Spur sales up despite boycott

Restaurant franchiser Spur Corporation reported a marginal increase in sales for the year to June 30, despite an incident at one of its Spur Steak Ranches that led to a national boycott of the eateries.

While the group reported a drop in sales at its Spur Steak Ranches, its restaurants catering for higher-income customers showed a robust performance.

On the whole, Spur Corporation increased its franchised restaurant sales from continuing operations 4.2% to R7.2bn.

Spur Steak Ranches lost 3.4% in sales and Captain DoRegos 17.6%. Other brands fared better, with The Hussar Grill increasing 25.2%, RocoMamas 62.6% and John Dory’s Fish Grill Sushi 8%.

Earlier in 2017, calls were made for a national boycott of Spur Steak Ranches after an apparently racist incident.

Spur Steak Ranches eateries said they had noted the effects of the boycott‚ which led to executives touring the country to do damage control.

“One cannot really make a conclusion on whether the [the alleged racist] incident had an impact on sales, especially since it was an isolated case,” said Avior Capital Markets equity analyst De Wet Schutte.

Spur Corporation CE Pierre van Tonder said “the robust performance of The Hussar Grill” highlighted the resilience of higher-income consumers.