“We are lapping over low gas prices last year. While unemployment is low and wages are going up, whether it’s retail or restaurants, people are very reluctant to spend a lot of discretionary dollars.”

—Sally Smith, CEO, Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.

“It does seem to us that the consumer has gone home and has pulled the blanket over their heads. You can blame stagnant incomes. You can blame whether they’ve got some increased big ticket purchase debt, politics, whatever it is.

"But it’s really clear that the economic recovery has been far from even across the population. And particularly the middle income guest, who has traditionally driven casual dining, is disproportionately affected by that.”

—Denny Marie Post, CEO, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc.

"We entered fiscal 2017 believing this will continue to be a tough macro environment.

"We're not counting on relief from a presidential election or significant improvement in the economy anytime soon. Until household incomes start to see some absolute growth, we believe things will continue to be a challenge for consumers and for our industry.”

—Wyman Roberts, president and CEO, Brinker International Inc.

“When you talk to franchisees [they say] ‘I’m thinking of opening, say, three stores next year. I’m pretty certain on this one, I’m pretty certain of that one, the other one I would have done, but we’ve got so much regulation, political uncertainty; we’re not sure who’s going to be in charge in this state or nationally,’ so they’re sitting on the fence on some of these sites.”

—Nigel Travis, CEO, Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.

“There’s a widening gap between food-away-from-home and food-at-home prices. Commodity cost decreases are being passed through by grocers. There’s value to be had for families. That’s a small part of it.

"There’s generally a broader level of uncertainty in consumers’ mind at the moment, trying to gauge their financial security, with elections, global events. They’re mindful of an unsettled world. When families are uncertain, caution prevails.”

—Steve Easterbrook, CEO, McDonald’s Corp. 

“In terms of what's driving the slowdown, it seems like there are a couple of things going on, and you probably read the same things we do. There is a line of thought that, to some degree, people are concerned about global issues around kind of the state of the country — election issues, those type of things. I also think you've seen a lot around potentially that the relative gap in food away from home vs. food at home.”

—JJ Buettgen, CEO, president and chairman, Ruby Tuesday Inc.

"I think we have a situation where you have a very uncertain election. You have domestic civil unrest with regard to race. And I think the issues around terror have created a level of anxiety. And so, we're no longer looking at just an economic downturn. There are a number of things that we are facing as citizens, and I think the direction of the country.”

—Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO, Starbucks Corp.

"Looking at the consumer environment in our early Q3 sales, it looks like the challenges around the globe, including violence in a number of our most significant markets, will present traffic and sales headwinds in the near term.

"It's evident that we and all consumer-facing companies are navigating through unusual times, characterized by a confluence of social and political issues at home, weakening consumer confidence and increasingly global uncertainty, as well as a very unusual presidential election cycle.”

—Greg Trojan, president and CEO, BJ’s Restaurants Inc.