# Which Industries are not (yet) Chains? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676 "2008-08-11T23:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TJVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@TJVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJVM)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/41 "2008-08-12T21:34:13Z")
[QUOTE=Student Driver] Are there any nationwide new car dealers? [/QUOTE] When I bought my last car from a local dealership, I found out that they’d been bought by [Asbury Automotive Group](http://www.asburyauto.com/home.aspx). The dealership has kept its old name, though, so it looks like it’s part of a “hidden chain” strategy, similar to what someone described above for funeral homes. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/42 "2008-08-13T01:23:56Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] A single corporation that has stores operating under (at least) one brand across a sizeable portion of the country, if not the world. The fast food market is dominated by large multinational chains, the low to medium end of the real restaurant business less so, and fine dining (apparently) not at all. I’ve also not noticed ethnic food chains above the fast food level, and I haven’t noticed any Indian food chains at all. [/QUOTE] What do you mean by “a sizeable portion of the country”? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/43 "2008-08-13T02:38:36Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie] Fast food, “casual” dining, most forms of retail shopping, hotel accommodations, and a host of other industries have at least one nationwide chain representing them. Which industries remain strictly (or mostly) local? [/QUOTE] Most INDUSTRY is local. You’re primarily describing retail businesses, not industry per se. If you need steel machined, or a conveyor system assembled, or plastic molded, or aluminum frames welded, most of the time it’s a local industry, and even those multi-site companies that do exist are usually regional. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/44 "2008-08-13T16:18:32Z")
[QUOTE=UncleFred] Golf Courses? Landscaping Services? Bowling Alleys? [/QUOTE] [http://www.americangolf.com/about.cfm](http://www.americangolf.com/about.cfm) Golf courses. American Golf runs over 110 courses around the US. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/45 "2008-08-13T16:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=suranyi] I’m not sure whether [Auto Nation](http://www.autonation.com/) is true chain or just a very large assocation of dealers. Ed [/QUOTE] Bit of both. Lots of the dealers are corporate owned but there are small franchisees also. You can buy stock in AutoNation on the NYSE (currently trading at just over half of the 52-week high value). ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/46 "2008-08-13T17:10:55Z")
There are no chain comic book stores, but I think the guy who owns 4 of the shops here would like to change that. By the way elmwood, The Palm actually has a location in Dallas and several smaller, less world-class cities. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/47 "2008-08-13T18:28:43Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Supermarkets are a surprising exception to national chains. There are a lot of big regional chains and some chains like WalMart that sell groceries along with other commodities. But no supermarket chain like Krogers or Publix or Safeway or Wegmans has achieved the kind of market penetration that chains like Blockbuster or Best Buy or NAPA has. [/QUOTE] Nitpick: Kroger’s is bigger than you think. They’re not a 50-state proposition, but they’re present on both coasts. They own some brands out west including Fred Meyers [sp?] and Fry’s. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/48 "2008-08-14T04:39:17Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] What do you mean by “a sizeable portion of the country”? [/QUOTE] At least a couple states, maybe a larger region such as “the southeast” or “the eastern seaboard”. Shoney’s, for example, operates mainly in the southeast and midwest even though it could be called a national chain; it has limited overlap with more northern-centric restaunts like Perkins which otherwise serve much the same food in the same fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/49 "2008-08-14T05:30:38Z")
[QUOTE=whole bean] large law firms have offices in many cities across the US and abroad. check out the AmLaw 100 [/QUOTE] The Cochran Firm (Johnnie Cochran) has offices in many cities. 26 offices in 15 states, according to its website. [QUOTE=Cisco] There are no chain comic book stores, but I think the guy who owns 4 of the shops here would like to change that. [/QUOTE] Geppi’s was a chain in the 80s and 90s, owned by America’s biggest comics distributor. Big Planet has three stores in the Washington area, but might not qualify as a chain. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/50 "2008-08-14T06:42:28Z")
[QUOTE=black rabbit] Former Krogerite here. You’re exactly right. We had 2500-ish grocery stores everywhere in the US, except for NY/NJ/NE. [/QUOTE] Wegmans has a complete stranglehold on grocery stores in the NE. It’s only a matter of time before the company goes completely national, but it’ll probably take decades. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/51 "2008-08-14T07:30:28Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] Geppi’s was a chain in the 80s and 90s, owned by America’s biggest comics distributor. Big Planet has three stores in the Washington area, but might not qualify as a chain. [/QUOTE] Like I said . . . there is a “chain” here of 4 stores, but I don’t think that counts as a chain. How widespread was Geppi’s? I’m familiar with Diamond of course but never heard of Geppi’s. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/52 "2008-08-14T08:32:25Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Like I said . . . there is a “chain” here of 4 stores, but I don’t think that counts as a chain. How widespread was Geppi’s? I’m familiar with Diamond of course but never heard of Geppi’s. [/QUOTE] Hard to say. I can’t find any information online, and the **Comics Journal** ’s website doesn’t currently have a search function. Geppi’s seemed pretty ubiquitous in the Washington/Baltimore area in the 80s and 90s. There were antitrust actions leveled at Diamond circa 1997, and many local dealers were outspoken about having to compete head-to-head with their sole distributor. Suddenly, a lot of the Geppi’s stores were independent or otherwise vacated (I think one remains in Baltimore). Before today, I had no idea they weren’t a nationwide chain at some point. They sure got mentioned a lot in old TCJ news stories. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/53 "2008-08-14T22:42:03Z")
Replies are trickling in, but so far, Geppis had 6 stores in Maryland, 2 in Virginia and one in Florida that I know about. I’d call that a chain. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/54 "2008-08-16T04:08:52Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Supermarkets are a surprising exception to national chains. [/QUOTE] Not here in Australia they aren’t- there’s only 3 “Major” Supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths/Safeway, and Aldi), and they’re _everywhere_. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/55 "2008-08-16T04:18:10Z")
Well, there are not many Chinese Restaurant chains. I know there have been threads about this on the Dope before, but basically they are family owned and individual restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676/56 "2008-08-16T04:21:57Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] Well, there are not many Chinese Restaurant chains. I know there have been threads about this on the Dope before, but basically they are family owned and individual restaurants. [/QUOTE] Panda Express is the (US) national equivalent of the “Happy Lucky Shanghai China Jade Gardens #2” Chinese carry-out joints. There’s also mid-end Chinese restaurant chains, such as P.F. Chang’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-industries-are-not-yet-chains/459676.md?page=2)