Gotta disagree, a little.
They put up a new Starbucks literally next to our BK, and across the street from McDonald's, in the same parking lot as a Smith's.... with a Starbucks inside!
I laugh my *** off at the people paying ridiculous prices for terrible coffee..... but there's always a few, or a bunch, of cars in line.
I don't understand it.
It's a little different out here in the sticks...
Lots of fast food, all with trickling business (not heavily populated around here).
Let's be honest, a lot of it is fueled by various government assistance money.
There are mom & pop restaurants around, of course - but none last more than 10 years or so
because the drive-thru thing is perfect for lazy folks. Darn, did I say that out loud?
Wife and I don't do fast food. At all. We'll order a pizza delivered some Friday evenings, but other
than that, nada - and in my younger days on the road, I ate so many QPC's from the golden arches
that they shoulda given me stock in the company. The meat was real, 40 years ago anyways...
We do try to frequent the mom & pops that are trying to be good though. It's important to do that.
Wish like heck we had an In N Out or Whataburger or Culvers....hell, I'd settle for an old-time Lums.
Sometimes you can tell when younger millenial types are entering management of some places, too.
The largest grocery chain in the region (120+ stores) decided recently (upon the original patriarchs'
retirement) to begin offering Starbucks AND raw sushi at all their locations.
Heh. Imagine that - "fresh" sushi a bazillion miles from the nearest ocean, served to the good and
common folks here in Appalachia/coal country.
All we noticed at the local branch was that the Starbucks took up precious floor space - and that their
divided attention to those items meant less efforts to restock the shelves in the rest of the store.
Go figure....
You gotta know your audience, man. Can't force sales on folks who don't want it.