Nation’s Restaurant News: Restaurant Sales and Traffic Continue to Recover in November

Restaurants are slowly starting to build momentum back from disappointing third-quarter results, according to a recent Nation’s Restaurant News. While same-store sales remained flat compared to the same month last year, November sales were better than the 1.6 percent sales decline that the first nine months of the year have averaged. The industry is starting to see signs of strength after years of struggling.

“Our concern is that these improved trends come despite the fact that the industry has not cracked the code on declining guest visits,” says Victor Fernandez, executive director of insights and knowledge for TDn2K. “Brands have come to rely on rising checks to overcome the steady loss of traffic.”

Although November same-store traffic decreased 2.5 percent, it has been nearly three years since the last positive month of guest counts for restaurants. The hurricane relief efforts and rebuilding period are helping to add to consumers’ confidence, and in turn, may create additional spending.