Atlanta Independent Restaurant Sales Survey December 2010

Atlanta Restaurants 2010 Sales Cream 2009
By Robert Wagner, CPA

NetFinancials’ latest sales survey of 71 independent Atlanta restaurants reveals that December same-store sales jumped 10.5% over sales for December 2009. Our fourth survey of this year shows year-to-date 2010 sales also increased, rising 5.2% over full-year 2009 sales. These same-store sales gains are broad-based, impacting three major Atlanta restaurant sectors – fast-casual, causal and fine dining.

December 2010 vs. December 2009

A substantial majority of Atlanta restaurants smashed same-store sales for December 2009. Of 71 restaurants surveyed, 69% reported positive sales gains compared to December 2009. Thirty-five percent of restaurants surveyed reported double-digit sales gains over December 2009 sales.

Year to Date 2010 vs. 2009

Sixty-five percent of surveyed restaurants reported 2010 sales gains vs. 2009. Cumulative 2010 sales increased 5.2% over total 2009 sales. Twenty-four percent of restaurants surveyed reported double-digit sales gains for 2010 over 2009.

Conclusion

Robert Wagner, NetFinancials president states that, “Each of our 2010 surveys shows that the industry continues to heal from the disaster of 2008 and 2009. As 2010 progressed more restaurants reported year-to-date positive sales trends. Significantly, the total dollars spent on dining out increased in 2010 vs. 2009 in each of our surveys. The trend of increased consumer spending and improving year-to-date sales is unmistakable.”


The Sample: The 71 independently-operated, non-franchise restaurants were drawn from the metro Atlanta market. Total December 2010 sales in our survey were $12,058,825. Full year 2010 sales for surveyed restaurants was $146,114,288. Our sample included restaurants in Atlanta’s fast casual, casual and fine-dining segments.

Robert Wagner, CPA is president of NetFinancials, Inc. which provides a full range of tax and accounting services for restaurant companies. Email: bob.wagner@netfinancials.com. www.netfinancials.com 404-874-7002
NetFinancials’ restaurant sales surveys are provided free of charge as a public service to the industry.