AFTER BLOWING THROUGH OUR SAVINGS AND MAXING OUT THE CREDIT CARDS, THIS WAS BOUND TO COME NEXT: Long-predicted consumer pullback finally hits restaurants like Starbucks, KFC and McDonald’s.
Excuses don’t fully explain the weak quarterly results. Instead, it looks like the competition for a smaller pool of customers has grown fiercer as the diners still looking to buy a burger or cold brew become pickier with their cash.
The cost of eating out at quick-service restaurants has climbed faster than that of eating at home. Prices for limited-service restaurants rose 5% in March compared with the year-ago period, while prices for groceries have been increasing more slowly, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Clearly everybody’s fighting for fewer consumers or consumers that are certainly visiting less frequently, and we’ve got to make sure we’ve got that street-fighting mentality to win, irregardless of the context around us,” McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden said on the company’s conference call on Tuesday.
“Irregardless,” really?
Meanwhile, here’s the view from inside the Beltway.
JUST IN: Treasury Secretary Yellen says “people are generally better off despite recent price increases.”
Do you agree? pic.twitter.com/2syUIKbf7I
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) April 30, 2024
The replies are brutal.
Related: Customers Fed Up With Starbucks: ‘You Want HOW MUCH for a Cup of Coffee???’