Atlanta’s Independent Restaurants – Ordering Up an End to the Recession!
By Robert Wagner, CPA
For many of Atlanta’s independent restaurant operators, the worst recession in a generation is ending, indicates NetFinancials’ latest survey. Our findings are doubly significant given the atrocious February weather that was served up to the Atlanta restaurant industry and consumers.
Aggregate sales in February 2010 are up over last February’s sales. Aggregate sales for February 2010 at our surveyed restaurants increased a little more than 1% over sales for February 2009.
How are individual restaurants doing? Of the 53 Atlanta restaurants surveyed, 32 (60%) recorded increased sales over February 2009. Twenty-one restaurants reported decreased sales compared to last February.
We also examined year-to-date 2010 sales compared to 2009. Here the results were not as good. Of the 53, only 25 (47%) had 2010 sales greater than year-to-date 2009 sales. Twenty-eight restaurants showed decreased year-to-date sales compared to 2009. However the 2010 year-to-date result is an improvement over our October 2009 survey which showed 79% of restaurants with 2009 sales less than 2008 sales.
The Winners: Unique as we are, Atlanta’s restaurant scene mirrors national eating-out trends. Casual-dining and neighborhood-focused restaurants are generally seeing better sales trends than fine-dining and visitor-focused restaurants.
Conclusion: February 2010 sales indicate the recession in the local restaurant market is ending. Customers are venturing out again to take advantage of Atlanta’s many dining out options and special promotions. That said Atlanta restaurant operators are not yet in the clear. Year-to-date 2010 sales levels are no better than anemic 2009 sales levels.
The Sample: The 53 independently operated, non-franchise restaurants were drawn from the metro Atlanta market. The sample includes restaurants in the fast casual, casual and fine-dining segments.
Robert Wagner, CPA is president of NetFinancials, Inc. which provides a full range of tax and accounting outsourced services for restaurant companies. Email: bob.wagner@netfinancials.com. www.netfinancials.com
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