According to a report from Nation’s Restaurant News, “reduced mall traffic and higher tax expenses widened second-quarter losses at Sbarro Inc., officials of the 1,062-unit Italian quick-service chain said Thursday.”

“For the quarter ended June 28, Sbarro reported a net loss of $6.5 million, compared to a net loss of $5.0 million in the same year-earlier quarter. Officials said the increase in the net loss was largely the result of a $3.2 million increase in tax expense. Without consideration for taxes, the net loss decreased approximately $1.7 million, officials said. Weakened consumer spending continued to hurt Sbarro, which targets shopping mall locations for its concept. Same-store sales at domestic company-owned units fell 5.1 percent, while domestic franchised units saw same-store sales fall 4.5 percent. Same-store sales at international franchised units dropped 23.2 percent largely because of the strengthening U.S. dollar, officials said. Revenues for the second quarter were $80.1 million, down 6.2 percent from the year-ago quarter,” the story said.