NRN: Red Robin Off-Premise Sales Rise Nearly 40 Percent

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. has announced the company’s Q1 financials, and the results are, according to CEO Denny Marie Post, “a mixed bag.”

As reported by Nation’s Restaurant News, the full-service franchise’s off-premise sales, including to-go and catering sales, were up 40 percent compared to Q1 2017. In-store sales did not see the same incline, with same-store sales down 0.9 percent year over year and overall traffic rising just 0.1 percent.

Post says Red Robin will look to capitalize on the growth of the company’s off-premise sales with new marketing campaigns.

“We just began testing television advertising in select high-penetration markets, and we like what we see early on from the results,” Post said. “With off-premise averaging 9.4-percent mix in Q1, double-digit mix is clearly within the reach as we grow this segment aggressively.”