US Restaurants Customer not Eating-less They are Eating Somewhere Else

Many legacy US based chain restaurants look more like yesterday, act more like yesterday, and are led by CEO’s to old to understand the undercurrents of change technology has brought to every sector of food retail today according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

Brand protectionism drove restaurant sales and store count growth while garnering banks and investors to line up and invest back in 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s now the caution signs are out. Franchisees are upset, as customer counts continue to fall.  It seems that the CEO moto of ‘do-no-harm’ has doe has done the opposite as grocery stores service deli’s are growing at 8.2% and C-stores sales are growing at 6.5% a year.

Restaurant sales growth was -0.7% for August, the second consecutive month according to Black Box Intelligence™ data from TDn2K™, based on weekly sales from over 31,000 locations representing 170+ brands and $72 billion in annual sales. There is no getting around it.  Chain restaurants must evolve their business model according to Johnson.

Here is why:  Restaurant sector same-store traffic growth was -3.9% in August, following -4.0% in July.  September 2019 is the grocery store sectors Family Meals Month and that sure does not help the restaurant sector as they are having a tough time serving one meal at a time.

Regular readers of this blog know our Grocerant Guru® has 6 Pillars for growth he has outlined the past three years.  However, many legacy chain restaurants continue practicing brand protectionism looking more like yesterday than today or tomorrow and year over year customer counts reflect how consumers feel about where they are today.  Consumers are dynamic not static food brands must be dynamic as well.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Battle for Share of Stomach