Growth in guest traffic continues to be a major driver of sales performance
Arby’s, the Fast Crafted restaurant brand with more than 3,300 restaurants worldwide, announced U.S. System Same-Store Sales (SSS) growth of 5.8 percent1 in the first quarter of 2016. Including Leap Day, Arby’s U.S. System SSS growth was 6.6 percent during the first quarter of 2016. Arby’s SSS growth more than doubled a representative sample of the larger Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) chains2, representing 22 consecutive quarters of SSS growth and 13 consecutive quarters of industry outperformance.
Arby’s reported U.S. System two-year SSS of 15.3 percent (16.1 percent when accounting for Leap Day impact) in Q1 2016 and attributed the sales success to a winning combination of innovative products, a marketing approach that continues to resonate and a relentless focus on guest experience resulting in the Brand attracting new guests while giving existing guests reason to frequent restaurants more often.
“Our consistent industry outperformance and business momentum continues to reinforce that our differentiated Fast Crafted restaurant experience is resonating with our target guests,” said Paul Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. “I continue to be pleased with how our corporate and franchise teams are working together to grow sales and increase restaurant level profitability — putting us in a strong position to deliver on our strategic priority of accelerating remodels and new restaurant development.”
Arby’s strong Q1 sales results follow last month’s announcement of several new development agreements with new and existing franchisees, representing 138 new restaurants. Arby’s remodeled 179 U.S. company and franchise restaurants during 2015 and expects to exceed that pace this year.
Other financial and business highlights from the quarter include:
- 15% Energy Reduction: Arby’s announced on March 31 that it has achieved its “15 percent by 2015” energy reduction goal, decreasing its energy usage in company-owned restaurants by 15.2 percent from 2011-2015. Arby’s also achieved an 8.6 percent reduction in water consumption in company-owned restaurants during the same period. These efficiencies resulted in $20.4 million of energy-related cost savings over this period.
- Award-winning Sliders: Debuting with more than 29 million sliders sold in their first month of September 2015, Arby’s Sliders continue to be a hot menu item, with cumulative product sales approaching the 100 million mark at the end of Q1. Sliders have been named ”Best Line Extension” from the prestigious 2016 MenuMasters Awards and will be recognized at the 2016 NRA Show in May.
- Healthy Franchise System: Following-through on Arby’s commitment to build strong and mutually beneficial relationships with its franchise system, Arby’s was named a World-Class Franchise by the Franchise Research Institute. In fact, 94 percent of Arby’s franchisees gave a positive rating to the long-term growth potential of their franchise business.
1Source: Internal ARG data; Includes estimates for unreported franchisees at time of release.
2Source: The NPD Group/SalesTrack Weekly reports same store sales collected weekly from 45 of the larger Quick Service Restaurant chains during Q1 2016 ending April 3, 2016.
Arby’s, founded in 1964, is the first nationally franchised sandwich restaurant brand, with more than 3,300 restaurants worldwide.
