Quote Originally Posted by davewindsor View Post
I'm not interested in being a restauranteur because it's not my field, but I know people who run restaurants. Rents are typically higher for restaurants because of all the extra code issues the retail space has to conform to. So, $26 a foot is a fair price and I'm willing to bet they pay a lot more in any other city. Major franchises typically pay higher rents than fly-by-nighters anyway. If they think the non-fast food model won't work, perhaps the franchise owner should try a different model. And, I'll bet you that Hard Rock Cafe pays a lot more than $26 a foot. A properly marketed major franchise restaurant with confidence in their product, whether it's fast food or not, should make good money anywhere. If a company is not confident in the success of their product, they shouldn't even be responding to a reporter. They should just be answering, "No comment." If $26 a foot is a make or break, then they know their product sucks. I have never tried their product and never will after reading that article.

And whether it's fast food or not, it's a still a franchise restaurant and franchise restaurants work on a marketing model where the franchise owner pays a premium to be properly marketed so they have better sales. Downtown Windsor is very much like downtown Detroit. Over half the retail stores are vacant and for lease. I'd say office vacancy is more than half. Economy is almost as bad as downtown Detroit. Yet, the 10 year old McDonald's at Wyandotte and Goyeau in downtown Windsor was demolished a couple weeks ago and they paid a huge premium to see a new, bigger McDonald's which is almost completed on that same site in such a short time. Talk about having so much confidence in your product that you can demolish a 10 year old building and build new at an accelerated rate. Tim Horton's in downtown Windsor has a 15 minute lineup. Even the Keg, a higher end franchise where the cheaper dinner on the menu is $30 is fairly busy. Yet, some mom and pop type restaurants still go under.because they're poorly marketed. With restaurants, whether fast food or not, it's all about marketing.

If BW3 can't handle a measily $26 a foot, they shouldn't even be showing up to the game.

Thanks for playing.
I know plenty of lawyers. Should I criticize someone trying to expand their law offices? I know plenty of doctors, too. Should I point out to them how to expand their practices? I know plenty of journalists as well, should I tell them what stories to write? So you know people who run restaurants, huh? Me, too. But forgive me, Dave, but I don't think that makes you qualified to be critical of someone's business plans in an industry that you have no first-hand knowledge of.

"If they think the non-fast food model won't work, perhaps the franchise owner should try a different model." They're not looking at a fast-food model, you were. They are trying a different model: their own.

"If a company is not confident in the success of their product, they shouldn't even be responding to a reporter. They should just be answering, "No comment." Actually, if you know anything about public relations, you would know that the worst comment anyone can ever make is "No comment". But then again, maybe you don't know anyone in PR, which would have made you an expert in the area...

"If $26 a foot is a make or break, then they know their product sucks. I have never tried their product and never will after reading that article." It's difficult for me to repond to this because it makes such little sense in the first place. If their product sucks, then how do they generate $20 million in sales a year? Apparently, a lot of other folks are willing to support their business. And you're turned off to their product because of their philosophy on dollars-per-sq foot?

Whaaah?