Economic Impact
• Restaurant industry sales in the United States last year were expected to total $782.7 billion, or 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.• The restaurant industry employs about 14.4 million people, or about one of every 10 working Americans. In Tennessee, restaurants employ 294,800 workers, or 11 percent of the workforce.• The restaurant industry is expected to add 1.7 million jobs over the next decade, with employment reaching 16.1 million by 2026. Tennessee restaurants are expected to add a net 31,000 jobs in the next decade.* The share of spending on food captured by restaurants has grown from 25 percent in 1955 to 47 percent today.* The number of restaurants in the United States is projected to grow from 14.4 million today to 16.1 million by 2026.Source: National Restaurant Association
Restaurants may be pleasing to the palate, but it often takes a strong stomach to survive in an industry where a majority of restaurants don't last even an entire year.
According to a study by researchers at Ohio State University, 60 percent of new restaurants fail within the first year and nearly 80 percent shut down before their fifth anniversary. But that doesn't stop many from trying.
In Hamilton County, nearly 1,600 restaurants and other licensed eateries offer a full menu of choices for consumer. Across Tennessee, 10,556 restaurants compete for a share of consumers' food purchases.
Faced with such strong competition and odds against long-term success, some local restaurateurs have nonetheless found success, even with multiple brands and locations.
For most of the successful entrepreneurial restaurateurs, the hours are long and the challenges are many. But they have survived - and in many instances thrived - by building or creating new brands for the Chattanooga market.