In a dining segment that has faced more than its fair share of headwinds, The Cheesecake Factory and BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse have emerged as bright spots. We took a closer look at how the two chains have performed over the past year, and dove into some of the factors driving their success.
Steady Monthly Visit Growth
The full-service dining segment has seen turbulence since the pandemic, with many consumers embracing lower-cost meal options and redirecting their discretionary dollars. But the Cheesecake Factory – marked as a chain to watch this year – is one FSR that’s been particularly adept at weathering the storm. During the third quarter of 2024, visits to the chain were up 2.0% YoY, even as the wider FSR segment experienced a minor visit decline. And by continuing to offer a consistent, high-quality dining experience – while investing in staff retention to keep customer satisfaction higher than ever – the brand appears poised to continue growing its customer base.
BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is another FSR chain that has been outperforming the wider segment. Like its cheesecake counterpart, BJ’s offers an especially varied menu – including its famous Pizookie dessert and a massive selection of craft beers. And after seeing a minor 1.7% YoY visit decline in Q2 2024, the chain finished out Q3 with an impressive 4.2% YoY uptick.
What’s driving the resilience of these two chains while others in the category struggle? We explored two factors driving this foot traffic success.
Special Calendar Days Ahead of the Holiday Season
One factor that may be helping The Cheesecake Factory and BJ’s Restaurant drive traffic is their ability to harness the power of annual dining milestones. Special calendar days can be powerful drivers of foot traffic at restaurants, offering chains a prime opportunity to grow visits – and sales.
But the two chains experience these milestones somewhat differently. For BJ’s Restaurant, the weeks of Mother’s Day (week of May 6th) and Father’s Day (week of June 10th) drew the most traffic during the last twelve months, with visits during these holidays rising 18.2% and 14.1%, respectively, compared to an October ‘23 - September ‘24 weekly visit average.
But for The Cheesecake Factory, it was the period right after Christmas that drew the biggest crowds. During the week of December 25th, 2023, visits were up 24.5% compared to the chain’s weekly average – likely driven in part by customers eager to redeem holiday gift cards. (Last year, the chain offered a special holiday gift card promotion, which went into effect in late November). Other calendar days, like Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and National Cheesecake Day (week of July 29th), also provided the restaurant with substantial visit boosts.
Attracting Affluent Suburban Diners
Another factor that may be contributing to both brands’ better-than-average performance is their appeal among higher-income consumers. Using the Experian: Mosaic dataset to analyze The Cheesecake Factory and BJ’s trade areas reveals that both chains see higher shares of wealthy families in their captured markets than in their potential markets. (A chain’s potential market is obtained by weighting each Census Block Group (CBG) in its trade area according to population size, thus reflecting the overall makeup of the chain’s trade area. A business’ captured market, on the other hand, is obtained by weighting each CBG according to its share of visits to the chain in question – and thus represents the profile of its actual visitor base.)
Between January and September 2024, the shares of “Flourishing Families” in the Cheesecake Factory and BJ’s captured markets stood at 9.5% and 10.9%, respectively – outpacing their potential market shares. Similarly, the “Booming with Confidence” segment – wealthy, established couples living in suburban areas – was overrepresented in both restaurants’ captured markets.
These metrics highlight the two chains' success in attracting high-income family segments – groups who may be more resilient to the impacts of rising prices. For this consumer group, these restaurants strike a balance between quality and cost-effectiveness, making them a compelling choice for dining out in an uncertain economic landscape.
A Slice of Success
The Cheesecake Factory and BJ’s have found ways to thrive in a challenging dining environment, keeping foot traffic up and tapping into a receptive customer base.
With the holiday season around the corner, can these two chains maintain their foot traffic growth? Will The Cheesecake Factory see another major holiday season visit spike?
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