Considering moving to Wyoming...questions :)

[Rescue3]

I stand corrected on Cheyenne's OG - it wasn't there the last time I spent any time there (about six years ago). The Casper franchise proudly boasted they were the only one in the state - guess that isn't true anymore.

There were rumors about Olive Garden trying to open a franchise in Sheridan a few years back, but the county and city hold liquor licenses so tight that they couldn't get in.

Gillette has a bunch of franchise restaurants, but their economy is so tight right now I can't imagine them all staying open. My wife hires the food services staff at the college there. She advertised for a minimum wage dishwasher and got twelve applications. Last year she got zero.

[misawa97]

I was stationed in Cheyenne in 2008. The Olive Garden was there. Please get your facts straight.

[Rescue3]

Wow - I was misled. The folks at Casper told us they were the only ones. I never saw one in Cheyenne - but we were only there for a day. Sorry.

[sunsprit]

Rescue3 wrote: "Gillette has a bunch of franchise restaurants, but their economy is so tight right now I can't imagine them all staying open."

In the face of a declining local economy, my bet would be on the fragile ability of the locally owned single outlet restaurants going out of business long before the franchise outlets.

Why? Because the restaurant biz is historically a low margin business with significant daily costs of operation in overhead, labor, inventory, and tax burdens. This is the basis for the high failure rate of restaurants as a business, especially new start-ups in the first years. Add to that the fickleness of the business; ie, a place that gets a lot of traffic for awhile can suddenly fall off below profitability or reasonable ROI levels for innumerable reasons. Even the "experts" in the industry don't know and cannot predict these outcomes ... although the franchise outfits have reduced their operations to a "proven" formula which may work in some marketplaces. Some chains simply don't "click" with other markets, some do well across the board ... such as some of the national fast-food burger places or pizza chains. But you'll still see some of those that have little, if any, market penetration outside of regional areas.

So here's the background few people understand about the restaurant biz: the "local" owner typically is heavily invested into their restaurant operation and relies upon that cash flow generated to survive as a business. The "franchise" operator is heavily invested, but has been vetted by the franchisor to have other independent financial resources to support the restaurant; ie, you can't walk into a McD's outlet ownership leading to a typical $net income per year without having the disposable financial net worth readily available in liquid funds to support it.

Yes, that $million dollar value franchise requires that you have "$mils" of money to play with at risk and the potential to "lose it all" without hurting your personal ability to survive economically. Should you be so inclined to investigate one of these "business opportunities", you'll find that one of the first questions the franchisor asks of you is a detailed statement of your net worth; fail to meet their guidelines for liquid assets and durable outside independent income and they'll slam the door on you so hard it will make your head spin. They might soften the blow by suggesting you begin with a lesser operation, perhaps a sandwich shop which requires but a fraction of the capital to begin with but also offers a lower ROI and net income opportunity. For example, an average Subway franchise in a good traffic location can yield an approx $30K per year net income ... essentially, you've bought yourself a full-time job to own one; the really successful Subway shop owner has multiple outlets and has mastered the art of hiring competent help to be on-site to manage and operate the places. Typically, the net per shop to the owner is significantly reduced but they are working full-time to oversee the larger scope of operations for their time and money. In any event, it's far from a passive investment opportunity for your disposable income to be parked into.

Hence, by definition, the local franchise operations have substantial reserve assets to play with and are able to survive economic slow-downs. Of course, there may come a time when the ROA and ROI simply don't support the investment and a prudent franchise owner may decide it's "time to throw in the towel" on that operation. Similarly, a company owned franchise outlet will have the accountants and investors looking at the numbers and they are detached from the daily operations. This is why the business decisions, such as menu, food sourcing, food prep and plating, staff practices, and hundreds of other operating practices are micro-managed with a view toward profitability without the same due care to product as may be found in a single-point outlet whose financial success and reward is all in the hands of a fully vested owner/operator.

That local operator may simply not have the financial ability to personally withstand more than a couple months of low or no profits, let alone going into the red for a few months while the ongoing fixed expenses eat them alive. We've all seen the "closed" signs on restaurants, perhaps even with the notices on the door ordering closure due to unpaid taxes ... the tax collecting folk know how fragile the economics are of these places and aggressively seek to collect the tax authority money while it's still possible to get it because if the business fails, the tax authority may have a very difficult time collecting it.

All said, this is why I've been so oriented towards finding and supporting with your patronage the locally owned outfits that deliver a better dining experience. Doesn't matter if it's the local breakfast/lunch diner, the truck stop, the local steakhouse, the ethnic specialty restaurant with a passionate foodie owner, or the "high end" place in your town. In Wyoming, many of these folk have a tough row to hoe to survive on a small population base and few have the track record of a business such as Svilar's which has been around for a few generations of the family ... and are worth your time and dollars.

PS: Would have been hard to miss the Cheyenne OG as it is sited in a prominent stand-alone location fronting Dell Range Ave by the Mall. Just in location and square footage, this is one of the largest and most prominent restaurants in the town.

[sipes23]

Originally Posted by StarView

We've looked around Casper and have seen more but hear the wind is horrific.

It's bad, but not that bad. At least not in comparison to the days with sunshine in winter.

Also, as pointed out upthread, it helps keep the mosquitoes down.