Also, consider that Carl’s Jr bought Hardee’s but had no reputation in regions where the latter was already a known quantity: if you want a burger and fries you can’t get it at KFC, and if you want a bucket of fried chicken with cole slaw and mashed potatoes you can’t get it at McDonald’s – but if you’ve got a van full of screaming kids who want (a) both, not to mention (b) stuff you can’t get at either fast-food joint, be it onion rings or chili dogs or ham-and-cheese sandwiches, you know damn well that you go to Hardee’s for the cheap and fast and hot extravaganza.
And so the parent company kinda sorta acts like it’s operating separate regional chains, because they (a) see no point in starting from scratch reputation-wise sure as they (b) don’t want to build a new restaurant to compete against the recognized brand in either area.
I think this is the problem with Krispy Kreme as well. People in the South (where the chain originated and most stores are now located) really like their sweet things. The amount of sugar in sweet tea is scary.
When KK came to Colorado, it was at the height of the hype, and the stores were packed. At every meeting or get-together someone would bring a dozen of their donuts. It soon began to be an Emperor’s Clothes thing, and once someone finally said “This tastes like someone melted cotton candy over a ball of fried dough” that the craze died quickly. They came and went in about 18 months.
They lasted a bit longer here in Chicago (and there was a similar level of frenzy when they finally came here), but their freestanding stores, at least, are largely, if not completely, gone now from the market.
They are still around in California. Maybe because there is no other chain to compete with them here. As said earlier in this thread, Dunkin Donuts doesn’t exist here, and the only big California based chain, Winchell’s, died many years ago.
KK opened a branch in my CA city and lasted a little over a year, I think. It was packed at first, but the glamor wore off fast, and it was right when they had expanded too much. Now we’re back to locally-owned places only–I believe Donut Nook is considered the best.
I’m always hoping to enter a donut shop and find Jonathan Silverman, but since I never go in them I guess my chances are low…
Agreed with those who have pointed out that no one sets out to start a non-regional chain, and few set out to start a chain at all. Most businesses begin as small local one-off shops, some of which succeed enough to justify a second, then a third, then . . . naturally, it’s more likely that the second will be in the same city as the first as opposed to the opposite coast. Naturally most small business founders are entrepreneurs with limited funds that don’t initially support national expansion ambitions.
When you have seen national chains “spontaneously” pop up, it’s been the result of one of two things: either they are not true organic start ups but are fronts for or funded by an existing conglomerate (Panera and Chipotle spring to mind as places that spread nationally and quickly only after the founders’ small operation attracted money from a big company like McDonald’s), or they are franchise pyramid schemes masquerading as chains (admittedly some of the pyramids endure better than others). I have to think, for instance, that Five Guys may be headed for a fall. I read yesterday that they plan to open 600 new stores in the next few years. Wow. That’s a lot.
It sure seems like the Hilton will let any shitty company take a stab at the space by the sports book. The sandwich shop that was there for like 8 years was among the worst food I’ve ever had, and it was just sandwiches ffs. The place before them was even worse.
I’d love to see a Pudgies take over. Or a Red Barn.
BTW, I’d fucking LOVE to see a Farrell’s in Vegas.
I used to be desperate for Dunkin Donuts, but we have them now thank Og.
If only we had a good bagel shop; the few we used to have are all gone now. :mad:
Here near Beantown, my fast food options are mostly: Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, Wendy’s, Dunkin Donuts.