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NRA reports positive performance for restaurant industry

The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index remained positive in March as a result of higher same-store sales and optimistic outlook for business conditions

April 30, 2015

The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index remained positive in March as a result of higher same-store sales and optimistic outlook for business conditions, the company announced. The RPI, the index that tracks the outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry, stood at 102.2 in March, down 0.4 percent from February’s 102.6. March marked the 25th consecutive month with a RPI above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators, despite the decline.

"Although a majority of restaurant operators reported higher same-store sales in March, customer traffic levels were somewhat dampened," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association.  "Looking forward, restaurant operators remain solidly optimistic about future business conditions, with six in 10 expecting to have higher sales in six months."

The Current Situation Index, a measure of trends in four industry indicators (same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures), stood at 101.8 in March, down from 102.0 in February. The index stood above 100 for the 13th consecutive month, signifying an expansion in current situation indicators.

Sixty-two percent of restaurant operators reported same-store sales gains between March 2014 and March 2015, with 24 percent reporting lower sales, according to the announcement. Sixty percent of operators reported higher same-store sales in February, while 24 percent reported a sales decline.   

Forty-five percent reported an increase in customer traffic between March 2014 and March 2015, down from 57 percent who reported higher traffic in February. Thirty-four percent reported traffic declined in March, up slightly from 32 percent in February.

The Expectations Index, a measure of restaurant operators’ six-month outlook for four industry indicators (same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions), stood at 102.6 in March, down 0.7 percent from 103.3 in February. March represented the 29th consecutive month in with an Expectations Index above 100, indicating a positive outlook for business conditions in the coming months despite the decline. 

Fifty-nine percent of operators expect to have higher sales in the next six months (compared to the same period in the previous year), unchanged from last month. Only 3 percent of restaurant operators expect sales volumes to be lower in six months than during the same period of the previous year, down from 4 percent last month.