Roadside chains with at least one foot in the grave

[jeffandnicole]

I got fed up with Red Robin.  They have unlimited fries, but they'll only give out a half a cup at a time for a table of two.  Then it's half an hour before the server comes and asks if you want more, and another 20 minutes for the server to come back with them.  By then, most people have given up and gone to McDonald's.

Not the one I go to.  Granted - I generally sit at the bar and the bartender can be a little overwhelmed at times, but the food usually comes out quick, and the fry refills are plentiful.

[c172]

Wow, Donut Connection! I've taken many a Greyhound bus through Johnstown, PA. Depressing donut shop in a depressing regional town. How many of those are there? Are they all located in Greyhound places?

[hbelkins]

I've eaten at Red Robin once. Was not terribly impressed by the overpriced burgers. The endless fries offer is nice. Culver's burgers are better.

[jwolfer]

....

Krispy Kreme overimagined the room for them in the Northeast.  They also went too big too fast.  If the product was that good, opening a couple at a time would build a cult of scarcity.  Look how much less people appreciated Yuengling once you could get it anywhere up here.

Same could be said of Coors 40 years ago. My father tells a story about how when I was a baby in Texas he had people over for a barbecue and he went to a lot of trouble to get Coors, which he stored in the garage until the big day and he then wondered why nobody would drink it: "This was a Big Deal! This was COORS BEER!" Of course it had skunked in the heat of a central Texas garage. My brother and I couldn't fathom why anyone would care about Coors and he said it was not widely available at the time and he'd had to drive to Dallas to find it.

I guess in my frame of reference it'd be like Fat Tire was prior to when distribution began in Virginia a few years ago. I think I first had that on a football trip to Boise, again at the brewery in Fort Collins on a football trip to Laramie a few years later, loved it both times, and now I hardly ever buy it. Funny how that works.

Remember in "Smokey and the Bandit" the whole trip was to bring Coors from Texas back to Atlanta because it wasn't sold East of Texas

[Pete from Boston]

Speaking of, here we go again:

http://www.boston.com/food-dining/restaurants/2016/02/15/krispy-kreme-coming-new-england-again/BGoBKsBM4SJJPSpjP3ZpGI/story.html

Krispy Kreme is about to open seven locations in New England for the second time, this time all in New Hampshire and Maine.

"The demand for Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee continues to grow throughout New England," says Patricia Perry, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts' vice president for global franchise development.

She must be new there.

[Rothman]

Krispy Kreme's implosion was astonishing to me.  They had the hype and the crazed fans, but then they overextended and collapsed.

Seven locations in New England?  Makes me wondering if they're making the same mistake twice.

[PHLBOS]

Krispy Kreme crashed and burned in the Delaware Valley/Philadelphia market as well.

[rawmustard]

Krispy Kreme crashed and burned in the Delaware Valley/Philadelphia market as well.

Krispy Kreme's nationwide expansion occurred just before the Atkins diet craze, which was significant enough to affect several new locations. At least here in southwest Michigan, Dunkin is making a resurgence in the last few years.

[jp the roadgeek]

There will actually be 8 in New England if you count the one at Mohegan Sun in CT

[noelbotevera]

I forget the name, but 200 stores of this sports store will be closed out of the 450 locations left. The closest one to me is in Lancaster and is going to be closed sometime next week.

[thenetwork]

I forget the name, but 200 stores of this sports store will be closed out of the 450 locations left. The closest one to me is in Lancaster and is going to be closed sometime next week.

Sports Authority.

[roadman65]

Wow Sports Authority is closing.  That is news as they are one of the big guys along with Dicks.

[Pete from Boston]

Wow Sports Authority is closing.  That is news as they are one of the big guys along with Dicks.

That's going to leave an awful lot of goofy stadium-shaped buildings out there.

I remember when this store first arrived in New Jersey.  I thought they were local and their name was a play on the Sports and Exposition Authority, the state agency there that runs the stadiums.  Once I realized they were not local, the name seemed silly to me.

[roadman65]

They came after I left NJ.  However, in Florida they were here when I first moved in 1990.  They had one on US 192 in Kissimmee (now in the Loop on Osceola Parkway) and on Sand Lake Road near FL Mall (still there).  I thought it was local here as Hermans was in NJ/NY area. 

Then I visited home once and saw one put up at the US 1 & 9 split in Woodbridge and then knew they were national.  I am not sure if Hermans went out after I moved or before I moved, so I cannot say that they put Hermans out as Wal Mart did Caldors (a local NY/ NJ department store).

[SteveG1988]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8qhJOfNfso

[cl94]

Sports Authority going under leaves Dick's as the only major player in a lot of the country.

Speaking of Dick's, at least they were able to buy dicks.com. I remember discovering that their website was "dickssportinggoods.com" the hard way when I was in middle school.

[noelbotevera]

Speaking of Sports Authority, they are over hundreds of million in debt. That meant they filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. So now Dick's will dominate the sporting goods part of the market.

[lepidopteran]

Sports Authority going under leaves Dick's as the only major player in a lot of the country.

Hmm, another monopoly, this one in the large-scale sporting goods sector.

Like when Circuit City closed, leaving Best Buy the last man standing.

Or when Linens 'n Things left Bed Bath and Beyond in charge.

How about Border's leaving Barnes and Noble the king of large-scale bookstores?

[jwolfer]

Sports Authority going under leaves Dick's as the only major player in a lot of the country.

Speaking of Dick's, at least they were able to buy dicks.com. I remember discovering that their website was "dickssportinggoods.com" the hard way when I was in middle school.

Acadamy sporting goods is in the Southeast, expanding into central Florida last year.

[Rothman]

All I can say is good riddance to Sports Authority.  A higher proportion of poor quality merchandise when compared to Dick's.

I believe the one here in Colonie/Guilderland (or whatever that no man's land is where Crossgates Commons is) has closed.

[thenetwork]

Sports Authority is trimming the number of stores they will own in order to comply with their Chapter 11 filing. 

In some areas, they are pulling out completely (Texas is one of those areas).  In others, they are closing some of their "underperforming" stores.

Here in Colorado, they are closing a few stores in the state, but most will remain open.  Mile High Stadium in Denver will still be called Sports Authority Field @ Mile High...for now.

[Pete from Boston]

This all makes me miss Decathlon Sports that much more.  Good prices, very good house brand (Quechua).  All gone from the US.

[cl94]

All I can say is good riddance to Sports Authority.  A higher proportion of poor quality merchandise when compared to Dick's.

I believe the one here in Colonie/Guilderland (or whatever that no man's land is where Crossgates Commons is) has closed.

City of Albany. That side of the road is Albany. The mall itself is in Guilderland, where the town has changed building codes so the mall can't expand, effectively sending tax dollars to Colonie as they are able to expand. I think it has closed and it leaves an effective monopoly in northeastern New York.

[spooky]

Sports Authority going under leaves Dick's as the only major player in a lot of the country.

Hmm, another monopoly, this one in the large-scale sporting goods sector.

Like when Circuit City closed, leaving Best Buy the last man standing.

Or when Linens 'n Things left Bed Bath and Beyond in charge.

How about Border's leaving Barnes and Noble the king of large-scale bookstores?

It's true, Dick's will join Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble as monopolies who still charge more than Amazon.

[cl94]

Sports Authority going under leaves Dick's as the only major player in a lot of the country.

Hmm, another monopoly, this one in the large-scale sporting goods sector.

Like when Circuit City closed, leaving Best Buy the last man standing.

Or when Linens 'n Things left Bed Bath and Beyond in charge.

How about Border's leaving Barnes and Noble the king of large-scale bookstores?

It's true, Dick's will join Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble as monopolies who still charge more than Amazon.

B & N also bought out a lot of the regional chains. My dad was a regional manager at Lauriat's Books in the northeast and they were put under by B & N after a buyout.