Not surprising to see concerts by Dave Matthews, Green Day, and other top groups since Live Nation recently purchased Ticket Master.

A recent article in the LA Times reports that 48% of consumers are "eating out less often now than they did six months ago" (Hallock, 2009). John Self, a professor at Cal Poly Pomona in Los Angeles County, who has published a study of why restaurants fail, estimates that about 1,100 restaurants open in L.A. County annually; and among those, 24% close the first year and within three years 50% of those 1,100 have closed. But given the sluggish economy, Self asserts that up to 50% of new restaurants may be expected close in the first year, double the number that close in good economic times.

Data are not available as to how the recession has affected HRC, or Planet Hollywood, Johnny Rocket's or other theme-centered restaurants, but it...
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