Weekday lunches lag in Fayetteville
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Our restaurant spending is shifting from weekday lunch hours to the weekends, per new Square data.
- The share of overall Fayetteville restaurant transactions during workday lunchtime fell from about 17% in 2019 to 12% in 2023, while weekends grew by 6%.
Why it matters: It's a reflection of pandemic behavior changes — and an important insight for restaurants as they continue adapting to survive and thrive, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Jacque Schrag report.
Zoom out: Nationally, the weekday lunch share fell from about 21% in 2019 to 18% in 2023, based on data from food-and-drink establishments using Square.
- By contrast, the weekend share grew from about 30% in 2019 to 35% in 2023.
- Happy-hour transactions were nearly flat: 7% in 2019 and 8% in 2023.
How it works: Square, which makes payment-processing tech, defines the "weekday lunch" period as 11am-2pm, the "weekend" as all day Saturday and Sunday, and "happy hour" as 4-6pm weekdays.
What they're saying: "There's a perception that consumers are cutting back at restaurants, when, in fact, total spending has increased. The bigger change is in consumer behavior," Square Research lead Ara Kharazian said in the company's new report.
The bottom line: See you at brunch.