There was a Red Lobster about a mile from where I lived in Chicago. I went there once – the first time since the 1970s. I came away totally unimpressed and my standards are not very high.
Word hit Wall Street yesterday that the company that owns the 705 Red Lobsters wants to unload the chain as it no longer matches the profile of the type of customers they need in a changing restaurant business.
The push for employer paid health insurance and higher minimum wages means that the middle ground is vanishing. The people paying $50 for a steak at Morton’s will pay $60 without much concern. Low service fast food outlets like McDonalds will figure ways to use less and less labor to survive for a while, but taking the middle class family to the restaurant will become less and less common – which helps to explain why the folks running US Foods see no long term future.
The reason there is no long term future for the restaurant industry is due to the pressure for higher minimum wages. Then consider ObamaCare mandates for employers to either provide healthcare for the employees (or pay the fines), the general rise in the cost of food, insurance, advertising, taxes and general services.
The combination of low quality and ridiculously high prices keeps me going to the mom and pop places, and then only 3-4 times a month. The quality of a la carte dining is better if memory serves me correctly, but when they want me to pay twice the price, or more, than most fast food chains that is way too expensive for my budget.
Crap, I got a gift card for the red lobster for Christmas.
I don’t like chinese seafood. Maybe I can trade it
LOL
parrott