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Article: The power elite.(rankings of restaurant industry)
- Article from:
- Restaurants & Institutions
- Article date:
- July 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Scott Hume, Executive Managing Editor
R&I's 2006 ranking of the Top 400 chains reveals resilience as well as strength.
With the threat posed by high gasoline prices so much on restaurant executives' minds, two numbers illustrate an interesting example of global financial power. In 2005, the United States' bill for imported oil hit an all-time high of $229 billion. Another record set last year was the $259.5 billion in aggregate global sales by the 400 largest U.S.-based restaurant chains.
This year's Top 400 chains' performance was 9.3% above the $237.4 billion in 2004 sales by last year's list. While that increase may not be as large as ...