CHICAGO — Operators in three of the four regions reported May sales increases compared to the prior year, led by the South’s 8.7% gains, according to this month’s unscientific AmericanCoinOp.com StatShot survey. Nationally, operators saw monthly sales rise 2.5% compared to May 2011.
The West saw sales rise 4.2%, the second straight month of gains there. May-to-May sales in the Midwest were up 2%. The Northeast was the only region to report a business slowdown, with monthly sales falling 0.6% from the previous May.
As we near the halfway mark of the year, sales have increased in at least three regions every month during 2012.
“We’ve had the best five-month start ever,” raves an operator from the West, while another says “oil drilling has had a great impact on (our) current year sales increase.”
“Monthly gross income has been relatively stable for over a decade,” says an operator from the Midwest. “Raising prices doesn’t seem to affect income.”
AmericanCoinOp.com’s StatShot includes information on sales, wages, costs and other financial data based on anonymous survey information provided by industry owners and operators.
