Hurricane Helene Restaurant Industry Impact
Black Box Intelligence Reveals Hurricane Helene’s Severe Impact on Restaurant Sales
New research shows significant revenue declines across the southeastern U.S. following Hurricane Helene.
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]
[DALLAS, TX, October 11, 2024] — Black Box Intelligence, the restaurant industry’s trusted source for operational performance data, has released insights into the immediate economic toll Hurricane Helene took on restaurant operations in six states. The findings highlight sharp sales declines in the week ending September 29, 2024, as businesses faced closures and reduced traffic in affected areas.
Key data from the report estimates the drops in sales Year-on-Year by state for the week to be:
- South Carolina: -8.2%
- Georgia: -9.9%
- Tennessee: -2.5%
- Florida: -4.5%
- Virginia: -2.8%
- North Carolina: -5.0%
This compares with an overall Year-on-Year drop in sales growth for the US of -1.6%. Excluding the six affected states mentioned, this number was 0.4%.
Victor Fernandez, VP of Insights at Black Box Intelligence, commented:
“The data illustrates how hurricanes like Helene disrupt day-to-day operations for restaurants, highlighting the significant revenue impact across key markets. This comes at a time when the outlook for the restaurant industry was beginning to look a lot more positive. With Milton coming hot on its heels and some states still feeling the impacts of Helene well into the week ending October 6, we will see how this further compounds restaurant performance in the next week or so.”
About the Research
The data is based on weekly sales and traffic reporting from Black Box Intelligence’s network of 180 restaurant brands. The comparisons were calculated by comparing the Year-on-Year growth averages for the previous four weeks (week ending 09/01/24 thru week ending 09/22/24) with the Year-on-Year growth percentage for the week Hurricane Helene occurred (week ending 09/29/24). Full research is available on the Black Box Intelligence website.
About Black Box Intelligence
Black Box Intelligence is a data and technology company serving multi-unit restaurant businesses. With a history built on drawing on financial performance and workforce intelligence from a network of 400+ restaurant brands, it now combines the best benchmarking in the industry with experience management and guest sentiment measurement technology to provide a clear and quantifiable roadmap for operational success.
For more information:
Andy Smith
CMO, Black Box Intelligence