A report conducted by The NPD Group, a leading market research company, has pinpointed that independent restaurants have accounted for nearly 87 percent of lost traffic within the U.S. restaurant industry in 2011. Accordingly, over 7,000 of independent restaurants have closed since 2009 because of the ongoing and never-ending struggle with chain restaurants and the decline of the economy. Chain restaurants have gained 1 percent of the market share due to the lull in independent restaurants.
Based on NPD’s ReCount, a biannual count of U.S. restaurants, restaurant chains have grown by over 4,500 units since 2009, while independent restaurants have dipped by over 7,100 in that same time frame.
“Independent restaurant operators have neither the money nor resources that the chains have,” says NPD restaurant industry analyst, Bonnie Riggs.”They lacked the marketing power to drive traffic and the monetary buffer to get through the difficult times during the past several years.”
Posted by Markus Micheaels
Edited by Melanie Figueroa
07/04/12
