By Robert Wagner, CPA
Second quarter 2014 Atlanta restaurant market sales again outpaced national sales trends. During that time national restaurant sales remained weak with little revenue growth and declining customer traffic. In contrast, Atlanta Q2 2014 restaurant sales volume increased 5.8%. For the quarter ended June 2014 positive sales gains were reported at 73% of the 90 independent Atlanta restaurants surveyed. Year-to-date through June 2014 Atlanta restaurants sales are up 5.9% over 2013 sales.
National Trends
In its survey of national restaurant sales Black Box Intelligence, a restaurant sales and traffic-tracking company, reported national restaurant Q2 revenues increased an anemic 0.3% while same-store customer traffic declined -1.4%. Another restaurant traffic-tracking firm, MillerPulse, reported Q2 2014 sales increased 1.4% on negative customer traffic.
Conclusion
Robert Wagner, NetFinancials president states that, “Q2 Atlanta restaurant sales growth was powered by improved customer counts and, to a lesser extent, higher check averages. Atlanta restaurant sales growth was 5.9% and 5.8% in Q1 and Q2 2014, respectively. That is the most consistent comp sales percentages in the last three years. The Q2 2014 sales growth and the percentage of stores reporting positive sales results shows Atlanta is still a fine town to be a restaurant operator.”
Q2 2014 Comp Sales:
Metro Atlanta Black Box Intel. MillerPulse
5.8% 0.3% 1.4%
Atlanta’s improved restaurant sales were due to favorable weather patterns, strong Atlanta visitor traffic and positive consumer sentiment. While the metro Atlanta unemployment rate increased to 7.4% in June 2014 from 7.2% in May; the unemployment rate is down from 8.4% in June 2013.
The Sample: The 90 independently-operated, non-franchise restaurants were drawn from the metro Atlanta market. Total Q2 2014 survey sales volume was $64 million. Our sample included restaurants in Atlanta’s fast-casual, casual and fine-dining segments opened at least 18 months.
Robert Wagner, CPA is president of NetFinancials, Inc. which provides a full range of tax and accounting services for restaurant companies.
