Editors Notes- Graduation Alerts Report and recent facts on New Openings

Results from the Graduation Alerts Report for small and emerging companies:

1,311 restaurant chains with unit counts between 6 and 25 units are examined for growth each calendar quarter.

Date Range: April 1^st to June 30^th 2016.

Overall take on the quarter: There was nominal growth among buffet, fast casual, quick serve and upscale restaurants.

Some companies with recent quarterly bursts of growth: Barry Bagels (6 to 9 units), Sloan’s Ice Cream (7 to 10 units), Iceberg Drive-Inn (7 to 17 units), Bacci Pizzeria, (8 to 11 units), Italo’s Pizza Shop (9 to 12 units), Creamistry (9 to 25 units), Ezell’s Famous Fried Chicken (10 to 13 units), Taste of Philly (11 to 16 units) .

Overall chains serving burgers, hot dogs, ice cream/yogurt and smoothies had the most growth.

Regarding new location openings, there has been a slowdown that began in the 2^nd and 3rd quarters of 2016. Currently fast casual is the only service type in high growth.