Prepare now for economic recovery

Economists have declared the recession over, but a full recovery is still some time away. Industry experts expect the quick-service industry to take nine to 18 months to recover, depending largely on how quickly unemployment levels improve.

QSRs have done better than other restaurant segments during the recession, but brands across the board experienced at least some traffic decline, said Bonnie Riggs, restaurant industry analyst with market research firm The NPD Group. According to NPD's most recent data, QSR traffic declined about 2 percent in the second quarter. Industry-wide, traffic was down 3.9 percent, the most significant drop since 1980...