People Still Have to Eat

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

Check out a positive opinion piece in the WSJ entitled:
[size=5]People Still Have to Eat[/size]
[i]Many restaurants will weather a bad economy just fine.[/i]
by the Zagats. Yes, those Zagats.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122533200229082947-lMyQjAxMDI4MjM1MDMzMzAyWj.html

It is only available for a few days to non-subscribers.

As a result, we’ve witnessed the exponential growth of what we call Better Alternative to Home (BATH) restaurants – casual, modestly priced eateries (pasta-rias, burger joints, BBQs, upscale diners, noodle shops and myriad ethnic places) as well as family dining chains. These restaurants buy wholesale and produce meals far more efficiently than home cooks.

The financial downturn may have an upside for restaurants. In the throes of the Great Depression, Americans turned to entertainment – especially the movies – to forget their troubles. Today, for a generation that has grown up on The Food Network, dining out with friends or family in an attractive restaurant has become a source of comfort and entertainment.

The bottom line is that the economy may convince you to forego buying the Lexus or taking that jaunt to Maui, but at the end of the day (and at its start and in the middle too), you gotta eat.

2

How funny.

When trying to decide what type of career I would really like to invest in and pursue, my mother, who is 71, has ALWAYS said that people will ALWAYS:

  1. Be Sick.
  2. Need to eat.
  3. Get their hair done.

She lived the depression era…and that has made her the wiser on these things…so I think it’s great someone else is sharing this opinion as well…because her words have rung true since I was a little girl.

3

you missed one really obvious one:

  1. they die

the funeral trade is big business.

My family was involved in this business for a long time (my Grand parents then my Aunt and Uncle who sold up about 15 years ago). The market place was controlled by just a handful of big names (much like our industry) who bought up and then masqueraded as ‘independents’. Most controlled a big part of the supply process (caskets etc) and could squeeze out the one man bands.

A ruthless business!

4

But they are living longer, too. :slight_smile: