Restaurant Bulemia

From the Trono Globe and Mail's Report on Business (note the headline):

After the binge, the purge

For the past five years, the U.S. restaurant industry has been on an expansion tear. Now, high fuel prices, a shaky economy and rising food inflation are keeping customers at home, sending four major chains running for bankruptcy protection so far this year

Unfortunately, the article names only one of the chains. Further, it doesn't tell how many chains have declared bankruptcy each year over the past decade or so, so we have no good basis for evaluating the number.

Also, it makes the odd statement,

More than a third of Americans are eating out less than they did a year ago, with most citing tight finances as the key reason, according to a recent Technomic survey.

Does that mean 2/3 are eating out more? If so, why are restaurant chains in trouble?

My point here is that these are poor ways to indicate that a slow-growth economy is reducing the demand for mid-range restaurant meals. For my earlier posting on this topic, see this.