According to The NDP Group, a leading market research group, people are managing how they go out to eat in different ways. Many consumers are staying away from full-service restaurants and resorting to faster, cheaper food. The report also found that consumers’ focus has turned to value menus that many restaurants now are trying to create.
“The way to hit this market is on value and low-cost alternatives,” Baylor Marketing Professor Dr. James Roberts said. “Many people have less money to go around so people are emphasizing the value they can get.”
With this in mind, many local owners who aren’t backed by franchise dollars must strategize to stay afloat.
Benny Ismaili, owner of the Dibz Restaurant in downtown Temple, noticed a change in consumer habits such as ordering less appetizers and desserts. This change has made him rethink and adjust his menu. Now Dibz has extended its menu from nine different entrées to 18. The restaurant added many different kinds of cheap pastas to try to boost sales.
Dibz isn’t the only restaurant adjusting to hard times.
Pignetti’s, an Italian restaurant also located downtown, is experiencing a decrease in sales as well, owner Clinton Harwell said. Specifically, Harwell’s restaurant here has seen a 12 percent decline in sales since the economic downturn.
“Starting in the beginning of August, there has been a definite slow down,” Harwell said. “Specifically, I think for lunch because people are going home to eat and lunch seems to be an extra expense.”
To counteract the decline, Pignetti’s has daily specials, from wine at retail, to a low-cost wine tasting with an appetizer. Harwell also implemented an early dinner menu special on every night of the week, which consists of salad, entrée and dessert for $17.95.
Packaging and discounting seem to be a short term cure for the sales decline for many restaurants no matter what kind of establishment.
Joyce Martinec is the owner of Al’s BBQ Barn, a cheaper buffet service restaurant, located at 1220 W. Ave. M in Temple. She currently offers $1.95 specials, which for business is a simple break-even strategy just to get people in the door in hopes they will order additional food. There have been other changes Martinec has made, like cutting staff and closing doors earlier.
Owners are hanging their hats on their own strategies in hopes to move them away from the red and keep them from consolidating more or totally shutting down.
Ken Higdon, Temple Chamber of Commerce president, said the downturn was evident at the end of last year but he has heard consumer trends are starting to pick up again.
This is good news for local owners and the economy as a whole because the restaurant industry, especially for Texas, is a “key driver” in employment, the National Restaurant Association said.
In the restaurant association’s published state reports, projected restaurant sales for 2009 in Texas are expected to rise to $35 billion. Additionally, restaurant service employment for Texas is supposed to be more than 1 million employees. Projected numbers may be a comfort to many, but the harsh reality of the current situation is an indicator of how much work there is still to be done.
“You just have to work harder for less,” Harwell said. “You have to be on top of your business and every hour counts. It’s double the hours for less money, but you have to make it work.”
