Cara’s total sales grow 36.9%, same-restaurant sales grow 0.9% in third quarter of 2017

Vaughan, Ont. – Cara Operations, which franchises and operates restaurant chains Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, St-Hubert, Milestones, East Side Mario’s and others, will focus on renovation, menu changes, the guest experience and e-commerce after seeing modest same-restaurant sales.

The company reports total system sales grew over 2016 by $184.6 million or 36.9 per cent in its third quarter and by $604.0 million or 43.1 per cent year to date. Same-restaurant sales was positive 0.9 per cent and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization as a percentage of total system sales was within its long-term target range of seven to eight per cent at seven per cent for the quarter, said Bill Gregson, Cara’s Chief Executive Officer, in a news release.

“While we are not satisfied with SRS of 0.9 per cent for the quarter, we are encouraged by the positive trend. We will continue to focus on our goal of long-term sustainable SRS growth, which will be driven by the combination of our renovation strategy, focus on menu innovation, commitment to improved operations and guest experiences, and our investments in digital and e-commerce,” Gregson said.

Cara is continuing to invest in delivery options. Among other initiatives this year, the company expanded its online aggregator relationships (including Uber-Eats) to over 470 restaurants to enable customers to place delivery and pick-up orders through the channel and application of their choice. The company said it will continue to roll out this initiative in its corporate and franchised restaurants and expects to be active in at least 600 restaurants by the end of the year.