From Summer, A Fall: Chain Restaurants Report Declining Third-Quarter Sales
A sampling of chain restaurants' third-quarter results shows consumers were still skittish about spending on dining out.
By Christine LaFave Grace, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, November 6, 2009
On October 29, the U.S. Commerce Department officially declared the country's worst recession since the Great Depression over, as the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 3.5% for the third quarter.
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| Richmond Heights, Mo.-based Panera Bread was one of a handful of chains to post sales gains in the third quarter. |
If only the quarterly picture had been as rosy for chain restaurants. Government rebates helped spur consumers to spend on houses and cars, but Americans continued to pinch pennies on meals away from home; many big-name chains saw sales and traffic slide for the quarter despite their efforts to tempt diners with discounts and limited-time offers.
Following is a sampling of quarterly same-store-sales results (sales at stores open for at least a year) announced by chain restaurants in the last month. Unless otherwise noted, all sales are for U.S. units in the third quarter of fiscal year 2009. For more insights on the chains listed below, check out R&I's Top 400 Chain Restaurants of 2009 and Consumers' Choice in Chains winners for this year.
| Restaurant Chain (Headquarters) | Same-Store Sales |
| Applebee's (Lenexa, Kan.) | -6.5% |
| Arby's (Atlanta) | -9.0% |
| Buffalo Wild Wings (Minneapolis) | +0.8% (company-owned), +1.9% (franchised) |
| Burger King (Miami) | -3.0% (first quarter 2010) |
| Chili's (Dallas) | -6.0% (first quarter 2010) |
| California Pizza Kitchen (Los Angeles) | -8.0% |
| Denny's (Spartanburg, S.C.) | -6.6% (company-owned), -7.3% (franchised) |
| Einstein Noah Restaurant Group (Lakewood, Colo.) | -2.7% |
| Famous Dave's (Minnetonka, Minn.) | -6.8% (company-owned), -9.5% (franchised) |
| IHOP (Glendale, Calif.) | -1.1% |
| McCormick & Schmick's (Portland, Ore.) | -18.8% |
| McDonald's (Oak Brook, Ill.) | +2.5% |
| Mitchell's Fish Market (Columbus, Ohio) | -12.3% |
| Morton's (Chicago) | -16.8% |
| Panera Bread (Richmond Heights, Mo.) | +3.3% (company-owned), +2.5% (franchised) |
| Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (Greenwood, Colo.) | -14.9% |
| Ruth's Chris Steak House (Heathrow, Fla.) | -24.0% |
| Starbucks (Seattle) | -1.0% |
| Texas Roadhouse (Louisville, Ky.) | -4.6% (company-owned), -3.6% (franchised) |
| Wendy's (Dublin, Ohio) | -0.1% |
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