Mary Makar
Modeling Sales Performance for a Casual Dining Restaurant Chain in Canada © 2011
A restaurant’s capacity to succeed is largely reliant upon its location. Restaurant site selection is a complex decision which necessitates appropriate planning and sufficient market information. Incorporating a set of key demographic, competitive, and site specific variables, this study aimed to ascertain what criteria were most impactful on the gross sales of casual dining restaurants operating within two provinces in Canada. To reflect the varying characteristics, shopping behaviours, and consumption patterns of consumers situated within different retail environments, the restaurants were classified into separate markets and subsequently examined through the application of regression modeling. The results revealed that the number of years that a restaurant had been in the market, the immediate population base, the presence of nearby big-box retailers, the existence of competitors, and household expenditures such as restaurant, alcohol, and fast food all had significant impacts on the gross sales of casual dining restaurants.