Monday, May 02, 2011

Restaurant Performance Back to 2007 Levels

The National Restaurant Association reported strong restaurant activity in March, with the Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) reaching 101.0 for the second time in four months (see chart above). That's the first time that the RPI has been at a level of 101 twice in a four-month period since the pre-recession summer months of 2007.  Other highlights include:

1. March represented the sixth time in the last seven months that the RPI stood above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

2. The Current Situation Index for restaurant activity rose above 100 for the first time in 43 months, which signifies expansion in the current situation indicators.

3. The Expectations Index stood above the 100 level for the eighth consecutive month, which signifies expansion in the forward-looking indicators. 

4. For the sixth consecutive month, restaurant operators reported a positive outlook for staffing gains in the months ahead.

5. Same-store sales and customer traffic levels continued to improve in March.

4 Comments:

At 5/03/2011 8:38 AM, Blogger Buddy R Pacifico said...

On McDonald's national hiring day, April 18th, one million people applied. The company ended up hiring 60,000 rather than the original 50,000, because business is good. I went into a McDonald's on hiring day and the applications table was almost as busy as the food counter.

 
At 5/03/2011 9:22 AM, Blogger morganovich said...

most of the sames store sales gains are coming from price increases.

overall SSS increase is below food cpi.

this is not terribly encouraging.

 
At 5/03/2011 1:15 PM, Blogger Walker Thompson said...

Very good news... I think this is also a testament to the operators who focused on efficiencies and operational excellence -- those that use inventory control systems, labor, and data to win big! Those that stay around typically do so because of hard work and skill rather than just luck!

 
At 5/04/2011 6:09 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

Buddy

"I went into a McDonald's on hiring day and the applications table was almost as busy as the food counter."

Are you one of the lucky 60,000? :)

 

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