Comment by babypuncher
2 years ago
All of this just doesn't seem like it flies with consumers in 2024.
I think people value quality over consistency when it comes to their leisure spending, especially when small restaurants can still be consistently good. Why do I care that the pancakes at an IHOP in Tampa taste the same as the IHOP in my neighborhood when the local diner across the street makes better pancakes than either of them?
Having lots of options doesn't mean a whole lot if all of them suck.
The national presence I think works to their detriment. Being able to buy ad spots during the superbowl makes a restaurant categorically un-cool. The number of times "I don't want to eat at a chain restaurant" comes up when discussing places to eat with my friends has practically turned the sentiment into a meme.
I imagine social media has played a huge role in this shift. People posting actual pictures of the food they got somewhere does a lot to undercut deceptive advertising and elevates meals that actually get people excited.
I believe there is some market for consistency when your market is explicitly travelers.
This is probably why so many motels have chain restaurants in the parking lot: if you've just spent 7 hours in the car getting there, or are primarily staying there on the way to get somewhere else, convenient and predictable trumps good.
I could see that in the '80s and '90s, but today it takes 30 seconds of looking at my phone to figure out where all the good food is hiding any time I visit a new area.