Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

July 5, 2008 5:22:57 PM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

Back to the grid

Restaurants Hungry for Economic Recovery

Posted Apr 24, 08 1:04 PM CDT in Business    Most Covered

(Newser) – Rising costs, tightening credit, and trimmed consumer spending are giving restaurateurs indigestion as they struggle with a slowdown the industry says is its worst in decades, reports the Wall Street Journal. A spate of bankruptcy filings and woeful earnings reports have chains slowing expansion and cutting amenities. With a minimum wage hike set for this summer, things could get worse.

Even seemingly recession-proof eateries like McDonald’s are seeing sales decline. The $558-billion industry employs some 13.1 million people; a continued downturn with restaurants closing and laying off staff would be especially painful for lower-income workers unlikely to have savings.

Source Wall Street Journal

Editor Recommended

Related News

  • McDonald's: Hold the Tomatoes

    Jun 9, 08 1:53 PM CDT
    McDonald's: Hold the Tomatoes McDonald’s is pulling sliced tomatoes from its sandwiches following a nationwide outbreak of salmonella linked to the fruit. A spokesman was quick to note that the chain has not detected the bacteria in its supplies, “but with an abundance of caution, we want to make sure our food items containing tomatoes are absolutely safe," he told the Chicago Tribune. More »

  • Rebate Checks Go to Gas, Food, Looming Debt

    Jun 1, 08 9:44 AM CDT
    Rebate Checks Go to Gas, Food, Looming Debt Rather than the gluttonous splurge on flat-screen TVs and foreign vacations that Uncle Sam had envisioned, most Americans are plunking their rebate checks down on exorbitant gas and food costs--and their mounting debt. “The initial sense is that people are not running out the malls,” one economist told the New York Times. The sense of restraint may fail to buoy the economy as hoped. More »

  • Genitals On the Menu at Beijing's Penis Bistro

    Apr 26, 08 4:27 PM CDT
    Genitals On the Menu at Beijing's Penis Bistro If your idea of good eating doesn't stretch to yak's penis or duck testicles, then Beijing's Guolizhuang restaurant definitely isn't the place for you. The exclusive restaurant's menu is made up almost entirely of penis and testicle dishes, Der Speigel reports. Well-heeled businessmen flock in for dishes such as "Jasmine Flowers with 1,000 Layers"—otherwise known as sliced donkey penis. More »

  • Em-Bottled SF Mayor Urges Restaurants to Tap City's Water

    Mar 21, 08 3:00 PM CDT
    Em-Bottled SF Mayor Urges Restaurants to Tap City's Water San Francisco’s mayor called on restaurants yesterday to quit selling bottled water and favor the tap, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Gavin Newsom, a former restaurateur, says the plastic containers pile up in landfills and hurt the environment. The request—which isn’t a requirement—follows Newsom’s ban last year on using tax dollars to buy bottled water for city employees. More »

  • Chinese McDonald's Aim at KFC

    Sep 17, 07 11:26 AM CDT
    Chinese McDonald's Aim at KFC You can visit Ronald McDonald at 800 restaurants across China, but the Colonel will feed you at a whopping 1,940 KFC locations. So McDonald's is starting the engine on a new campaign to overcome the Chinese cultural bias for poultry over beef: Unable to compete in sheer number of outlets, the company is pioneering drive-throughs. More »

A McDonald's restaurant sign is seen in Tonawanda, N.Y.   (AP Photo/David Duprey)
Shown is a McDonald's restaurant in Mill Valley, Calif.   (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
A sign at the former Georgee's Restaurant in Lake Alfred, Fla. is seen Tuesday, March 25, 2008.   (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
prev    next
play

Threads (1 of 1)

Tags

food prices  • restaurant  • McDonald's  • debt  • restaurateurs


Loading...

Loading...

Related Thread: Is It Recession?

Next story from this section »

Today's Most Popular


Other Business Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »