While many restaurants today are leveraging the huge benefits that social media brings to the table, there are still many who are not. The National Restaurant Association reports that eight out of ten restaurant operators believe that social media will continue to develop as an important marketing tool. RestaurantNews.com has released a report that takes a look at the use of social media in the restaurant industry.
As summer begins, consumer spending on dining out may drop says the Restaurant Spending Trajectory. After 18 months of growth, restaurant spending will likely begin to drop again over the next 3 months. The predictions of this index have shown a high correlation with real consumer spending over the past 5 years.
White Castle may be America’s first fast food chain, but they’re actively embracing new technology. White Castle locations are now offering online ordering in all national locations. Customers choose their location and place their order through the White Castle website, then go and pick up their fresh sliders and fries with no waiting.
The Charlotte/Douglas International Airport has over 32 million visitors walk through it every year. Papa John’s has opened a new location in the airport to take advantage of some of this traffic. The pizza place is located in the main food court and serves an 8-inch single serving pizza. Despite the small store location, only the fresh made dough that is signature to the chain is used.
Baskin-Robbins May Flavor of the Month is the new Golden Oreo Gold Rush. This blend combines lemon custard flavored ice cream, Oreo cream icing ribbon and is topped with crushed Golden Oreos. Perfect for warm weather as summer arrives, the golden ice cream will only be available until the end of May.
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit will be holding their annual Customer Appreciation Day at the Las Vegas restaurant location on Friday, May 6th. Customers will be able to enjoy a $1 barbeque sandwich and enter to win a 42” television. Other locations will host their Customer Appreciation Days throughout the rest of the year.
The Organic Apple Acai Smoothie will be the newest addition to the Smoothie King menu. The first organic smoothie for the chain combines organic apple juice, acai supplements and a number of herbal ingredients for optimal health benefits. If the new flavor proves popular, the chain plans to offer a range of organic options.
Kingsland, Georgia is now the home of the newest LongHorn Steakhouse location. The pre-opening Family and Friends night raised $1,400 for a local charity and helped the new staff train. The chain is headquartered in nearby Atlanta and this new location will seat a maximum of 200 guests and employs over 70 people.
McAlister’s Deli has announced a new fundraising effort to help the recent victims of the record breaking tornadoes that hit the South East and Mid-West. This weekend all company owned locations in Georgia, Alabama and other Southern states will save .50 cents from each sale of a giant cookie to donate to various tornado relief efforts.
Denny’s has released their first quarter sales reports and are showing slow but steady growth. 18 new locations were opened in the first three months of 2011, including two new university partnerships. Sales dropped a little less than 2% across the system, but operating margins grew for most franchises and the company reduced $10 million worth of debt.