????亞馬遜這樣的新型零售巨頭觸角無處不在，先后擠垮了書店、鞋店、小家電等實體零售行業(yè)，但卻拿休閑快餐行業(yè)沒有辦法。眼下，休閑快餐店正得到華爾街的垂青，其中的翹楚Potbelly和Noodles上市之后股價都實現(xiàn)了翻番。為什么？因為它們做到了亞馬遜做不到的事情。

????時間已經(jīng)進入2013年10月，IPO業(yè)績最佳的行業(yè)依然不出我們所料：生物醫(yī)藥和科技。但也有兩個例外：快速休閑連鎖餐廳Potbelly和Noodles公司，這兩家公司上市首日股價就翻了一倍。

????生物醫(yī)藥和科技類公司在股市表現(xiàn)搶眼可能離不開炒作，但Potbelly和Noodles公司能取得這樣的成績卻要歸功于其他原因：簡單地說，它們是直接面向消費者的企業(yè)，能夠做到亞馬遜（Amazon）做不到的事情。

????Potbelly是一家位于芝加哥的三明治專賣店，它還提供沙拉和奶昔。上周五，這家公司的股價在14美元的發(fā)行價基礎(chǔ)上實現(xiàn)了翻倍，達到28.66美元，使這家在美國擁有近300家連鎖店、同時在海外擁有十幾家分店的連鎖企業(yè)的市值一下子達到8.025億美元。現(xiàn)在一周過去了，它的股價依然堅挺，還是處在發(fā)行價兩倍的點位。

????就在Potbelly公司上市之前幾個月，總部位于科羅拉多州的休閑快餐公司Noodles 公司已經(jīng)憑借搶眼的表現(xiàn)成功上市。這家擁有350家分店的連鎖餐飲企業(yè)提供以面食為主的各式菜肴，公司股票發(fā)行價為18美元，但在上市首日就暴漲了104%。上周五，它的股價已經(jīng)高達45美元。

????這兩支股票的情況反映了市場目前對休閑快餐業(yè)的追捧，包括Panera和Chipotle這類餐飲店也在其列。據(jù)市調(diào)公司歐睿國際（Euromonitor International）稱，這類餐飲業(yè)介于麥當勞（McDonald's）這種快餐連鎖企業(yè)和Applebee's、Chili's等休閑餐廳之間，自2007年以來在美國已增長了57%，2012年銷售額達到170億美元。而同一時期，包括快速休閑餐廳在內(nèi)的快餐業(yè)總體只增長了12%。

????歐睿國際（Euromonitor International）的消費者餐飲行業(yè)分析師伊麗莎白?傅蘭德稱：“過去五年里快餐業(yè)表現(xiàn)出令人難以置信的強勁增長，”同時強調(diào)，這個成績是在經(jīng)濟衰退的背景下取得的。

????消費者之所以青睞休閑餐廳是因為它們價格親民、菜品豐富，品質(zhì)也不錯。每頓飯只需花上8到10美元，這樣出去打牙祭并不比在家吃飯貴多少了。Potbelly的價格甚至更低：一份三明治只要5美元。

????而投資者喜歡休閑快餐業(yè)的股票是因為它們的運營成本比那些高檔餐廳要低，同時還能滿足消費者對價格低、上菜快、而且顯得健康的飲食的需要。

????但休閑快餐業(yè)的發(fā)展還有一個讓投資者感到費解的地方：它們都是在消費類行業(yè)取得的增長。面對亞馬遜、沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）、好市多（Costco）這類巨頭的強大攻勢，書店、鞋店和小型電子產(chǎn)品商店等零售企業(yè)日益衰敗。然而盡管這類超級商家的觸角幾乎無所不在，但它們還沒能染指快餐店廣受歡迎的平價美食。

????晨星公司（Moringstar）消費者周期性和防御性研究全球總監(jiān)R.J.霍托維表示，由于亞馬遜這類公司的競爭，“在消費者領(lǐng)域不再有多少增長概念可言了”。因此，“投資者已從傳統(tǒng)的零售領(lǐng)域轉(zhuǎn)向了餐飲業(yè)，他們認為這個行業(yè)會有更長期的增長潛力”。

????行業(yè)觀察家預計，快餐業(yè)過去這幾年的10-11%年增長率還將保持下去。傅蘭德說：“從市場規(guī)?？矗瑐鹘y(tǒng)快餐業(yè)的規(guī)模為2000億美元，而休閑快餐所占的份額為170億美元，因此增長空間還是非常大的?！?/p>

????也就是說，除非亞馬遜能用更好的辦法為我們提供熱乎乎的烘烤美食，否則它在這個市場沒什么機會可言。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：清遠?

????Ten months into 2013, the list of top performing initial public offerings is full of what you might expect: biopharmaceutical corporations and tech companies. But there are two outliers: fast casual restaurant chains Potbelly and Noodles & Company, which both saw their share prices more than double on their first days of trading.

????While hype might have factored into the market debuts of bio and tech companies, Potbelly and Noodles got a boost for a different reason: Put simply, they are consumer-facing businesses that can do what Amazon can't.

????Shares of Potbelly (PBPB), a Chicago-based sandwich shop that also offers salads and shakes, more than doubled from their initial trading price of $14 last Friday. They shot up to $28.66, giving the chain, which has nearly 300 domestic stores and a dozen overseas, a value of $802.5 million. A week later, the company's share price is still at double its starting point.

????Potbelly's IPO came just a few months after an impressive market debut by Colorado-based Noodles & Company (NDLS). In June, the 350-store restaurant chain that offers customers noodle dishes from a variety of cuisines saw its IPO starting price of $18 jump 104% in its first day of trading. On Friday, Noodles shares hovered around $45.

????Both offerings highlight the current frenzy over the fast-casual restaurant industry, which also includes eateries like Panera (PNRA) and Chipotle (CMG). This segment of the restaurant industry falls somewhere between fast food joints like McDonald's (MCD) and casual dining spots like Applebee's and Chili's, and it has grown 57% in the United States since 2007, accounting for $17 billion in sales in 2012, according to Euromonitor International. The fast food industry as a whole -- which includes fast casual restaurants -- grew by 12% during that same period.

????"Fast casual has had an incredibly impressive five years," says Elizabeth Friend, a consumer foodservice analyst at Euromonitor International, noting that they did well even in the recession.

????Consumers like fast casual restaurants for their low prices, numerous menu options, and relative quality. Meals are priced between $8 and $10, so eating out doesn't cost a customer significantly more than staying in. Potbelly has an even lower price point: You can buy a sandwich there for $5.

????Investors are fans of fast casual because they have lower operating costs than fancier sit-down restaurants, and they meet consumers' demand for cheap, ostensibly healthy meals on-the-run.

????But fast casual restaurants also offer investors something else that's proven elusive: growth in consumer business. Retail segments like bookstores, shoe stores, and small electronic shops have seen their growth stunted by the likes of Amazon.com (AMZN) and big box chains like Wal-Mart (WMT) and Costco (COST). Though the reach of these mass merchants is vast, it hasn't creeped into restaurants' cheap, hot meals.

????"There aren't a whole lot of growth concepts in [the] consumer space anymore" because of competition from the likes of Amazon, says R.J. Hottovy, Moringstar's global director of consumer cyclical and defensive research. As a result, "investors have shifted from traditional retailers to restaurants, where they think there's a longer runway of growth."

????Industry watchers expect the 10-11% annual growth that fast casual restaurants have seen over the past few years to continue. "If you look at market sizes, traditional fast food industry is $200 billion and fast casual makes up $17 billion of that," says Friend. "The room for growth there is still very large."

????That is, unless Amazon figures out a better way to get you a hot, toasty sub.