---
title: "Experts Urge Caution as Restaurant Sales Grow"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/d96f65fa-f4cd-412d-9039-f4dd66d5ff42
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/experts-urge-caution-as-restaurant-sales-grow-2707471
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2018-08-13T16:11:26.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:08:57.578Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/ffb5cdac3607db30d06d9d1b24b61b9d1658.jpg
---

# Experts Urge Caution as Restaurant Sales Grow

**TL;DR:** Restaurant sales saw a modest increase in July, but experts warn that declining traffic and a contracting labor market may negatively impact the industry. Joel Naroff, President of Naroff Economic Advisors, cautioned that consumer spending may slow within the year due to limited wage gains.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2018-08-13. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/experts-urge-caution-as-restaurant-sales-grow-2707471).*

## Story

Restaurants saw a modest same-store sales increase July, continuing a months-long trend of positive growth in the industry. Still, experts warn that the health of the industry may soon be affected negatively by declining traffic and a contracting labor market.

According to an article in Nation’s Restaurant News, TDn2K’s Black Box surveyed weekly sales data from more than 30,000 restaurants representing more than 170 brands to measure the health of the industry. While sales were up in July, traffic was down, suggesting that the gains are driven predominantly by price increases.

Joel Naroff, President of Naroff Economic Advisors and economist for TDn2K warned that consumer spending may be temporarily inflated and is likely to slow within the year.

“Wage gains remain limited and continue to expand at a lethargic pace,” he said. “While that has yet to affect consumer spending, which is being hyped by the tax cuts, it raises questions about the ability to sustain the solid consumption over the next year.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Nation's Restaurant News (publication)
- industry growth (topic)
- restaurant sales (topic)
- labor market (topic)
- consumer spending (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/experts-urge-caution-as-restaurant-sales-grow-2707471). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/d96f65fa-f4cd-412d-9039-f4dd66d5ff42).