I’m an optimist by nature, and I’d love to be 100-percent positive about our current business climate. But that sort of unquestioning confidence seems harder to maintain these days.
Two recent events conspired to erode my hopefulness. First, in late April I found myself wandering through a desolate mall in Middle America on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Note: “rainy” and “Saturday,” meaning the place should have been packed.
The mall was in Lima, Ohio — someplace I’ve known and frequented long before it gained cachet as home to “Glee.” The city, once a thriving industrial center built on railroads, oil and school buses, has lost 10,000 residents in the past few decades. There are more than a few vacated strip malls, several grocers have shuttered, and even the local Home Depot closed.
It would be easy to write Lima off as an anomaly, except that I recently saw the same thing as I drove through the Boston suburb of Framingham, Mass. At one intersection, the laundromat, grocery store, gas station, bank and a restaurant that had a long history as the weekend meeting place of antique car enthusiasts were all gone.
Even as first-quarter earnings reports maintain that sales and traffi c are on the rise — see NRN.com for more details — the prevailing mood is far from joyous. In this issue’s special report we examine the industry’s health on the eve of one of its biggest gatherings, the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago. The report, which begins on page 3, discusses the threats posed by escalating gas prices and rising commodity costs, and showcases the results of a recent operator survey conducted through NRN a.m.
Also starting on page 3 and continuing in the Business Intel section, we look at how the government’s crackdown on illegal immigrants is exacting costs on restaurants in the form of turnover, closures and declining productivity.
Meanwhile, in Finance, the lingering credit crunch takes center stage, with members of the franchise community, lenders and policymakers weighing in on how to get money fl owing to businesses.
But despite the looming problems, this issue of NRN is not all full of doom and gloom. In Operations we explore the growing use of single-cup coffee equipment in restaurants seeking to profit from the gourmet coffee craze, as well as opportunities to be found in online ordering, as revealed in a study by Cornell University.
And in Food & Beverage we examine how some operators are revamping their chicken offerings to take advantage of the low cost of chicken wings and, hopefully, help them fly out of stores. The Court of Master Sommeliers also chimes in with some wine recommendations to accompany poultry.
Wining and dining, that powerful combination, has long inspired passion from those who work in the industry, and alumni of the storied Steak & Ale chain are no exception. Several veterans of the now-vanished brand, founded by casual-dining pioneer Norman Brinker, are planning their first formal reunion for later this year. For more details check out the story in this issue’s Community section.
It’s wonderful to walk down memory lane, especially during difficult times like these. Clearly the early days of Steak & Ale must have been less complicated in comparison. The industry was still young, and there was still plenty of room to grow.
But even today, with so many problems seemingly clouding the future, there are still positive signs to be found, if you’re looking for them. For example, in Having Words With, Sally Smith, chairwoman of the NRA and president and chief executive of Buffalo Wild Wings, observes, “We’re starting to see an increase in development.”
And not too far from the Lima mall, a Panera Bread location is catering to bustling crowds as another new restaurant prepares to open its doors nearby. Spring-like signs of life after a long winter of discontent. And while the storm clouds have yet to leave the skies, hope remains in bloom.
Robin Lee Allen
Executive Editor
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Follow me on Twitter @RobinLeeAllen