Restaurants: hungry for growth & profits; Success in the restaurant industry hinges on delivering profits to stakeholders by serving more customers, adding locations and controlling costs--in innovative ways.

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Industry profile - Industry Overview

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Restaurants: hungry for growth & profits; Success in the restaurant industry hinges on delivering profits to stakeholders by serving more customers, adding locations and controlling costs--in innovative ways.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow, who got one of his first jobs in a restaurant, lauded the industry recently for being a "cornerstone" of the U.S. economy. "As the nation's largest private-sector employer, the restaurant industry has a tremendous impact on this nation's economy," he told National Restaurant Association (NRA) members at their September 2004 Public Affairs Conference.

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The rise of dual-career, more-affluent families is driving more people to eat out, more people are working in the industry and more revenue is being generated. Yet, restaurants, like other consumer-driven businesses, are in a perpetual race to grow and serve up more profits for shareholders--by serving more customers, adding locations and controlling costs--in new and innovative ways. "You have to have new news, new products and new approaches," says Kerrii B. Anderson, CPA, executive vice president and CFO of Wendy's International Inc.

It's been said that successfully operating a restaurant is one of the hardest--if not the hardest--of businesses. At the sa...

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