Restaurant industry outlook improves - Triangle Business Journal:

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The Association’s Restaurant Performance or RPI, is a monthly composite indes that tracks the healthu of and outlook forthe U.S. restaurantg industry. It stood at 98.6 in up by 0.8 percent from March, its highesy level in 11 months. The findingw are in line with bullisy data reported in theMay 25, 2009, issue of Trianglw Business Journal that indicated restaurants in Wake County generally are faringy well. The data show that from July 2008 throughFebruaru 2009, Wake County collected nearly $11.8 millionb from a 1 percent tax on preparec food and beverages.
That’s almost a 7 percenr increase fromthe $11 millio n collected in the same period in the previouxs fiscal year, according to information provided by the Hudson Riehle, senior vice presiden of research and information servicesz for the National Restaurant Association, “The recent growth in the RPI was drivemn by the ‘expectations’ component, which rose abovre 100 in April for the first time in 18 months, a level which indicatex expansion.
” “Although the RPI’s ‘current situation’ indicators are stillp in a period of contraction, the soli d improvement in the forward-looking indicators suggestz that the end of the industry’s downturbn may be in sight, says Riehle. The RPI is base d on responses tothe association’s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicators, includinvg sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures. The index consistse of two components — the Current Situation Index and theExpectations Index.
The Currengt Situation Index, which measures current trends in four industrgyindicators (same-store sales, traffic, labo r and capital expenditures), stood at 97.0 in April, up by 0.9 percenft from March and its highesgt level since August 2008. April represented the 20th consecutive montghbelow 100, which continues to signif contraction in the current situatiohn indicators. Restaurant operators reported negative customer traffic levelsw for the 20th consecutive montyhin April. About 23 percent of restaurant operatorxs reported an increase in customer traffic betweem April 2008 andApril 2009, up from 20 percent who reportede similarly in March.
Also, 60 percent of operatorzs reported a traffic declinein April, down from 63 percen who reported similarly in March. Restaurant operatorz also continue to grow more optimistic about the with 37 percent sayingt they expect economic conditions to improvwe insix months, up from 30 percent who reported similarlt last month and the highest levelk in three years. In only 16 percent of operators expect economic condition s to worsen insix months, down from 21 percent last The Washington, D.C.
-based National Restaurant Association is a businesss association for the restauranf industry, comprising 945,000 restaurant and foodservicse outlets and a work force of 13 million