The Biden administration has created lots of millionaires in the last couple of years. Granted, those people used to be billionaires before the market crashed, but the fact substantiated by false statistics is this: When you gots money, you don’t gots to cook at home.
That’s not to say that wealthy folks don’t have to watch their budget, mind you. This is, after all, the era of Bidenflation. And when every dollar counts, you won’t get more bang for your buck than at beloved dining establishments IHOP and Applebees.
That’s why sales at the two chains, which are both owned by Dine Brands, grew about 6% to 8%, according to Dine CEO John Peyton. Further, that bump was primarily driven by diners with higher annual household incomes.
The growth “suggests to us that guests that often dine at more expensive restaurants are finding Applebee’s and IHOP because of their well-known value position,” CNN quoted Peyton saying on a call this week.
The brands also had strong growth during the 2008 financial crisis. Yes, when dining under extreme financial duress, more wealthy Americans choose Applebees and IHOP than any other casual dining establishment.
The downside, of course: both brands saw their sales drop a few percentage points among households earning under $50,000 a year. We don’t know where those people are eating, but we’ll ask TKW and get back to you.
In the meantime, check out today’s edition of “Is This Anything?”
https://omny.fm/shows/hammer-and-nigel-show/is-this-anything-10
