Good Time To Go Out To Eat On A Budget…….

Times are getting harder for restaurants and their falling business. Restaurants are trying to get people in the door anyway possible, going online to Restaurants.com to offer coupons to customers. The Wall Street Journal posted a article called Dining Out on Deals, the articles states “Technomic, a Chicago restaurant consultant, predicts no restaurant-industry growth for 2009, following 2% growth in 2008. Special offers are the rare thing getting people in the door these days: In the quarter that ended in August, 23% of all restaurant visits occurred because diners wanted to take advantage of some kind a deal — a 9% increase in deal-driven visits over the previous year, according to NPD Group, a market-research firm.” Wow! When your working in it, you never really know just how bad it is. It’s becoming very common in the lower states and big city restaurants to join online discount sites.
In Fairbanks on the other hand I don’t really see these sites really hitting home in the restaurant community. Many just post a add or coupon in the local newspaper. This will see a larger response than any online site. Some radio stations in town are doing 50/50 Tuesday where customers can receive 50% off gift certificates to many local businesses in town. With many questions and no answers, who really knows where local restaurants are going to go to push in customers. Fairbanks is in it’s own little bubble for the time being, maybe can ride out the storm a little longer. May I take your ordered?