How many people attended the NRA Show? How many people will restaurants hire in the summer of 2024? What do Krowne’s expansion plans look like? What did Cambro just add to its portfolio? Can Red Lobster and Cracker Barrel make comebacks? These stories and more This Week in Foodservice.

Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to restaurant design today.

Take, for example, multiconcept operator Inspire Brands, which continues to tout the ability of the company’s various prototypes to maximize real estate utilization via various building design and construction approaches. In doing so, the parent company of such chains as Jimmy Johns, Sonic and Dunkin continues to embrace the concept of co-branding as well as non-traditional locations.

One way the company does this is through a prefabricated, modular design that it can use across all six of its brands that the company says can speed its time to market and return on investment. While the restaurants use a standard shape and design with this approach, the kitchen layout and equipment are customized to each concept.

Inspire Brands has also developed an approach that supports drive-thru-only locations, too. These units can be outfitted with a walk-up window, too.

This flexibility and potential to generate a faster return on investment are important in a mature industry like foodservice, and even more so during a time when interests are high.

Foodservice News

• Can Cracker Barrel restore its luster? The company’s leadership says yes and has a plan. Same-store traffic is down 16% this year and data from an internal study shows the family dining chain as being in the middle of the pack, per a FSR story. To elevate performance, Cracker Barrel has launched a five-pillared plan that includes refining the brand, upgrading, and streamlining the menu, evolving the store and guest experience, building its digital and off-premises offerings, and elevating the employee experience.
• Red Lobster has a plan to help the chain emerge from the deep waters of bankruptcy. The plan’s top priority, per a Restaurant Business story, is to make its restaurants great places to work. This will include technical upgrades and physical improvements to the stores. Red Lobster did not rule out potentially closing more locations, the story adds. The chain will also focus on the customer experience by simplifying its menu to make it easier to execute while maintaining guest appeal.
• Here come the value meals. As the cost of dining out continues to increase and consumers keep getting squeezed in other areas, chain operators are going back to an old friend to drive traffic. Value meals. Burger King plans to roll out its own $5 value meal, Bloomberg reports. This comes after McDonald’s reached an agreement with its franchisees to offer a $5 value meal for June.
• Cambro Manufacturing has acquired POLIBOX SRL. Based in Milan, Italy, POLIBOX provides insulated transport equipment and accessories to the commercial foodservice industry in Europe. POLIBOX markets its products to the retail cash and carry sector and all commercial foodservice segments, per a release announcing the deal. POLIBOX has warehouses and manufacturing facilities in China, Turkey, Bulgaria, India, and Germany.
• Krowne has formed a product development partnership with Death & Co., a New York City-based craft cocktail bar. As part of this partnership, Krowne will work to integrate Death & Co’s design and engineering expertise directly into its product development process, crafting solutions to “enhance bartender efficiency and creativity,” per a release announcing the deal.
• Total attendance at the 2024 National Restaurant Association Restaurant Show increased by 6%, per show organizers. The annual event, which is owned by Informa, attracted more than 58,000 foodservice professionals from across the United States and around the globe, representing 124 countries. Overall exhibit space increased by 9% compared to 2023, show organizers report.
• The restaurant industry will add 525,00 jobs during the summer of 2024, per projections from the National Restaurant Association’s annual Eating and Drinking Place Summer Employment Forecast. This is the first time on record that demand has reached this level two summers in a row. The top five states projected to register the largest proportional employment increase during the 2024 summer season are Maine (32%), Alaska (21%), Delaware (17%), Rhode Island (17%) and New Hampshire. The five states projected to add the most eating and drinking place jobs during the 2024 summer season are New York (48,600), California (41,600), Texas (35,000), New Jersey (33,400) and Massachusetts (30,000).
• Growth Chains: Black Rock Coffee Bar opened a location in Cypress, Texas, the chain’s 33rd unit in the Lonestar State. Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão will open a location at The Wharf in Washington, D.C. Designed in partnership with global architecture and design agency Harrison, the 7,500-square-foot restaurant will be the chain’s seventh unit in the greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Friendly’s Restaurants will open a location in Orlando, Fla., on June 1, which will run its total number of units in the Sunshine State to three. Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill plans to double the number of units it operates within Love’s Travel Stops. The chain has three locations open and will open three more this year, including units in Greenville, Va., and Barstow, Calif. Naf Naf will also open a unit in Tennessee. Tom’s Watch Bar opened a location in Orlando, Fla. The sports bar chain now has 12 units systemwide. Toppers Pizza inked a development deal to open its first location in Charlotte, N.C. The chain plans to open nine more restaurants across the Tarheel State.

Economic News

• The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index grew to 102.0 in May, a 5.5-point increase from April. This also snapped a streak of three consecutive monthly declines. Both the Present Situation and Expectations Indexes increased. Consumer concerns over a potential recession gained a little momentum which contrasts with the way CEOs see the economy, per Conference Board data.
• Initial jobless claims decreased by 8,000 for the week ending May 18, per data from the U.S. Department of Labor. Economists polled by Reuters had projected 220,000 claims. As one economist told Reuters, “The labor market remains robust, and if claims are the canary in the coal mine for jobs, it has yet to develop a mild cough.”
• April sales of new single-family houses declined 4.7% compared to the previous month, per the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is also 7.7% less than April 2023. The estimated inventory of new houses for sale at the end of April was 480,000, which represents a supply of 9.1 months at the current sales rate.
• Sales of existing homes declined 1.9% in April, per the National Association of Realtors. This also represents a 1.9% decline from April of 2023. The median sales price increased 5.7% compared to April of 2023. The inventory of unsold homes increased 9% compared to March 2024 or the equivalent of 3.5 months’ supply at the current sales rate. “Home sales changed little overall, but the upper-end market is experiencing a sizable gain due to more supply coming onto the market,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
• New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 0.7% in April, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. This represents the third consecutive month where this key economic indicator has increased. Also, April’s increase beat economists' projections, which called for a 0.8% decrease, per multiple published reports. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.4%. Excluding defense, new orders were virtually unchanged.