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Same-store sales increased for 15 consecutive months, NRA reports

Despite softer same-store sales and customer traffic levels in May, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index showed positive growth.

July 8, 2015

Despite softer same-store sales and customer traffic levels in May, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) showed positive growth, according to a NRA press release. The RPI, a monthly composite index that tracks the outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry, came in at 102.3 in May, down 0.4 percent from a level of 102.7 in April. May represented the 27th consecutive with a RPI above 100.

“The outlook for the restaurant industry remains positive, as the RPI stood above the 102 level for the 8th consecutive month,” said Senior Vice President of the Research and Knowledge Group Hudson Riehle, for the Association. “A majority of restaurant operators reported higher same-store sales in May, and operators are generally optimistic about an improving business environment in the months ahead.”

Same-store sales increased for the 15th consecutive month, though May’s results were somewhat softer than April, NRA reported.  Sixty-seven percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between May 2014 and May 2015, down from 71 percent who reported higher sales in April, according to the release.  Same-store sales decline in May for 19 percent of operators, up from 13 percent in April.

Restaurant operators also reported softer customer traffic results in May, with customer traffic increasing for 52 percent of operators between May 2014 and May 2015, down from 55 percent who reported higher traffic in April. Thirty-one percent of operators reported traffic declines in May, up from 25 percent in April.