Blame it on August being the last month of summer before going back to school, tourists enjoying those last few weeks of vacation, or just a benevolent gift from the universe. Whatever the reason- we couldn't be happier to see how August's sales numbers turned out! DMV restaurants popped back up from their mid-summer cool down and are showing no signs of slowing.
Weighted monthly average sales by segment saw increases from both Fast Casual (7%) and Full Service (15%). While they have remained positive growth-wise compared to 2021, this is the first uptick we've seen since February 2022. Call us optimists but we're taking this as a great sign that sales will continue to grow as we enter the last quarter of the year.
In-house delivery and Fast Casual sales by segment both stayed exactly the same compared to last month and Full Service stayed positive ending up at 37% sales compared to 2021. While the chart doesn't show the same uptick that the weighted monthly averages does, there was only a 6% change from July's metrics, showing a definite change in momentum.
We also saw that same momentum shift with overall sales, ending up at 32%, just 5% off from July's number.
As the weather stays hot, groceries stay expensive and additional COVID vaccine boosters become available, our crystal-ball predictions are pointing to a strong September for DMV restaurants.
Be sure to check back in next month and we'll see you then!