72% of Michigan Restaurant Owners are Reporting a Massive Sales Decline in 2022
January 27, 2022 - Saddleback BBQ in Lansing Michigan sent a survey to ~100 Michigan Restaurant owners. The results were startling. 72.73% of restaurant owners reported their sales in 2022 are lower than previous years. Of those restaurant owners that chose to disclose how much their sales are down, 50% of them reported sales declines of 30-40% in 2022.
“This is very concerning. Our same store sales at Saddleback are down an average of 33% compared to previous years. We were worried that other Michigan restaurants may be facing similar challenges, which is why we wanted to send out the survey. While this survey is not scientific, it is still quite concerning what was reported by our friends in the Michigan Restaurant community.” - Matt Gillett, Co-Owner of Saddleback BBQ in Lansing, Michigan.
“The local community stepped up in a big way to help restaurants, but sadly, we aren’t out of the woods yet and we need support. Every meal that you choose to have at a locally owned restaurant is supporting a family in your community. We need your support.” - Stefan Nava, Owner of Danzon Kitchen in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“We opened right before the pandemic started and we are thankful that we are still here and surviving. We are grateful for the support we received from the community and we can't say how much we appreciate it. Our sales have been suffering so far in 2022. It sure does make us worry how local businesses can survive another year. Compared to January of 2021, our sales are down by about 35%. Surviving has been difficult with the extreme rise in costs from raw materials to everything else while also suffering decline in sales. We hope that us and other local businesses can survive this year and for many years to come because many families rely on the income from the local businesses.” Rae Suboh, Owner of Bread Bites in Okemos, Michigan.
While the Saddleback BBQ survey data is admittedly a very small sample of the thousands of Michigan Restaurants, it matches the survey data from The National Restaurant Association (NRA). New data from their 10th COVID-19 Operators Survey shows that restaurant recovery is paralyzed and nowhere near complete.
According to the National Restaurant Association 10th COVID-19 Operators Survey:
- 88% of restaurants experienced a decline in customer demand for indoor on-premises dining because of the omicron variant.
- 76% of operators report that business conditions are worse now than three months ago.
- 74% say their restaurant is less profitable now than it was before the pandemic.
Link to full anonymous survey data from Saddleback BBQ Survey:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A9X-HmrxnABH7NcF-dGNz86yEn3z7NZfDXYAMAae9pM/edit?usp=sharing
About Saddleback BBQ & About The Survey Data
Saddleback is a restaurant group in the Greater Lansing area with locations in Okemos and Lansing. This survey was sent to 84 Michigan Restaurant owners. 11 of those restaurant owners responded and 4 of them voluntarily chose to disclose their sales decline numbers. This is admittedly a very small sample of the Michigan Restaurant Industry, the sales declines tend to align with what is being reported by other restaurant news outlets and national food chains.