Read what Mike Spilky had to say in U-T San Diego’s article, Restaurant closings outnumber openings.
Enterprising restaurateurs, capitalizing on more-sophisticated palates, seem to be opening new, hip dining venues at an increasingly rapid clip in neighborhoods across the country, but if new numbers from a national market research firm are any indication, there are plenty more closings.
Just a year after San Diego County was shown to be outpacing the rest of the country in restaurant growth, there are now fewer independently owned dining venues opening than closing. That’s according to the NPD Group, a Chicago-based market research firm that conducts a census of all types of restaurants in the U.S. twice a year.
Both nationally and in San Diego County, the total number of independent restaurants fell by 2 percent, while chain restaurants grew 2 percent last year through September, compared with the same period in 2013. A year earlier, NPD’s restaurant census showed a more than 2 percent surge in new independent restaurants.