Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Restaurants are off to another tough year

The restaurant industry is getting hit hard by diners who have lots of good reasons to eat at home.

Last year was one of the worst for the restaurant industry. The number of restaurants per million people hit a 10-year low, and traffic for most categories was lousy, especially in casual dining. And this year’s not off to a great start. Overall traffic was down another 2.5 percent in January, according to TDn2K. With grocery prices falling and prepared foods and delivery on the rise, diners need a really good reason to leave the house. And restaurants are struggling to give them one.

Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

Related Topics

Latest Episodes

View All Shows
  • Marketplace
    2 days ago
    26:11
  • Make Me Smart
    2 days ago
    28:43
  • Marketplace Morning Report
    2 days ago
    6:58
  • Marketplace Tech
    2 days ago
    12:22
  • Million Bazillion
    5 days ago
    5:01
  • This Is Uncomfortable
    a month ago
    2:27
  • Financially Inclined
    2 months ago
    12:30
  • How We Survive
    2 months ago
    22:09
  • The Uncertain Hour
    4 months ago
    22:50
  • Corner Office from Marketplace
    5 years ago
    20:58