NPD study: same-store sales up in 86-week string

Nation's Restaurant News, March 14, 2005

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. -- Same-store sales from 53 quick-service and family-dining chain restaurant companies, representing more than 40,000 units, were up for the 86th consecutive week as of Feb. 21 and rose 4.6 percent for that week, according to the NPD Group, the foodservice market research firm based here.

NPD, which tracks weekly sales trends at chains and independents, said the average same-store sales increase during the 86-week period was 4.4 percent. The upswing since July 2003 followed two years of flat or negative growth, NPD reported.

Chain restaurants captured an additional 3 percent of the foodservice market between 2001 and 2004, at the expense of independent restaurants, NPD added. It said consumer demand was driven by quick-service restaurants' new menu offerings that focused on higher quality and innovation.