This is part of Nation’s Restaurant News’ annual Top 100 report, a proprietary census ranking the foodservice industry’s largest restaurant chains and companies by sales and unit data, among other metrics.
Average growth in U.S. systemwide sales among Top 100 chains increased to 6.6 percent in the Latest Year, from about 5 percent a year earlier, driven by sales gainers that increased their rates of growth and sales laggards that showed less of a decline. In the Latest Year, 86 chains increased sales by an average 8.2 percent, compared with the Preceding Year, when 80 chains had a 7-percent average increase. The 13 chains that lost sales in the Latest Year averaged a 3.1-percent decline, versus the average 3.4-percent dip among 19 chains in the Preceding Year.