Black Box Intelligence™(BBI) the leading provider of financial and market data for the restaurant industry, covering over 10,000 units and reporting weekly, released their Restaurant Industry Snapshot™ today containing sales performance and trends for the month of September. Additional snapshot metrics include job growth and turnover numbers, provided by sister company People Report™, and the Restaurant Industry Willingness to Spend Index, provided by Connecticut based partner, Consumer Edge Research (CER).

Wallace Doolin (pictured), chairman and founder of BBI stated; “We are delighted to be able to provide our members and our industry with this timely and uniquely relevant data. We know that the key to performance in this marketplace is being able to respond quickly to shifting market conditions. This snapshot will provide monthly insight into not just sales performance, but also important employee and consumer data.”

Highlights for September include positive comparable store sales of 1.17%, in spite of negative guest traffic of (-2.51%). Sales were positive in both food and alcoholic beverages. Results were most positive in the New York/New Jersey region posting positive 3.96% for the month, while the Southwest fared the worst, with negative sales and traffic of (-1.7%) and (-5.4%) respectively. BBI currently reports on 89 DMA’s. Job growth of .10% was positive if anemic. The CER Restaurant Willingness to Spend Index, calculated monthly from household surveys of over 2500 consumers, reached its lowest point for the year.

Bill Pecoriello, CEO of Consumer Edge Research stated, “We are beginning to see decreasing willingness to spend in restaurants across all segments of our consumer data, including those earning over $100K annually”.

To download the Restaurant Industry Snapshot™ and view our monthly vlog presented by Black Box Intelligence CEO Wallace Doolin, click here