Golden Corral Named #1 In Grill-buffet Segment For Eighth Straight Year, Ranked #2 Among All Segments In Average Sales Growth Per Restaurant

(Thursday, July 01, 2004) - Golden Corral was named #1 in system wide sales in the grill-buffet segment for the eighth straight year by Nation's Restaurant News and moved up to the #2 position among all chains in all foodservice segments in average sales growth per restaurant.

System wide sales for Golden Corral in 2003 were $1.247 billion, up 7.9 percent over 2002. System wide sales in 2003 were 53 percent higher than the second place brand in the segment. In addition to system wide sales leadership in the segment, Golden Corral was also first in system wide sales growth, estimated sales per unit, growth in number of U.S. units, top 100 market share, and number of U.S. units.

Nation's Restaurant News calculated that average 2003 sales of all Golden Corral restaurants, including older Standard units in smaller markets as well as the larger Metro units in metropolitan markets, were $2,661,700, a gain of 7.79 percent over 2002.

Ted Fowler, President and CEO, pointed out to Jack Hayes, the publication's Southeast Bureau Chief, that the public's interest in the Atkins diet represents a strong push for the grill-buffet segment.

"I've heard there are 80 million people trying some form of low-carbohydrate diet, and we have an advertising campaign that says we can meet the specs of any diet around," Mr. Fowler said. "We have 35 different vegetables and 12 to 14 proteins out on our food stations all the time. You can be on any diet in the world, and we have what you need-for the price of a buffet bar."

In a separate commentary on nutritious eating, Mr. Hayes, who carefully monitors his weight and blood sugar, had this to say about the healthy diet potential of grill-buffet restaurants:

"My favorite venues for carb counting are grill-buffets. They let me choose the foods I know in portions I easily can calculate total meal carbs and units of insulin."

Golden Corral 2004 system wide sales in the first half (24 weeks ended June 16) were a record $621.7 million, a gain of 8.5 percent over the comparable period of 2003. There were 14 new restaurant openings in the first half of 2004, boosting the system wide store count to 475. Franchisees operate 357 units and 118 are company-owned and operated.

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