Robert Wagner, CPA and president of NetFinancials, Inc. has issued his first quarter report on restaurant sales.  It’s not great news but it’s not bad news and the restaurant brokers agree with his data based on feedback from our clients.

Wagner reports that first quarter sales were up over last year in the Atlanta marketplace by 2.4% percentage points.  That's the word according to 61% of the restaurants surveyed by the firm in their quarterly report.  10% reported double-digit sales gains over last year.  Compared to the national scene, this was good news since overall restaurant operators nationwide experienced a 1.3% negative sales result when measured against last year.  That’s according to Wagner who says the negative 1.3 percentage point trend was issued by Black Box Intelligence, a restaurant sales and traffic-tracking company.

Was the Atlanta trend as positive as 2012?  No and in the restaurant brokers opinion, much of this can be attributed to the weather.  Temperatures have been consistently below normal while rainfall has been far above last year for each month of 2013.  The restaurant brokers are hearing from clients in outdoor shopping center (Atlantic Station for example) or those with patios that are typically packed during our great March weekends that the weather has been brutal in impacting sales. The good news is that Spring really is around the corner and all restaurant operators will benefit before long with better sales news.

Wagner agrees with the restaurant brokers assessment on the weather saying, "“Restaurant operators attribute the tepid Q1 results to bad weather and sagging consumer confidence. For many operators the quarter was salvaged by strong March 2013 sales.”

The sample for the survey was a group of 88 independently-operated, non-franchise restaurants from the metro Atlanta market. Total Q1 2013 survey sales volume was $50,806,603. The CPA firm’s sample included restaurants in Atlanta’s fast-casual, casual and fine-dining segments opened at least 15 months.

Robert Wagner, CPA is president of NetFinancials, Inc. which provides a full range of tax and accounting services for restaurant companies. Email: bob.wagner@netfinancials.com. www.netfinancials.com Direct: 404-874-7002

This NetFinancials restaurant sales survey is provided free of charge as a service to the restaurant industry