The Meat of the Matter: Bloomin’ Brands in 2024

Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, faced a year of mixed results in 2024 amid continued challenges in the dining sector.

We analyzed the company’s overall performance, along with its individual brands, to see what the visit data reveals about the past year.

The Metrics Behind the Meal

The past year was a challenging one for many restaurant chains, and Bloomin’ Brands was not immune. Overall visits to the restaurant group declined by 2.9% YoY, with quarterly visits in 2024 falling between 1.9% and 4.0% compared to 2023. 

Still, Bloomin’ appears to be working on a pivot – and visits per location metrics suggest that this  is working. The company closed dozens of stores throughout 2024, a rightsizing strategy aimed at focusing on high-performing locations. As a result, visits per location tracked more closely with 2023 levels, with visits per location for 2024 as a whole up by 0.1% compared to 2023. 

Getting Grain-ular

Diving into individual brands reveals that most of Bloomin’s chains displayed minimal visit gaps. In particular, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse finished the year strong with a 0.8% YoY increase in Q4 2024 visits – in keeping with the general outperformance of fine dining concepts, especially around the holidays. 

Still, one brand, Bonefish Grill, lagged behind the others. The company intends to simplify the menu and enhance the core brand experience, which may help bring visits back to Bonefish in 2025. 

Rightsizing Reveals Rewards

While most Bloomin’ Brands chains experienced visit declines in 2024, visits per location tracked closely with 2023 levels, reflecting the impact of the company’s strategic closures.

Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse all saw YoY increases in visits per location for three out of four quarters in 2024. Fleming’s in particular ended the year strong with a 3.3% visit per location increase in Q4 2024 – suggesting that Bloomin’ might do well by focusing on its more upscale offerings. 

And Bonefish Grill saw smaller YoY visit gaps in average visits per location compared to its overall visit metric – a sign that rightsizing may have helped offset some of the broader traffic challenges.

Last Bites

Despite facing a challenging year, the stability in the average visits per location across Bloomin’ Brands serves as a reminder that there are plenty of ways for restaurants to pivot and succeed. 

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