What's going on? Is America's love affair with burgers -- or, just with Wendy's (NYSE: WEN ) -- about to come to an end? Today, for the first time in months, fast-food restaurant Wendy's said that same-store sales slipped, during the month of June.
The June backslide led to a mere 2.3% increase in Wendy's same-store sales, as compared with May's whopping 6.7% growth. However, Wendy's Tim Horton's concept eked out a 9.5% same-store sales increase in the U.S.
Wendy's blamed wet weather on the apparent lack of traffic to its restaurants; June weather, routinely described as cold and wet for much of the country, has been blamed for discount retailers Target (NYSE: TGT ) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) missing their June sales forecasts as well.
Could it be that McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) has been stealing traffic from other burger joints? After all, it has been in a constant state of innovation. Though we recently heard that Wendy's is testing drive-through-only stores, McDonald's is working on a longer list of interesting lures, most of which include digital entertainment: movies, music, and WiFi, but some of which are perfectly down to earth, including healthier menus and even adult Happy Meals.
For now, there's not much left to do but wait and see if a hotter July adds up to improved sales for Wendy's. (Of course, who knows if the burgers and hot dogs grilled in our own backyards might make the burger joints less popular, though Wendy's plans to launch a new healthy salad option to add to the others on its menu in July.)
Also good to keep in mind is that Wendy's -- and other popular fast-food concerns, like McDonald's -- will be coming down off several years when same-store sales were red hot. With that in mind, it could create some difficult comparisons going forward.
What's up with Wendy's? Talk about whether the Golden Arches are flattening Wendy's on the McDonald's discussion board, and don't forget to reminisce about National Burger Month with W.D. Crotty.
Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.
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