Black Box Intelligence and People Report released The Restaurant Industry Snapshot for May, reporting a third straight month of positive sales.   



Same-store sales were +0.8 percent in May, an improvement over April’s result of +0.4 percent. Same-store traffic results declined 1.6 percent, a slight improvement over April.  Consumer Edge Research, a partner company to People Report and Black Box Intelligence, released the Restaurant Willingness to Spend Index last week with a value of 88 for May, which is an increase over the index score of 86 reported for April.  Based on historical data gathered in this partnership, an increase in the index score would typically suggest a higher Black Box Intelligence comparable stores sales rate in the month of June.


“Sales are still weaker than we would like to see, but three straight positive sales months is a result not seen since last June through August, 2012.  Additionally, we are encouraged the consumer continues to indicate they may be turning a bit of a corner as they indicated an increased desire to spend their money two months running, a result we have not observed since 2011.  This is encouraging news as we enter the summer months. ” says Bill Schaffler, president at Black Box Intelligence and People Report. 



Additionally in May, the New England region performed the best with a positive 3.5 percent same-store sales increase, while the Southwest was the lowest performing area, with a same-store sales decrease of 1.0 percent. 104 out of 176 DMAs posted a positive result in May. People Report data reports turnover results by position by segment to their member companies each month.  In April, results show management and hourly turnover increasing.  Most recent job growth reported by People Report is +1.0 percent, higher than last month’s result +0.4 percent.  The job growth, although positive, remains slower than reported in most of 2012.