Economic Woes, Increased Competition Eating Into Eateries

The economy is likely to improve within the next six to 14 months, and the current economic downturn shouldn’t have a seriously adverse effect on the nation’s restaurants.

So says Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president of food services strategies for WD Partners of Ohio, a design, development and consulting company for restaurants.

More serious, however, is the industry’s growth rate. It soared between the 1930s and 1980s, but began to flatten in the 1990s and remains static. In 1930, 85 percent of meals Americans ate were prepared at home from food bought at a grocery, while 15 percent of meals were prepared away from home, or a restaurant.

In 1990, it was 55 percent at home versus 45 percent away from home. In 2000, the margin changed minimally, with 52 percent at home and 48 percent away, the same as in 2005, according to a chart Lombardi displayed while speaking at a March 4 breakfast sponsored by San Diego State University’s School of Hospitality