We went to Outback Steakhouse last night to celebrate my son’s 17th birthday. In prior years, you would have an hour wait to get a seat. Not last night. Plenty of seats available. By the time we left at 8:00, the place was practically empty. Restaurant sales in general have begun to plunge again as consumers are tapped out. I checked on Outback’s comp store sales and found they were positive by 3.6% in the quarter ending July 31. I also noticed that Outback began to open for lunch on May 1, for the 1st time in their history. This fact was conveniently left out of their press release. If you offer lunch this year and you didn’t offer lunch last year, the comp store sales aren’t so comparable. I see this as a desperate attempt to boost sales.
Have you seen examples of restaurants struggling?
Restaurant operators reported negative same-store sales for the fourth consecutive month in July, with the overall results similar to the June performance. Restaurant operators also reported a net decline in customer traffic levels in July. Restaurant operators have become less optimistic about their prospects for sales growth in recent months.
Outback parent sees positive sales trends
OSI reported Friday a profit of $19.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, compared with a net loss of $88.1 in the same quarter a year ago. Latest-quarter revenue rose 1.2 percent to $917 million. Restaurant sales were up 1.1 percent, to $908.9 million, the company said.
“The increase in revenue was driven by positive same-store sales in all brands, and store openings,” said Dirk Montgomery, chief financial officer for Tampa, Fla.-based OSI. Increases in same-store sales were offset by the loss of revenue from the sale of the 34-unit Cheeseburger in Paradise chain in September 2009, he said.
OSI’s four concepts each showed positive same-store sales and traffic in the quarter: At the 966-unit Outback, same-store sales rose 3.6 percent; at the 233-unit Carrabba’s, same-store sales increased 0.6 percent; at the 152-unit Bonefish Grill, results rose 5.6 percent; and at the 64-unit Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, results increased 9 percent. OSI maintains a minority joint-venture interest in Roy’s, but it does not report sales for that concept.
Robmu1 says:
Maybe you should have sprung for a nicer dinner than Outback – just sayin.
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1st September 2010 at 3:16 pm
Centerfield says:
At least their Cinnamon Oblivion is, without any doubt, the single best dessert offered by any chain restaurant in America. And with a deep fried Bloomin’ Onion you have a gazillion calories and can die with a smile on your face.
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1st September 2010 at 3:20 pm
Administrator says:
I didn’t even spring for this dinner. We had a gift card. Frugal to the end.
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1st September 2010 at 3:25 pm
Administrator says:
The bloomin onion was obliterated in seconds by my clan.
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1st September 2010 at 3:28 pm
Gemini says:
I clean a restaurant on the weekends, not a chain place, its a thirty year old business, well established. I used to work there. They are doing pretty well for the summer time, but not even close to 2007 numbers. Here’s the kicker. They have a bakery next door, which has recently been upgraded to sort of a deli. That is, restaurant food with out the restaurant prices/tip, as you can imagine its doing pretty well….
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1st September 2010 at 3:42 pm
matt says:
It might depend on location. We have been to a Cheesecake Factory in a SoCal mall twice this past month, both on gift certificates as well, and it was frickin’ packed both times. Then we went by a Claim Jumpers that is in a small strip mall and it was a ghost town. Both have great food, and Claim Jumpers used to be really busy all the time.
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1st September 2010 at 4:23 pm
Administrator says:
Matt
It must be the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake. When I worked for IKEA and had to go to LA, we always hit the Marina Del Ray Cheesecake Factory. This was before they went national. Awesome food and view of the Pacific.
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1st September 2010 at 4:45 pm
Dave says:
I eat out 2-3 times a week. I live in a tourist area and the restaurants here are never full anymore unless you go to Wild Wings on 2 for 1 Wednesdays. Few restaurants shut down. Sales in some placer are better simply because selection is more limited than 3-4 years ago.
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1st September 2010 at 7:32 pm
Smokey says:
Is there not even a scintilla of remorse over eating that murdered cow? That innocent, helpless, minding-his-own-business cow who was viciously slaughtered? No guilt at all? Humans use extraordinary self-deception to lie to themselves and obscure the truth. They call that animal flesh “steak” or “T-bones” or “sirloin steak” or “N.Y. strips” or “delmonico” or “porterhouse” or “prime rib” or “filet mignon” etc, ALL to avoid the harsh reality that they are eating a helpless cow who was not guilty of anything. If the restaurants were being TRUTHFUL, the menu would list the entrees as “dead cows”, or if they were REALLY truthful, they would list the entree as “formerly happy cow who was murdered without cause by hateful human”. How would you like it if a cow snuck up on you and murdered you so he and his buddies could eat you for dinner? I bet you wouldn’t like that too much would you, all you murdering hypocrites.
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1st September 2010 at 7:57 pm
Administrator says:
Smokey
When Avalon and I were walking on the farm road near our house, I thought the cows were looking at me funny.
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1st September 2010 at 8:55 pm
Smokey says:
They were scoping you out. They’re going to revenge those from their herd already sacrificed. Watch your back.
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1st September 2010 at 9:01 pm
Buddabull says:
I talk to suppliers on a regular basis and the news is always the same. They say things picked up in the spring but by summer it tailed off. I don’t punish myself by going out to eat but my friends that eat out often say that most of the restaurants they go to are half empty. By the way I love dead cows they taste better that way.
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1st September 2010 at 9:08 pm
LLPOH says:
If God didn’t want us to eat cows he wouldn’t have made ‘em so damn tasty. Grass fed, medium rare, a bit of horseradish, and a Cabernet. Dee-lishous.
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1st September 2010 at 10:02 pm
Smokey says:
I used to avoid fast food because of cleanliness concerns. But now that the cooks wear gloves, I will fuck up a couple of Big Macs in a big hurry.
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1st September 2010 at 10:15 pm
Gemini says:
I’m not a vegetarian because I love animals, I’m a vegetarian because I HATE vegetables.
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1st September 2010 at 8:42 pm