Major Retail Chains That "Skipped" Your Area, Past or Present?

[Dough4872]

Waffle House does not have any restaurants in Philadelphia or its Pennsylvania suburbs, yet there's locations to the north in Bethlehem, to the west in Lancaster, and to the south in the state of Delaware. I would love if Waffle House came closer to me, they have good food and cheap prices.

[dvferyance]

While it may not count as retail there is only one Freddy's Custard in all of Wisconsin. I guess they bypass it because of Culver's. For many years Woodman's bypassed the Milwaukee area although that changed. While not my area I noticed Belk bypasses Richmond VA for whatever reason.

[hbelkins]

While it may not count as retail there is only one Freddy's Custard in all of Wisconsin. I guess they bypass it because of Culver's. For many years Woodman's bypassed the Milwaukee area although that changed. While not my area I noticed Belk bypasses Richmond VA for whatever reason.

Although Culver's got its feet wet in Kentucky first, Freddy's is starting to make inroads. Apparently Freddy's isn't afraid of the competition here.

I don't know how ubiquitous Culver's is in that area, but on a trip to the upper midwest a few years ago, I noted that Decorah, Iowa, has exactly two fast-food restaurants -- McDonald's and Culver's.

[tigerwings]

No Costco locations in the southern suburbs of Detroit.

They bought several of the former Home Quarters locations, but didn't buy the one in Southgate because Sam's Club was next door.

BJ's has opened a store to Taylor.

[ibthebigd]

While it may not count as retail there is only one Freddy's Custard in all of Wisconsin. I guess they bypass it because of Culver's. For many years Woodman's bypassed the Milwaukee area although that changed. While not my area I noticed Belk bypasses Richmond VA for whatever reason.

Although Culver's got its feet wet in Kentucky first, Freddy's is starting to make inroads. Apparently Freddy's isn't afraid of the competition here.

I don't know how ubiquitous Culver's is in that area, but on a trip to the upper midwest a few years ago, I noted that Decorah, Iowa, has exactly two fast-food restaurants -- McDonald's and Culver's.

To watch Culver's grow in Indiana has been impressive came to the state in early 2000's and now has close to 80 locations.

I'm curious if they will try that strategy with Kentucky.

SM-G996U

[bing101]

https://locations.wafflehouse.com/
https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/operations/ihop-shuts-down-its-fast-casual-spinoff-flipd
https://www.dinebrands.com/en
https://www.dinebrands.com/en/brands



Waffle House this restaurant chain is not known in Sacramento and San Francisco. Whenever we hear waffle house it sounds like a parody name of IHOP or Denny's which are known in California. But Waffle House is known in the rest of the USA.

[Big John]

^^ Waffle House is mainly in the southeast and not known in other areas.

[Rothman]

^^ Waffle House is mainly in the southeast and not known in other areas.

Oh, it is known.  It is quite well known.  Infamous, even.

[Big John]

I never heard of it in Wisconsin until I had a job in Georgia.

[kkt]

Sam's Club pulled out of the Seattle area a few years ago. One of their former stores is slated to become Seattle proper's second Costco (took them long enough to do it).

Hey, cool.  If they had a store closer to me than Shoreline I'd think about joining.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Sam's Club has also bypassed the immediate Boston area (I believe they had locations here before), although they have locations in New Hampshire and Connecticut.

[SectorZ]

Sam's Club has also bypassed the immediate Boston area (I believe they had locations here before), although they have locations in New Hampshire and Connecticut.

Used to have one in Worcester, other than that I don't remember any around our area of Massachusetts. When I worked at Walmart in the late 90's, they had a guy come in and offer payroll-deduction for memberships there, then had to mention the closest one was over 15 miles away.

(In true Walmart fashion, there wasn't a dime of a discount for membership to Walmart employees, just that you could conveniently pay it in 52 installments out of your check)

[hotdogPi]

For my internship, I had to identify certain categories of shops in Massachusetts. I can confirm that there are zero Sam's Clubs.

[westerninterloper]

^^ Waffle House is mainly in the southeast and not known in other areas.

From a very quick Google maps search, the northernmost Waffle House was just completed in Toledo, on Monroe Street not two miles south of the Michigan border. There is a finger of Waffle Houses climbing I-75 north from Dayton and Cincinnati; Columbus has them as well.

Are there any Waffle Houses farther north than Toledo? I saw none in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Milwaukee or MSP.

[Dough4872]

^^ Waffle House is mainly in the southeast and not known in other areas.

From a very quick Google maps search, the northernmost Waffle House was just completed in Toledo, on Monroe Street not two miles south of the Michigan border. There is a finger of Waffle Houses climbing I-75 north from Dayton and Cincinnati; Columbus has them as well.

Are there any Waffle Houses farther north than Toledo? I saw none in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Milwaukee or MSP.

There is a Waffle House in Austinburg, OH in the northeast corner of the state. I think that has the distinction of being the northernmost Waffle House location.

[westerninterloper]

^^ Waffle House is mainly in the southeast and not known in other areas.

From a very quick Google maps search, the northernmost Waffle House was just completed in Toledo, on Monroe Street not two miles south of the Michigan border. There is a finger of Waffle Houses climbing I-75 north from Dayton and Cincinnati; Columbus has them as well.

Are there any Waffle Houses farther north than Toledo? I saw none in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Milwaukee or MSP.

There is a Waffle House in Austinburg, OH in the northeast corner of the state. I think that has the distinction of being the northernmost Waffle House location.

Thanks - I see a cluster of them in NE Ohio now, not sure why they didn't show up earlier. Southern influence is coming up the Dixie highways.

[thenetwork]

^^ Waffle House is mainly in the southeast and not known in other areas.

From a very quick Google maps search, the northernmost Waffle House was just completed in Toledo, on Monroe Street not two miles south of the Michigan border. There is a finger of Waffle Houses climbing I-75 north from Dayton and Cincinnati; Columbus has them as well.

Are there any Waffle Houses farther north than Toledo? I saw none in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Milwaukee or MSP.

There is a Waffle House in Austinburg, OH in the northeast corner of the state. I think that has the distinction of being the northernmost Waffle House location.

Thanks - I see a cluster of them in NE Ohio now, not sure why they didn't show up earlier. Southern influence is coming up the Dixie highways.

NEOH is big on Bob Evans, Perkins and IHOP and has been for decades.  However, Bob Evans has been sputtering a bit since the family ceded day-to-day operation of the chain in the early 00s.  That was around the time that Waffle House decided to enter the Ohio market as it did, IIRC.

[Big John]

While it may not count as retail there is only one Freddy's Custard in all of Wisconsin. I guess they bypass it because of Culver's. For many years Woodman's bypassed the Milwaukee area although that changed. While not my area I noticed Belk bypasses Richmond VA for whatever reason.

Freddy's is opening a second Wisconsin location in Bellevue.

[WillWeaverRVA]

While not my area I noticed Belk bypasses Richmond VA for whatever reason.

I'm thinking that has something to do with Dillard's being established in the Richmond area.

[Dirt Roads]

While not my area I noticed Belk bypasses Richmond VA for whatever reason.

I'm thinking that has something to do with Dillard's being established in the Richmond area.

The old Thalheimer's chain was the main obstruction to the Richmond market.  Belk was having a hard enough time fighting off Thalheimer's on its own turf in North Carolina.  But after Thalheimer's got purchased by Hechts, it lost most of its Southern flair and that allowed Belk to gain a niche market.  Richmond would probably be a good market for Belk, but it has had enough off-and-on financial struggles that expansion into [rough territority] wasn't practicable.

[MikieTimT]

Costco has no presence in Arkansas other than Little Rock.  Guess the NW corner needs to grow a little more in population and wealth.

Might be more due to Walmart home base.  I've also noticed a dearth of Sam's Clubs in the Seattle area.

Guess it's grown enough to warrant one now.
Costco announces plan to open its first Northwest Arkansas store

On a side note, NWA has now passed Chattanooga, TN for the 100 spot on the largest metros.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area

[ibthebigd]

Kroger doesn't have any locations in Evansville Indiana

SM-G996U

[Life in Paradise]

Kroger doesn't have any locations in Evansville Indiana

SM-G996U

Kroger used to have locations in Evansville, Princeton, and Vincennes (V-city was the most recent to close).  Kroger pulled out of the other cities probably in the late 60s...could have been early 70s, but I've slept a few times since.  Their closest location now is Owensboro, KY.  We do have Kroger's cut rate brand, Ruler Foods.

[Takumi]

While not my area I noticed Belk bypasses Richmond VA for whatever reason.

I'm thinking that has something to do with Dillard's being established in the Richmond area.

A couple of the Dillard's used to be Belk in the 90s. The now-closed one at Southpark Mall, for sure, was originally called Leggett when the mall opened, and then was Belk for a few years, with the same script font, until they swapped some stores with Dillard's. I think the closest Belk to Richmond is in Williamsburg.

[WillWeaverRVA]

While not my area I noticed Belk bypasses Richmond VA for whatever reason.

I'm thinking that has something to do with Dillard's being established in the Richmond area.

A couple of the Dillard's used to be Belk in the 90s. The now-closed one at Southpark Mall, for sure, was originally called Leggett when the mall opened, and then was Belk for a few years, with the same script font, until they swapped some stores with Dillard's. I think the closest Belk to Richmond is in Williamsburg.

Yeah, there's a Belk in Spotsylvania (a little further away than Williamsburg) and it used to be a Leggett.