Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
An interesting article / debate both for and against food trucks in Columbia. The readers responses at the end are all very intelligent and show a balanced debate of both the good points / bad points of food trucks. Thoughts? For? Against?
Restaurants try to stop trucks in tracks - Business - TheState.com (http://www.thestate.com/2011/11/15/2046756/restaurants-try-to-stop-trucks.html - broken link)
From what I can dig up, it seems like there's just a few restaurant owners pushing this move to limit food truck growth. It's silly, really. Quick-service restaurants might suffer, but most places won't, really. It's not like people are on the fence about whether to hit up Bone-in or get a table at Motor Supply.
I don't know about that. The food trucks they are talking about have a menu that can compete with most sit down restaurants. We're not talking tacos and hot dogs here, Too Fat To Fly has a menu that you would expect from a nicer place in the Vista. I'm not against the trucks but they do have a number of advantages that the brick and mortar restaurants don't and they should not be allowed to leverage these advantages against grounded competitors. I agree with the restaurant owners that the trucks should not be allowed within 200 feet of any other restaurant.
I don't know about that. The food trucks they are talking about have a menu that can compete with most sit down restaurants. We're not talking tacos and hot dogs here, Too Fat To Fly has a menu that you would expect from a nicer place in the Vista. I'm not against the trucks but they do have a number of advantages that the brick and mortar restaurants don't and they should not be allowed to leverage these advantages against grounded competitors. I agree with the restaurant owners that the trucks should not be allowed within 200 feet of any other restaurant.
Why shouldn't they be allowed to leverage these advantages against grounded competitors? They have to abide by the same health regulations and if the owner of a property allows for them to be there, that should be the end of discussion. The free market exists for a reason.
The trucks should be allowed anywhere that property owners agree they can be parked. A Mcdonald's can open next to a Wendy's. It doesn't have to measure out so many feet because it serves similar food.
This sounds like an attempt to use government unfairly to stop new companies to join the market. If a person chooses to go to a food truck, order food and enjoy it outside on a bench, then they should be allowed to. They have an option to go to a sit down restaurant if they want.
If restaurants feel that these trucks will take away from their business, then they should adjust accordingly (lower prices, better quality or atmosphere, etc). Anyway, the more businesses that are in one place, the more people that will be drawn to the area resulting in more economic business for all companies present.
South Carolina is far behind many other places and this one example of that.
I think it would be pretty tacky for a food truck to pull up in close proximity to a restaurant that serves the same type of food for the purpose, whether successful or not, of intercepting customers on the way to the restaurant. And since trucks are vehicles I'd just as soon they stay in the perimeter instead of clogging up pedestrian-oriented areas.
Why shouldn't they be allowed to leverage these advantages against grounded competitors? They have to abide by the same health regulations and if the owner of a property allows for them to be there, that should be the end of discussion. The free market exists for a reason.
The trucks should be allowed anywhere that property owners agree they can be parked. A Mcdonald's can open next to a Wendy's. It doesn't have to measure out so many feet because it serves similar food.
This sounds like an attempt to use government unfairly to stop new companies to join the market. If a person chooses to go to a food truck, order food and enjoy it outside on a bench, then they should be allowed to. They have an option to go to a sit down restaurant if they want.
If restaurants feel that these trucks will take away from their business, then they should adjust accordingly (lower prices, better quality or atmosphere, etc). Anyway, the more businesses that are in one place, the more people that will be drawn to the area resulting in more economic business for all companies present.
South Carolina is far behind many other places and this one example of that.
I agree with your post. As long as food trucks follow the laws / rules, seems they should be able to sell anywhere. If I were a food truck owner though, I wouldn't target areas near restaurants, but instead, go after large office parks with dense daytime populations....areas typically underserved by restaurants. Basically, create a new market, instead of feeding on an existing market.
I like the idea of food trucks, they bring another experience to the area. The question I have is how the city can prevent a property owner from allowing the truck to serve from private property. If restaurants can line up on the same street, not sure why a food truck would be prevented from operating in the area.
Why shouldn't they be allowed to leverage these advantages against grounded competitors? They have to abide by the same health regulations and if the owner of a property allows for them to be there, that should be the end of discussion. The free market exists for a reason.
The trucks should be allowed anywhere that property owners agree they can be parked. A Mcdonald's can open next to a Wendy's. It doesn't have to measure out so many feet because it serves similar food.
This sounds like an attempt to use government unfairly to stop new companies to join the market. If a person chooses to go to a food truck, order food and enjoy it outside on a bench, then they should be allowed to. They have an option to go to a sit down restaurant if they want.
If restaurants feel that these trucks will take away from their business, then they should adjust accordingly (lower prices, better quality or atmosphere, etc). Anyway, the more businesses that are in one place, the more people that will be drawn to the area resulting in more economic business for all companies present.
South Carolina is far behind many other places and this one example of that.
I had the same thought-- how do you tell a food truck not to sell near a brick/mortar "competitor" when the fast food chains will park themselves right next to each other ( as do drug chains, food stores, etc). in this instance it almost seemed like they wanted to protect the chains and leave out the local guy...... the opposite of what happens when Walmart rears it's head and wants to build in a certain location (just my first impression anyway).
If the trucks ( we called them roach coaches back home lol ) follow all set guidelines especially where food prep and safety are concerned, then they have every right to serve us.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
