Tag: restaurant sales

After reporting record fourth-quarter sales Thursday, Starbucks executives seemed confident that they had weathered a tumultuous year and put in place a clear, long-term plan focused on streamlined operations, returning cash to shareholders and growing in the U.S. and China. “While we still have work to do, these results provide encouraging evidence that our plan is working,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said on the company’s conference call with financial analysts. (Seattle Times)

Strong sales at KFC and Taco Bell more than made up for continued weakness at Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut has been trying to turn itself around in the U.S. by ramping up its value offerings and marketing heavily during football games. (CNBC)

The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index posted a moderate decline in July, the result of softer same-store sales and customer traffic, but the operator outlook for business conditions over the next six months remained stable, said Hudson Riehle, our senior vice president of research. According to Riehle, the July RPI was 101.1, a decrease of 0.6 percent from June. (National Restaurant Association)

The brand course corrected with a $5.99 Super Slam special. Denny’s saw a slowdown in same-store sales for the quarter, which the company partially blamed on a highly competitive value environment. (Nation’s Restaurant News)

Same-store sales growth returned to negative territory in January after three straight months of flat or positive sales. Although this could spark concerns regarding the recovery in the fourth quarter, January was plagued with external factors that suggest it may be too soon to sound the alarm. (Nation’s Restaurant News)

The collective shouted responses from the 40-plus servers, greeters, bartenders and cooks who were sitting in the crowded dining room at 9 a.m. on a rainy Saturday morning were both frenzied and unnerving. “Fifty cents!” (Nation’s Restaurant News)