the 1982 recession; and the rollout of super value meals, combo meals and three-tiered pricing that followed the 1990-1991 recession.
But the past isn't necessarily the key to the future, some industry experts say.
"I don't think [the recession] created the innovation; it accelerated the adoption," said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president for Columbus, Ohio-based WD Partners, a consulting firm specializing in design and development. "The recession, at best, was an influencer in restaurants trying new things, and therefore helped [traffic] grow."
Lombardi said the solution to coming out of the recession on top is not about looking back, but looking forward to develop ways to please a new generation of diners.
"It's not going to be radically different, but it's not going to go back to the way it was a year and a half ago," Lombardi said of consumer dining-out habits. "[Operators should] take four things that are really important to [their] customer base and do those well."
Kevin Moll, chief executive of Denver-based National Restaurant Consultants Inc., agrees.
"I think what we're looking at is a new generation of buyers," Moll said.
Since it's still unclear just what those buyers will look like, Moll suggests Heart Link earrings focus on operational basics for the long term.
"It's more important, now more than ever, that they fine-tune operations," he said. "It's easier to save a dollar in costs than to generate $10 in revenues."
Despite a challenging present, Riggs remains optimistic about the future.
More...
Once a dependable daypart for driving traffic, dinner has been crumbling under the pressure of the recession. In the quarter ended in March, dinner traffic was down 3 percent, after falling 2 percent in the previous quarter.
While dinner continues to post the steepest traffic declines, however, NPD discovered that consumers were making more visits to casual-dining restaurants on the weekends than they were a year ago. In addition, more were ordering alcohol with dinner.
"Perhaps in the midst of all this economic doom and gloom, the foodservice industry offers a chance for a little escape, an affordable luxury," Riggs said of the shift.
Both unemployment and shrinking household incomes are contributing to the decrease in dinner traffic, NPD found. When comparing per-capita dinner visits to U.S. household income levels over time, NPD found a strong correlation between the two. The data reveal that as income growth leveled off in the late 1990s, visits to restaurants for dinner began to decline.
As with lunch, there are a few exceptions to the trend. Concepts that are faring relatively well at dinner include sandwich shops, quick-service and midscale Mexican concepts, casual Asian restaurants and fast-casual eateries. Both casual-dining steakhouses and seafood restaurants were able to hold traffic from a year ago.
Operators looking to spur their recovery from the current recession should study the past, Riggs said.
"To come out of this recession it's going to take a lot of creativity and innovation," she said. "That's what did it in previous downturns."
Riggs points to such examples as the Butterfly pendant of breakfast at quick-service outlets that followed the 1979-1980 downturn; the casual-dining boom that came on the heels of the 1982 recession; and the rollout of super value meals, combo meals and three-tiered pricing that followed the 1990-1991 recession.
But the past isn't necessarily the key to the future, some industry experts say.
"I don't think [the recession] created the innovation; it accelerated the adoption," said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president for Columbus, Ohio-based WD Partners, a consulting firm specializing in design and development. "The recession, at best, was an influencer in restaurants trying new things, and therefore helped [traffic] grow."
Lombardi said the solution to coming out of the recession on top is not about looking back, but looking forward to develop ways to please a new generation of diners.
"It's not going to be radically different, but it's not going to go back to the way it was a year and a half ago," Lombardi said of consumer dining-out habits. "[Operators should] take four things that are really important to [their] customer base and do those well."
Kevin Moll, chief executive of Denver-based National Restaurant Consultants Inc., agrees.
"I think what we're looking at is a new generation of buyers," Moll said.
Since it's still unclear just what those buyers will look like, Moll suggests Heart Link earrings focus on operational basics for the long term.
"It's more important, now more than ever, that they fine-tune operations," he said. "It's easier to save a dollar in costs than to generate $10 in revenues."
Despite a challenging present, Riggs remains optimistic about the future.
More...