Despite high gas and commodities prices, metro Atlanta restaurants appear to be doing better business.
Same-store sales for a sampling of the city's eateries were up 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2012 over the same period in 2011, according to NetFinancials, an Atlanta company that offers tax and accounting services for restaurant companies. The increases hit all sectors: fast food, fast casual and fine dining.
“Q1 2012 was an impressive quarter for Atlanta restaurants," NetFinancials president Robert Wagner said. "We saw an all-time high percentage of stores with double-digit sales gains – 37 percent of our survey. Restaurateurs tell us there are three reasons for the impressive Q1 sales gains: customer counts were up, check averages were up and more businesses and groups were dining out.”
Establishments also benefited from increased alfresco dining, which began earlier than usual because of the mild winter, Wagner said.
After struggling during the Great Recession – with some big names closing, such as the five-star Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead -- Atlanta restaurants have seen sales improve for five consecutive quarters.
Harold Shumacher, president of restaurant real estate brokerage firm Shumacher Group, said much of the sales improvements have been confined inside the Perimeter and in cities such as Sandy Springs and Alpharetta. Other suburban communities are still struggling because of overbuilding of eateries and a still-sluggish economy.
"But big picture, I agree that things are getting better," he said, adding that new chains are coming to the area, despite the mixed picture in some of the suburbs.
NetFinancials surveyed 79 independently operated, non-franchise restaurants for the findings. The sample included restaurants opened at least 15 months.
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