PORT WASHINGTON N.Y. The restaurant industry collected about $27.8 billion in total sales in January, a 2-percent gain from sales in the same month a year earlier, despite logging 1-percent fewer visits from consumers, according to data from research firm NPD Group.
The slight uptick in sales, which was the slowest rate of growth within the prior five months, was attributed to increases in average checks, which offset the slower rate of consumer traffic, NPD said. The traffic slowdown partially reflected a difficult comparison to a strong January 2006, when the nation saw its mildest temperatures in 112 years, NPD added.
According to consumer-reported figures from the firm's Consumer Reports on Eating Share Trends database, or CREST, chain restaurants benefited from a 2-percent increase in dollars spent despite the same amount of consumer visits versus January 2006. Independent restaurants, which NPD defines as concepts with one or two units, saw a 2-percent increase in sales despite a 2-percent decline in traffic.
Casual-dining chains, which have suffered from weak consumer traffic for more than a year, were able to benefit from a 2-percent jump in consumer visits in January, according to NPD's data, leading to a 5-percent increase in sales. Quick-service brands logged 2-percent higher sales on the same number of consumer visits as the year earlier.
"Commercial foodservice weakness continues to trace to the industry's core dayparts of lunch and supper," said Michele Schmal, vice president of NPD Group's CREST Product Management. "Neither matched the strong traffic registered in the mild January of 2006."
