Why does Chick-fil-A avoid the Northeast

[jeffandnicole]

How about showing some decorum next time? Using swear words and attacking people over someone else's bad job is not warranted.

Nope. I used decorum the first time when I indicated the map was wrong. When someone who is not familiar with CFAs locations tries to argue with someone who is greatly familiar with CFAs locations that the map is wrong, and yet that person who has no clue of their locations keeps returning to some incorrect map from some Wikipedia website that is incredibly wrong and has been given the exact website to go to for the correct info, then any fucking decorum goes out the window

Hint: I am trying to inform you where to go for the correct info, and you insist on using an incorrect map. Get a fucking clue. 

[The Nature Boy]

How about showing some decorum next time? Using swear words and attacking people over someone else's bad job is not warranted.

Nope. I used decorum the first time when I indicated the map was wrong. When someone who is not familiar with CFAs locations tries to argue with someone who is greatly familiar with CFAs locations that the map is wrong, and yet that person who has no clue of their locations keeps returning to some incorrect map from some Wikipedia website that is incredibly wrong and has been given the exact website to go to for the correct info, then any fucking decorum goes out the window

Hint: I am trying to inform you where to go for the correct info, and you insist on using an incorrect map. Get a fucking clue.

I didn't use the map once. I just pointed out that it did not represent a Tim Horton's map, something that should have been obvious.

My nearest Chick fil As are in Nashua, New Hampshire and Peabody, Massachusetts and I don't need a map to know that.

[hbelkins]

It was pretty obvious to me that it wasn't a Tim Horton's map, since it didn't show one in Ashland, Ky. Unless there are locations in the Northern Kentucky Cincinnati suburbs, the only one I know of is in Ashland.

[The Nature Boy]

Are there any south of Ashland, KY? They seem most common in border states so I'm surprised that it goes that far south.

[briantroutman]

Are there any south of Ashland, KY? They seem most common in border states so I'm surprised that it goes that far south.

As far as I know, the presence of Tim Horton's in Ohio (and by association, a few locations in closely neighboring parts of Kentucky) is owed to Wendy's former ownership of the chain. Being based in Dublin, Wendy's saw Columbus as a test market for further US expansion and saturated the market with hybrid Wendy's/Tim's locations as well as standalone Tim Horton's shops. I was aware of Tim's ubiquity around Columbus and in Dayton, but I didn't know that they were in the small towns dotting the US routes between Columbus and the Ohio Valley

Unless there are locations in the Northern Kentucky Cincinnati suburbs...

Interestingly enough, the Cincinnati metro appears to be a giant "no Tim's"  zone.

[rawmustard]

Are there any [Tims] south of Ashland, KY? They seem most common in border states so I'm surprised that it goes that far south.

Searches in Tampa and Miami brought up locations within their respective NHL arenas. But those are likely only open during events at said arenas.

[hbelkins]

First Tim Horton's I can remember seeing was in downtown Portsmouth, Ohio, several years ago. Didn't know there was one in Ashland until I was downtown scouting a few weeks prior to the spring 2013 meet there. I didn't stop and still haven't ever been to a Tim Horton's.

[jp the roadgeek]

Now that Tim Horton's and Burger King are owned by the same company, I wonder if Burger King will eventually phase in Tim Horton's coffee instead of Seattle's Best, and offer Timbits on their breakfast menu.

[The Nature Boy]

Are there any [Tims] south of Ashland, KY? They seem most common in border states so I'm surprised that it goes that far south.

Searches in Tampa and Miami brought up locations within their respective NHL arenas. But those are likely only open during events at said arenas.

Are they relatively new? Burger King is based in Miami so I wouldn't be surprised if they just threw a Tim Horton's into the local hockey arenas.

I haven't been to one in a while myself. This is making me crave some Tim Bits.

[jakeroot]

I'm still surprised Timmies hasn't expanded down into Seattle. Maybe the market's too saturated with other coffee houses?

[kkt]

I think so.  There are coffee places on at least three corners of every business district intersection.

[Scott5114]

And so, even if the protest hurt business (and I know it did moreso in other locations such as Springfield (MO), where they actually had to close down for the day), I'd say it's reasonable to assume they more than made up the lost revenue later.

That's really interesting to hear. Springfield is a college town, but in the year I spent there, I never felt like it was all that different culture-wise from decidedly conservative Oklahoma. (In fact, it seemed more so; in Springfield I saw a truck flying Nazi flags that I believed had some sort of affiliation with the KKK, but I tried to avoid looking at it too closely as I was a lone pedestrian crossing the street in front of it and felt somewhat threatened by its presence. I've never seen any such thing in Oklahoma City.) The only Chick-Fil-A I know of in Springfield is pretty far away from both MSU and Drury, in a more suburban area (it is near to a Best Buy, a Walmart, and a Target) so I wouldn't think they'd rely too much on college students for business.

I happened to be in Springfield on the counter-protest day and all the Chick-Fil-A traffic managed to fuck up Glenstone Avenue even more than normal, which is pretty impressive because Glenstone usually manages that just fine on its own.

[empirestate]

That's really interesting to hear. Springfield is a college town, but in the year I spent there, I never felt like it was all that different culture-wise from decidedly conservative Oklahoma. (In fact, it seemed more so; in Springfield I saw a truck flying Nazi flags that I believed had some sort of affiliation with the KKK, but I tried to avoid looking at it too closely as I was a lone pedestrian crossing the street in front of it and felt somewhat threatened by its presence. I've never seen any such thing in Oklahoma City.)

Springfield is known as being the whitest major city in the U.S., due to a lynching having driven out the entire black population in the early 1900s. The effects are still apparent today.


iPhone

[ModernDayWarrior]

And so, even if the protest hurt business (and I know it did moreso in other locations such as Springfield (MO), where they actually had to close down for the day), I'd say it's reasonable to assume they more than made up the lost revenue later.

That's really interesting to hear. Springfield is a college town, but in the year I spent there, I never felt like it was all that different culture-wise from decidedly conservative Oklahoma. (In fact, it seemed more so; in Springfield I saw a truck flying Nazi flags that I believed had some sort of affiliation with the KKK, but I tried to avoid looking at it too closely as I was a lone pedestrian crossing the street in front of it and felt somewhat threatened by its presence. I've never seen any such thing in Oklahoma City.) The only Chick-Fil-A I know of in Springfield is pretty far away from both MSU and Drury, in a more suburban area (it is near to a Best Buy, a Walmart, and a Target) so I wouldn't think they'd rely too much on college students for business.

I happened to be in Springfield on the counter-protest day and all the Chick-Fil-A traffic managed to fuck up Glenstone Avenue even more than normal, which is pretty impressive because Glenstone usually manages that just fine on its own.

There is also a Chick-fil-A on the MSU campus. I have no idea which location was shut down by the protests, though.

I don't know if I would call Springfield "decidedly conservative," but it certainly isn't liberal - the city did vote against Obama in both elections, but only narrowly. The non-Springfield parts of Greene County are what makes it look so red. Fun fact: Springfield's mayor is actually a member of the Libertarian Party - the largest city in America for which that is the case.

And yes, Glenstone traffic is always miserable, though slightly less so now that the construction there is finally finished.

[roadman65]

Why did Dunkin Donuts avoid California for years?  Yes we have political issues that due effect businesses from time to time, but we also have marketing issues too.  Remember to be nationwide costs a lot of money.  I am for the regional chains, like with Braum's Ice Cream in OK, KS, TX, and NW AR for example.  Of course their reason to stay within 300 miles of OKC is for product freshness as their main dairy is outside of OKC, and they want the freshest products sold in their stores with being over 300 miles away compromising that ideal.  However, it gives me a reason to want to go to the southern mid-west more so.

Even with White Castle, it gives me the reason to want to eat at them more being that Florida has none of them like NJ, NYC, Columbus, Detroit, Chicago, The Twin Cities, and maybe still St. Louis as they did close Kansas City area stores, so it might be the same across the state.

Bottom line, is you cannot expect every chain to be in your own back yard.  Just because Home Depot and Wal Mart has made it everywhere as they got billions to spend on opening new stores in sprawl regions and in every major market available known to the US does not mean Chick Fil A has.

[Brandon]

Why did Dunkin Donuts avoid California for years?

Maybe because Dunkin' Donuts is based in Massachusetts, and the Northeast is their core area of operations?

[Rothman]

Why did Dunkin Donuts avoid California for years?

Maybe because Dunkin' Donuts is based in Massachusetts, and the Northeast is their core area of operations?

I loved how there was a Dunkin' both within and above the Downtown Crossing station at City Hall in Boston.

[roadman65]

Why did Dunkin Donuts avoid California for years?

Maybe because Dunkin' Donuts is based in Massachusetts, and the Northeast is their core area of operations?

You missed my point.  If Dunkin took a long time to get over to the other side of the continent, then Chick Fil A could very well take their time too  if that is the reason.

[roadman]

Why did Dunkin Donuts avoid California for years?

Maybe because Dunkin' Donuts is based in Massachusetts, and the Northeast is their core area of operations?

I loved how there was a Dunkin' both within and above the Downtown Crossing station at City Hall in Boston.

You think that's bad.North Station commuter rail waiting area (in the TD Garden) has two Dunks located within about 100 yards of each other.

[Rothman]

Why did Dunkin Donuts avoid California for years?

Maybe because Dunkin' Donuts is based in Massachusetts, and the Northeast is their core area of operations?

I loved how there was a Dunkin' both within and above the Downtown Crossing station at City Hall in Boston.

You think that's bad.North Station commuter rail waiting area (in the TD Garden) has two Dunks located within about 100 yards of each other.

Oh, I don't consider it a bad thing at all.  Although some people disparage the quality of Dunkin Donuts' donuts, they do not offend my palate.

[jeffandnicole]

Why did Dunkin Donuts avoid California for years?

Maybe because Dunkin' Donuts is based in Massachusetts, and the Northeast is their core area of operations?

I loved how there was a Dunkin' both within and above the Downtown Crossing station at City Hall in Boston.

You think that's bad.North Station commuter rail waiting area (in the TD Garden) has two Dunks located within about 100 yards of each other.

Some large shopping malls have 2 of the same store within the same mall.

The key:  If they are busy, it's a good thing.  I'd rather have 2 Dunkins near each other than 1 big one with a long line.

[1995hoo]

Why did Dunkin Donuts avoid California for years?

Maybe because Dunkin' Donuts is based in Massachusetts, and the Northeast is their core area of operations?

I loved how there was a Dunkin' both within and above the Downtown Crossing station at City Hall in Boston.

You think that's bad.North Station commuter rail waiting area (in the TD Garden) has two Dunks located within about 100 yards of each other.

Some large shopping malls have 2 of the same store within the same mall.

The key:  If they are busy, it's a good thing.  I'd rather have 2 Dunkins near each other than 1 big one with a long line.

Sometimes "busy" isn't even the reason. Fair Oaks Mall near Fairfax has two Macy's stores. It's a result of when Macy's bought Hecht's in the mid-2000s. The mall previously had a Hecht's and a (much newer) Macy's. Macy's management decided they preferred to operate two stores at the same mall, despite the inherent duplication and waste of resources, because they didn't want to give up either space to a competitor. Oddly, they've never adjusted the inventories to make, say, one store focused on clothing and the other on other merchandise, or doing what Saks did on Wisconsin Avenue and making one store focused on women's items and the other focused on men's. I assume the concern there is that people will be less willing to walk through the mall to the other store and might instead go to one of the other anchors, though they're not really the same sort of store (Sears and Lord & Taylor).

[Pete from Boston]

Dunkin' Donuts are so ubiquitous that it's no longer surprising how close they are.  What surprises me much more is the level of demand for their mediocrity.

Starbucks is almost as bad in places.  There are four in a three-block stretch of Harvard Square.

Harvard Square also has two CVSes separated by a crosswalk.

Salem, New Hampshire, has two Market Basket supermarkets half a mile from one another on the same side of the same street.

[roadman65]

You know this Dunkin Donut and Macy's thing needs to be followed by Costco.  As they do not like to have 2 stores even within the same side of a city's metro area. 

The one on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando will now be closing so they can "move" to another area of Orlando, that is the Millenia Mall area. For those of you who do not know O Town, the Millenia is near Universal Studios about eight miles from where it is now.  Now to me if they want to market in the Universal area they can still keep their store open where it is presently and just built another one where they want to move it to later this year.

Right now Costco is too crowded as it is, as you only have that one for several miles.  Just as Jeff says about Dunkin Donuts, the same could be for Costco.  I would rather have two stores than the one that is so overcrowded and makes shopping a daytime nightmare.  Especially, with careless people who walk slow down the main aisles and stop abruptly in front of you, or large families who take all the free samples given out in one shot, another location in another spot of town in addition to, not replacing this one would cause a much friendlier environment for shoppers.  Of course making the customer happy makes a customer buy more and more sales for them means more profit.

As far as Macy's goes, they did the same in Woodbridge- Edison, NJ.  For years Bambergers was in Menlo Park Mall, which in the mid 80's became Macy's.  Then later on sometime in the last 25 years Stern's closed their Woodbridge Mall store and became another Macy's despite having Menlo Park's Macy's just up the street. Yet when Woodbridge Mall expanded back in the circa 1980, JC Penney, which was an anchor at Menlo Park Mall, moved into Woodbridge Mall and actually closed their Menlo Park Store because the two were so close.

Macy's does not see it that way, but I can tell you after working for them, they use the Draw verses commission sales technique to cover the red operating that they are currently in.  Draw verses commission means that the minimum wage they pay you needs to be paid back with the first fruits of you commissions, so if the labor cost are high for them, the fact that they get it back from a percentage of the merchandise sold justifies the loss as they can claim that it is temporary.  Basically a salesperson in Macy's can only make more than minimum wage if they sell more in commission than the hourly rate of pay for the total of hours worked.  Your wage is basically an advance, and you actually work harder for your money than you really should be.

[Big John]

Dunkin' Donuts are so ubiquitous that it's no longer surprising how close they are.  What surprises me much more is the level of demand for their mediocrity.

Starbucks is almost as bad in places.  There are four in a three-block stretch of Harvard Square.

Harvard Square also has two CVSes separated by a crosswalk.

Salem, New Hampshire, has two Market Basket supermarkets half a mile from one another on the same side of the same street.

And in some parts of the south, if you are at one Waffle House, you are able to see another one down the street.