Home > Blogs > Taste: Dayton food and restaurants > Archives > 2008 > December > 19
Friday, December 19, 2008
Restaurant Association sees signs of hope in ‘pent-up demand’
(Looking for local restaurants’ holiday hours and events? Click here to go directly to it.)
The National Restaurant Association has released its 2009 Restaurant Industry Forecast under the headline, “Restaurant Industry Expected to Post Modest Sales Growth in 2009 as it Copes with the Weakest Economy in Decades.”
In a news conference this morning, Dec. 19, restaurant association officials called the 2009 outlook “the most challenging period for the industry in several decades.”
But they found a silver lining in their surveys. People do still looooovvve to eat out, and one-third of Americans are not using restaurants as much as they would like to. That’s an increase over recent years, and the NRA views those results as “pent-up demand” — meaning that when the economy improves, people get more cash in their pockets, and the credit situation loosens, Americans will storm the doors of their local restaurants — and they’ll be hungry.
Are they right?
TweetGo to my facebook page and click Like to comment.
Ruby Tuesday to close 70 or more restaurants
(Looking for local restaurants’ holiday hours and events? Click here to go directly to it.)
Ruby Tuesday will close at least 70 restaurants — 40 by the end of March 2009, and about 30 more in the coming years — according to this news release from the company and to other news reports.
Ruby Tuesday didn’t identify which restaurants would close. The chain has more than 950 company- and franchise-owned restaurants worldwide, including several in the Miami Valley such as those in Centerville, Vandalia and Huber Heights.
TweetGo to my facebook page and click Like to comment.
Top 10 food-related stories of 2008
After surveying the nation’s food editors and bloggers, Hunter Public Relations has released the Top Food Stories of 2008.
Interesting to note that two out of the top three stories revolve around food that will make you sick — or worse — if consumed. Several of the other top food stories of ‘08 “reflect our nation’s growing concern with the nutritional standards of the foods we consume,” according to the news release.
I generally don’t think twice about whether a bite of food I put in my mouth is going to sicken me — unless it’s leftovers I’ve kept in the fridge long enough to bump up against their “safe-consumption window.” I’ve learned one hard lesson on that front, too.
Still, it gives one pause, does it not?
TweetGo to my facebook page and click Like to comment.
