Buca net rises as sales slide from traffic decline

Nation's Restaurant News,  May 27, 2002  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

MINNEAPOLIS -- Despite a first-quarter earnings increase of 31 percent, to $2.1 million, for the 13 weeks ended March 31, Buca Inc.'s same-store sales in the period fell 2.7 percent at the company's 51 Buca di Beppo restaurants and 6.1 percent at its seven Vinny Testa's restaurants.

Buca attributed the declines entirely to a drop in guest visits attributable to the 2002 Super Bowl, inclement weather and the timing of Easter.

Following a successful test of Saturday service hours that begin at noon rather than at 4 p.m., all of Buca's new restaurants reportedly will open with expanded Saturday hours to boost same-store sales.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning