How come some successful food chains only go so far? (ingredients, restaurant)

[supermanpansy]

What's the deal with franchises. When I lived in LA I loved "In and out" burger joint. Since I moved back to the east coast, I always wondered why In and out doesn't go east. If you put one of them on the east coast, they would make a killing. I always wondered this. It is not like technology is holding us back. Or that we don't have the means. Why are some food franchises relegated to just some parts of the country. I don't know, I guess this always bothered me. I've been craving an "In and out" burger like it's no bodies business. Yet, as we speak I am stuck in NY and there are none around here.

Listen up owner of "In and out",--we want you out east and we want you now...

There, now maybe they'll wise up. Or is it some regional thing, like only we have them and too bad, because if you want them you have to come here or move here...It's just so unfair.

Can any of you relate or do any of you have this feeling regarding other franchises? Or am I alone?

[jtur88]

Because that's the way things are in the chain franchise business. I don't think there are any supermarkets, for example, that have franchises in every state, nor even in every time zone. I don't think there is any brand of gas that has pumps in every state. (Exxon might be. I think Shell is in about 45 states.)

Ten years after they started up, WalMart was in only about ten states. It takes time to establish a national chain. You can't just open up 500 new outlets in 20 new states overnight.

Most fast food chains distribute their own food products, which required a truck to drive a route in order to make the deliveries. If In and Out is only west of the Rockies, for example, and I want to open up a franchise in Ohio, how would I get my buns and frozen patties?

[Debsi]

In'n'Out doesn't freeze anything, so you have to live a day's drive from a distribution center. They're building a new one in Dallas for their current expansion into Texas, their 5th state.

[70Ford]

In and Out doesn't do frozen.... it's all fresh ingredients. Which limits it. Or something. I read that somewhere a long time ago, though.

[Oerdin]

I know in In-N-Out's case it was a family decision not to offer franchises for decades. The company has very strict quality standards (everything must be fresh and never frozen; a rarity in the fast food business) which limited their possible locations to places were they could get everything fresh each day but even more difficult is the company's ethical standards. The founding family were religious (thus the reason they have Bible verses on the bottom of all their cups) and believed in paying their employees excellent wages. Even five or so years ago they'd start employees out at $10 an hour and it wasn't unusual to see teen age kids who'd been working there a while making $12 or $13 per hour.

That's much more then the minimum wage paid at most fast food places and it was because the owners wanted only the best people but were willing to pay good wages to treat their employees well. I know it is popular to say Americans won't do some jobs and we need illegals to do them but if companies pay a bit more then Americans will indeed do those jobs. That's why the local In-N-Out is entirely staffed by young English speaking Americans while the local McD's has nothing but illegals who mostly don't speak English. One of the reasons the owners refused to franchise out for so long was because they wanted to maintain this high pay which helped insure In-N-Out had the highest quality food & service in the fast food industry. It's a modest goal but an honest one and I for one would much rather have an In-N-Out in my neighborhood then the run of the mill lowest common denominator fast food place.

[Finger Laker]

A big element is that in n out is not a franchise .... it's a privately held family business with multiple locations

They also use nothing but fresh ingredients .... no freezers or microwaves are in their locations

They also need to have suppliers and distribution centers that meet their standards / pricing protocals within reasonable distance to their locations to ensure the fresh element

they've expanded a lot and once they get in a metro they'll keep adding to it ....... however, I think they also know there is some benefit to the buzz that is created by tourists and out of towners wanting to get their fix when they are in town, sell t-shirts, etc

[Oerdin]

When I was in high school way back in the early 90's my girlfriend worked at In-N-Out (the one in Pacific Beach in San Diego) and when I'd pick her up after work the manager would give use free ice cream shakes and a free burger because what ever they didn't use that day could not be sold the next day. That was a strict company rule. Everything had to be fresh that day. On busy days they will sometimes run out of stuff because there are no freezers so if they run out that's it until the delivery tomorrow morning.

[Stavemaster]

I'm sort of glad that it's that way. When it comes to chain businesses, it seems like they all want to make every part of America look basically like every other part. I like being able to tell that I'm Somewhere Else just by taking a look around at the local eateries.

However... having said that I, like any other self-respecting Midwesterner, would kill to see Culver's expand here into the Bay Area.

[Oerdin]

I had to look up Culver's on wiki to find out what it is but honestly it looks like some great midwestern food for a fastfood restaurant. I have to admit a butter burger with three different types of real Wisconsin cheese and a side of battered and fried walleye does sound both good and different from what the other fastfood places offer.

[jlawrence01]

First, the larger the restaurant chain, the more difficult it is to maintain a quality consistent product.

Second, as chains spread outside of their region, they really lose their specialness. For example, Skyline Chili is pretty good in Cincinnati. However, as they open up locations outside of the market, it is terrible. Also, they have had to expand the menu to appeal to a wider crowd and the new items are generally mediocre.

Third, the restaurants lose their character as they spread out. The Sonics down South have great service and good food. Around Chicago, the food and service is below average.