The Decline of Casual Dining
For decades Americans have preferred the casual dining experience. During the suburb boom of the 1990's and 2000's these kinds of restaurant chains became increasingly popular, because of their inexpensive food and fast ticket times. It seems that every town has a Chili's, Applebee’s or Olive Garden, maybe even all three. Yet, according to retail-research firm Black Box Intelligence, customer traffic to these types of chains has declined 9 of the last 13 years. Since I work at one of these restaurants this is a big problem for me and directly affects my income. These restaurant chains were extremely popular, so what happened? Why is there business going down?
The recession had a lot to do with the initial decline of these restaurants. Just like everyone was trying to do around the time of the recession, these restaurants went ahead with their business through the recession, thinking when the market starting healing and people were started to increase the flow of money again that they would obtain their old customer traffic. This obviously didn't happen, customers must have been swayed away from the casual dining idea.
Just like online shopping has started to take huge chunks into the actual physical-retail stores and going to the malls is starting to decline, the same has begun to happen to these casual dining chains. Of course these issues could be hand in hand. The fewer customers that go out to the mall or to Walmart means fewer potential customers for the restaurant. Although, places like Chipotle and Panera have seen sale growth of 15 to 20 percent over the last 5 years, while the casual diners have flat-lined or even decreased. Known as fast-dining, these places are popular for their speed that...
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...y want and as fast as they want to do it. I would even take it a step further and set up a way to allow people to set up an order queue before they ever step in the restaurant, if they wanted to. Once the host is notified that the party has arrived they send in the queue and their order gets started.
I’ve worked at Chili’s for almost 6 years and have seen first-hand the decline of casual-dining. I’ve been a host, busser, server, and bartender, easily the biggest complaint is the speed of the restaurant. This occurs in every single restaurant in the country. Chili’s is also one of the few restaurants already set up to take the fast-dining restaurants head on. Using technology, like the table tablet or allowing people to order on the cell-phones would cut service time and separate Chili’s from the other casual dining restaurants, which will bring their customers back.
1.3 Market Segment Chipotle is classified in the restaurant industry as fast casual, a combination of the quick serve and the casual dining segments. Fast casual restaurants have the following attributes: high quality food, upscale atmosphere, higher check averages between $7-$11, and pay at the counter (What exactly is fast casual?, 2008). 2.0 Market Opportunity Analysis 2.1 Market Trends The restaurant industry grew to $403.5 billion in 2010, a growth of 2.1% from 2009 (Consumers still thrift when dining out, 2011).... ...
In 2007, the restaurant industry began to slowly decline. By the time 2008 rolled around the restaurant sales were down by more than four precent. This decline in sales would immensely affect Red Lobster and the restaurant industry as a whole. This decline was primarily
The number of restaurants for casual dining seafood category is more than 8000 in United States. Despite the competition market share of Red Lobster is highest that is
after being seated, and the time to get the order after it was placed. Several
Trevor Wallace has led the company away from the "We are chicken" campaign into other areas that may not reflect the image of what Buckmeister intended. Even though the "chick-pizza" is successful, this could also be the reason why sales are declining in many of the outlets. They could be diluting the brand image
So why did I, along with all of my co-workers, lose my job as a server after a short 6 weeks? I’ll tell you. Let’s be real. America is getting sick of the chicken tenders and sub-par burgers every joint has. Your microwavable vegetables and side dishes are not fooling
From a study completed by Chicago-based Research International USA completed a study called “Fast Food Nation 2008. The panel consisted of 1,000 respondents of ages 16-65 who provided their inputs with an online survey which was conducted between March 13 through 2008. Which was based on results on fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are gaining popularity even through the economic hardship and recession. Marketing strategy has become more of influence on kids and young American’s. As population grows and the demand increases of fast food restaurants are expanding their stores to capturing more consumers. Fast food chains are also willing to change their menus to continue to gain and retain repeating customers. With each generation that passes, brings fast food chains into more homes and continues impacting lives.
One out of every three Americans is obese and the majority of these obese people in the United States have eaten regularly at fast food restaurants. As the obesity rate increases, the number of fast food restaurants goes up as well. Although it is not certain, many believe that obesity in the United States is correlated to eating fast food. Since the United States has the highest obesity rate out of any country, it is important for Americans to monitor the fast food industry that may be causing obesity. With the pressure to get things done in a timely manner, fast food became a big necessity. However, when creating fast food restaurants, the industries were not thinking about the negative effects such as obesity. Other than obesity, other harmful effects exist as well. Fast food restaurants serve unhealthy products such as greasy foods and artificial meat that lead to dietary health issues in many adults and children. A recent study showed that “Young children who are fed processed, nutrient-poor foods are likely to become unhealthy teenagers, and eventually unhealthy adults. Now twenty-three percent of teens in the U.S. are pre-diabetic or diabetic, 22% have high or borderline high LDL cholesterol levels, and 14% have hypertension or prehypertension” (May, Kuklina, Yoon). The food that they provide is made to be eaten quickly, causing problems for the digestive system. Also, the health problems lead to the use for health insurance, which adds to the costs of Medicare. Health care costs will only worsen an already failing economy. Therefore, the government should regulate fast food restaurants in the United States in order to repair the deteriorating health and economy in America.
Subway effectively competes with burger chains and others that are in the fast-casual segment of the market. Including healthier meals into its menu and giving much attention to obesity and diabetes have supported consumers' choice for Subway (Tarantino, 2005). However, Subway has not been satisfied thus far; instead, more intensified efforts have been made to improve business during the dinner hour. Additional menu options have also been added to answer competitors' trends and to place more focus on the children's segment.
It is no secret that the America’s love for fast food is constantly growing. In fact a survey report shows that there are over 50,000 fast food chains in the country, with McDonalds; established in 1902, ranking as the largest one of these restaurant chains (Dipietro, Roseman, & Ashley, 2006). As of 2013, official reports from McDonalds indicate that there are over 34,000 system-wide restaurants under its wing (Dipietro et al., 2006). On the contrary, Chic-fil-A, is a smaller fast food chain that was established in the year 1967 from its mother restaurant the Dwarf Grill. As of 2013, there are over 1700 Chic-fil-A restaurants in more than 39 states with a gross revenue in sales around $4.6 billion (Redman & Sankar, 2013). Over the years, businesses
There has been exponential rise in the number of eateries in most of the towns worldwide. This is partly brought about by the ballooning urban population, as well as the emergence of working middle class population who find themselves tied up by work in the cities they reside.
As Americans, we’re always on the go. When hungry and have no time there are many fast and healthy items available. Many people who say that fast food chains is the main cause of obesity in America because there are plenty of fast food restaurants on every block with very few healthy options ("Do Fast Food Restaurants Contribute to Obesity?"). Fast food business are very easy to find and offer quick service, but there are other options that are healthy, especially in urban areas. Restaurants such as Panera offer a range of items that are healthy and offer a quick service for those on a schedule. In addition to these healthier options, it is also possible to pack their own snack or meal. People often become lazy when it comes to just cooking their meals at home. This choice allows the customer, to control what they eat.
From the dollar menu, coupons and value meals, fast food is a cheap way to eat. Wendy’s fast food restaurant serves a small fry, drink, hamburger and four piece chicken nugget for four dollars or get any size drink and McDonalds for just one dollar. These low prices have driven many low income families to eat at fast food restaurants. Healthier foods tend to cost more which make them harder to buy. This goes beyond just low income families but coordinates with communities that are low income. There are low income communities that do not have big grocery stores where there is quality fresh produce. Families that live in these areas do not have much of a selection and most of the high quality food that’s available is normally expensive. Fast food is getting cheaper and “According to the researchers, in the 1930s, Americans spent one-quarter of their disposable income on food. By the 1950s, that had dropped to about one-fifth. The most recent research finds Americans now spend less than one-tenth of their money on food” (Firger). The amount people have to spend eating at a fast food restaurant has slowly decreased. Low income families are able to use the money saved eating at a fast food restaurant to pay bills. It is a lot cheaper and convenient to pick up something on the way home from work than to go to the store and purchase all
· Fast food is losing its sense of appeal to the large group of customers who frequently eat out
...ded once they see that the sales will be increasing and tips will be larger. Good staff will increase good public relations which will result in better business. Marketing a restaurant is the most important part in running a restaurant. If a restaurant is not marketed, no one will know about the restaurant causing it to lose money to operate forcing it to close down. Prices on the menu should always be appealing to the restaurant target market and set towards the products on the menu. It is essential that a restaurant develops its staff to the fullest, for a strong staff creates better sales and the public is pleased .