US restaurant sales were hurting in February, according to a report by Black Box Intelligence and its sister company People Report, Dallas, Texas, based on research from another partner company, Consumer Edge.
In addition to the bad weather experienced in February, consumers also faced payroll tax increases and income tax refund built-in delays. These factors influenced Consumer Edges February Restaurant Willingness to Spend Index, which declined to 82, compared to 83 in January and 91 in December.
Same-store sales were -5.0% in February, according to the Consumer Willingess to Spend Index -- worse by 5.4% than Januarys result of +0.4%. The first two weeks in February had same store sales of -7.8% negative, influenced by very bad winter weather. The last two weeks of the month, ending on Sunday, February 24, posted same store sales of -2.6%. Same-store traffic results showed a decline of 6.2%, worse than January by 3.1%.
