Thankful

On the eve of Thanksgiving it seems appropriate to mention the many things about the restaurant industry that we have to be thankful for. I know that business conditions are as tough as they have ever been. I know that the shareholders of public restaurant companies have taken a tremendous beating in the past year. 55 of the 76 public companies have had over 50% of their value disappear in the past 12 months. An incredibly large number of these companies have lost over 75% of their value during this time period.

There are an accelerating number of restaurant closings going on around the country. Restaurant companies are downsizing (or as the investor relations people say, "rightsizing") and many loyal and long term employees have lost their jobs. In some parts of the country, and in some parts of the industry, sales are down 15-25% compared with last year. And yet, with all of this turmoil, doom and gloom, and bad news on top of bad news, we still have much to be thankful for. We are part of a wonderful industry where our customers come to live out special times in their lives.

Some holidays revolve around restaurants. Can you imagine a Valentine’s Day celebration with a loved one that doesn’t involve a meal at a restaurant? Good luck. What would Mother’s Day be without a meal in one of our restaurants surrounded by family? Some holidays happen outside of our four walls. Thanksgiving is one of those. The NPD Group surveyed customers in September and found that only 2.6% of them planned to eat their meal in a restaurant. This explains why Thanksgiving is one of two days that the industry almost universally closes (the other being Christmas).

So what do we have to be thankful for in this industry? Just a few things off of the top of my head:

·         As bad as our sales are, compared to what we are used to, we are much better off than many other industries. We think of sales declines of 7-10% as being catastrophic. Many other industries are truly suffering, with sales declines approaching 50%. We are still a necessity for many, and an affordable treat for others.

·         We are the second largest employer after the government. 13 million people call our industry home. If you look up "The American Dream" in the dictionary you will probably see a restaurant manager standing proudly in front of their restaurant. The number of employees who have gone from hourly to management to owner are probably unmatched in any other industry in the country.

·         You don’t have to be in this industry to love it. Our friends and family members love talking to us about what we do for a living. I could be biased, but I do not believe that this is true for our friends who sell life insurance.

·         We have many ways that we can adapt to tough business conditions. We don’t have to open a manufacturing plant to introduce a new item. We can do a lot of things that a lot of other industries can’t do to respond to sales declines. Most can only lower their prices or run sales. We are limited only by our creativity.

·         As good as our food is, our people make it taste better by engaging our customers with their personalities and by raising the bar every day on service. For many industries the product is the product. It doesn’t get any better than what was made by a machine, and sold off of a shelf or floor by someone who had no connection to it until it was sold. We are with the product from beginning to end, take pride in it, stand by it, and can correct any mistakes on the spot.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and, for most of you, enjoy your well-deserved day off from taking care of our customers. They will be back on Friday, and every day after that. And for that, we should all be thankful.