Restaurants can do everything right and still lose to thematic headwinds
Consumers say they’re happy with service at restaurant chains, but that doesn’t mean they’ll come back.Restaurant service scores rose 10.2 percent in April, according to a new Restaurant Guest Satisfaction Snapshot by White Box Social Intelligence, from the Dallas-based data company TDn2K.But when asked whether they intended to return, consumers were far less generous. Intent to return scores fell 6.4 percent in April, compared with the previous year.
Read Full Article: Restaurants aren’t winning over customers, despite strong service
As this article depicts — just like an earlier article in the Wall St. Journal — the restaurant industry is hurting . . . “bigly” as President Trump likes to say.
As reporters are hunting around for reasons why — missing the mark more often than — the reality is that there are several thematic headwinds pushing against the restaurant industry. Most reporters like to say it’s the reality that it’s become cheaper to eat at home than eating out that’s killing restaurants given the cost of labor and regulation ( true and part of our Cash-strapped Consumer theme). But when it comes down to it, there are several realities that restaurants are either refusing to come to grips with.
As our Chief Macro Strategist Lenore Hawkins points out in this clip below from the Cocktail Investing podcast, there are two major headwinds pushing against restaurants. We’ll give you a hint . . . you can’t fight father time, especially when you can’t see your toes. Have a listen below:
