Report: As Restaurant Industry Grows; McDonald's Suffers

The news is looking better and better for the restaurant industry as the summer begins to wind down. Recent data from the latest NRN-MillerPulse report released Friday shows the industry grew 3 percent industrywide in July and is beginning to trend in the right direction. This is great news for the restaurant industry, a sector of the marketplace that can suffer when the economy does. On top of the good news is the anecdote that the numbers would have been even better had it not been for McDonald’s—which reported a 3.2-percent decline in same-store sales in the U.S. for July.

Small business owners who own restaurants in the “Quick Service” space should also be pleased as that particular restaurant segment grew with a 3.4-percent sales gain. This quick service space is certainly a growing category and some of the more dynamic stories in the food space fall into this category—think Noodles & Company and even Chipotle. Regardless of where each restaurant falls everyone recognizes that companies like Chipotle and other have capitalized on introducing new concepts to the fast -casual  experience. Finding your own “game-changer” isn’t easy—but it can be fun.

In addition to report from NRN-MillerPulse, the data on the decline of small business lending from banks means merchants and restaurants need new sources of capital to grow. The rise of small business lending experts through merchant cash advances has helped businesses like restaurants grow and get access to the growth capital they need.