Stifel Predicts Impending Restaurant Recession

A recent Stifel survey showed a deceleration in restaurant same-store sales across all categories during the second quarter, which could indicate "the start of a US restaurant recession," wrote Stifel analyst Paul Westra in a note to clients.He attributes the decline in same-store sales to a number of macro factors such as politics, terrorism, social unrest etc., as well as the consumer reaction to lower grocery prices and restaurant industry expansion outpacing demand. He also believes restaurants are losing pricing