As Our Politics Hit New Lows, Our Pizza Delivery Industry Hits New Highs

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No matter which side of the political aisle you find yourself, one aspect of this election cycle is a given — it’s unprecedented in its unpredictability. Whether it’s Drumpf calling on Russia to hack into government servers or Bernie Bros unable to let go, turmoil is the adjective of Election 2016. And that turmoil has more of us staying at home, either out of fear or enraptured by our TVs (ratings for the DNC have been very high). Which means more people are ordering in America’s favorite food — pizza, dude!

KeyBanc, a capital market and retail research branch of Key Bank, tracks the ups and downs of businesses across America to rate their shares, and Chris O’Cull analyzes American restaurant trends. He’s found that foot traffic to restaurants is down five percent in recent weeks. Which means that people have been ordering in a lot more. O’Cull believes “the civil and political disruptions that have negatively impacted restaurant dining may be helping pizza operators that deliver to consumers.” This has led KeyBanc to upgrade the ratings on shares for big dough slinging shops like Papa John’s.

O’Cull and KeyBanc “expect this phenomenon will play out at least through the general election in November.” Well, that’s exhausting. After the election, we all may need a vast amount of comfort pizzas delivered to our doors to get us through until Thanksgiving.

(Via The Guardian)