Eat, Drink, And Be Merry – Americans Spending More at Bars and Restaurants, According to Retail Sales Report
An analysis of the latest retail sales report shows that despite rising prices and interest rate hikes among other local and global economic factors, people are still having a good old time spending on food and drink outside of the home.
In their report about the retail spending numbers released on Tuesday, October 17th, Wells Fargo said that they’ve been perplexed by the “the devil-may-care mindset of a consumer that somehow finds a way to keep spending.”
Bars and restaurants counted first among the top four categories in spending year-over-year, rising 9.2%. This was followed by ecommerce (+8.4%), drugstores (+8.3%) and motor vehicles and parts (+6.2%).
“Consumer resilience remains intact; that’s the takeaway from this report,” Wells Fargo said in its analysis of the retail sales numbers.
In June, Yelp reported on this trend saying that despite challenges in the industry like staffing shortages and inflation, restaurants still showed signs of growth.
“Yelp data confirms rising demand among diners, with consumer interest in restaurants and nightlife businesses increasing nationally,” Yelp reported.
The Yelp analysis showed that pop-up restaurants were the number one category of new openings followed by ramen, noodles, tacos and then chicken shops.
And it’s not just the affordable options that are thriving. People are opting for fine dining.
“The data suggests that consumers are forgoing affordable options for higher-end dining experiences,” the Yelp report says.
