Restaurant traffic increased in October for the first time in almost three years, according to the performance tracking service Black Box Intelligence.
The rise in guest counts for restaurants open for at least 12 months was slight. Same-store traffic for October rose year-over-year by .4 percent, a .6-percent gain over September’s results.
Sales were also encouraging, according to the service. Same-store sales across Black Box’s surveyed universe climbed 2.8 percent year-over-year and .7 percent month-to-month.
“Since the end of the recession, the restaurant industry has struggled with a traffic problem, illustrated by the fact that there have only been four months of positive same-store traffic growth in the last three years,” said Victor Fernandez, executive director of insight and knowledge for Black Box’s parent company, TDn2K. “This is the first time since the beginning of 2012 that we are able to report sales growth backed up by an increasing number of guests, and not just propped up by price increases or sales mix shifts.”
The monthly installment of Black Box’s Restaurant Industry snapshot is based on reported sales and traffic results from more than 20,000 chain restaurants.
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