Will some fast food chains become the next Blockbuster?

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I rad about the current issue with a lot of big food chains and it reminds me of a famous diagram relating to Blockbuster, which goes basically like:
Sales go down -> Management cuts back on quality and appearance -> Customers don't want to go because lower quality and looks -> Sales go down.

Which happened to Blockbuster and now the chain is basically dead besides few location working off nostalgia. It probably won't happen to McDonalds but can very well happen to the other chains that didn't spread globally.

 

[Tablet County]

I guess in a sense you are only renting the food.

 

[The Secret Sauce]

The big difference is that blockbuster's business was made completely irrelevant by new technology. In order for this comparison to be worthwhile, we would need the ability to download goyslop for free at home.

 

[User names must be unique]

The big difference is that blockbuster's business was made completely irrelevant by new technology. In order for this comparison to be worthwhile, we would need the ability to download goyslop for free at home.

I believe that it's called uberjeets.

 

[The Secret Sauce]

I believe that it's called uberjeets.

No.

for free

Also, the restaurants make just as much money if you get a jeet to deliver it or go to the place yourself.

 

[Tablet County]

The big difference is that blockbuster's business was made completely irrelevant by new technology. In order for this comparison to be worthwhile, we would need the ability to download goyslop for free at home.

Star Trek replicators will destroy the fast food industry.

 

[User names must be unique]

No.

Also, the restaurants make just as much money if you get a jeet to deliver it or go to the place yourself.

If it was piracy that killed blockbuster, netflix probably wouldn't be valued at however many tens of billions of dollars it's currently valued at. it was netflix that killed blockbuster.

dunno about the US market but here uberjeets and other takeout apps have mcdicks beat on both quality and convenience and now only marginal price differences.

 

[The Secret Sauce]

If it was piracy that killed blockbuster, netflix probably wouldn't be valued at however many tens of billions of dollars it's currently valued at. it was netflix that killed blockbuster.

dunno about the US market but here uberjeets and other takeout apps have mcdicks beat on both quality and convenience and now only marginal price differences.

You're trying to tell me that restaurants are going to go out of business because they are being replaced by a company which does nothing but deliver their food. This is like saying Sony will go out of business because you are ordering the PS5 from Amazon rather than picking it up directly from Sony's factory. You're being a silly billy, sorry to say.

 

[Rudy Coleman]

can i borrow a french fri?

 

[Idiotron]

Subway is definitely going away.
You want to know how well they're doing?
Here's how many restaurants they closed over the last few years:
2016 - 357 locations
2017 - 866 locations
2018 - 1108 locations
2019 - 996 locations
2020 - 1601 locations
2021 - 1043 locations
2022 - 571 locations
2023 - 443 locations
2024 - 600 locations

They'll keep this trajectory up for another few years and they'll go bankrupt.

 

[User names must be unique]

You're trying to tell me that restaurants are going to go out of business because they are being replaced by a company which does nothing but deliver their food. This is like saying Sony will go out of business because you are ordering the PS5 from Amazon rather than picking it up directly from Sony's factory. You're being a silly billy, sorry to say.

What does mcdicks offer? Food is meh. Options are limited. Dining in experience is shit, prices aren't much cheaper than elsewhere. All it really has is drive-throughs and decent parking, only convenience and location, That really doesn't matter in a world with delivery apps, now everywhere is just as convenient.

Like I said I dunno how it is in the US but anywhere large enough to have a mcdicks here will probably also have 40-50 independent places offering delivery.

 

[Racist Parrot]

Maybe they should stop charging restaurant prices for fast food.

 

[Fascist Frederick]

No I just can't see any of them transitioning to VHS tape rentals.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

Star Trek replicators will destroy the fast food industry.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/10/toyotas-ceiling-mounted-robot-asks-what-if-glados-could-do-the-dishes/

https://www.moley.com/

Long before food replicators (besides low-level BS like 3D-printing chocolate sculptures), we could see ceiling-mounted robots that can interact with all parts of the kitchen: getting ingredients out of the fridge, preparing them, cooking them, plating the food, washing dishwasher-unsafe dishes, loading/unloading a dishwasher, putting things away, throwing things into trash/compost, cleaning itself, every part of the process you can think of. But it will be coming to newly built homes and rich people first, probably taking at least 20 years to catch on. DoorDash is safe for now.

Grocery/warehouse stores often have hot food options, ready to bake pizzas, frozen stuff, etc. that is on par or better than fast food, now often at a lower cost. Get an air fryer/convection oven and you're good to go. Many stores started their own delivery services in the last few years, and being close to the customers, they may be able to adopt drone delivery in the future.

Subway is definitely going away.
You want to know how well they're doing?

Last time I went into a Subway, it looked staffed by only one brown lady who also appeared to be sick.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Subway

I miss the older interior design. Now they've gone "corporate hipster" like seemingly all other fast food chains.

Back in the day, fast food restaurants had unique looks. Now, they pretty much look the same: like office spaces.

 

[Idiotron]

Last time I went into a Subway, it looked staffed by only one brown lady who also appeared to be sick.

I used to work at Subway years ago.
I was doing 3 people's job while others were doing nothing.
One day, I asked the 2 fat women who were there with me for help, they reported me and I got fired.
The place closed down like 3 months later because they fired their best employee because their worst employee complained.

Also, want to know how to win an easy lawsuit with Subway?
Their tuna is 99% pork + beef, there's no fish in it.
Get a tuna sandwich, then sue them because you are Muslim and they gave you pork while pretending it's fish.

 

[Ravier Xavenblood]

I still can’t get over Subway price gouging as hard as they are when Jersey Mike’s, Jimmy John’s and Firehouse Subs exist and have way better food for not much more. If they keep this up they’re going the way of Quizno’s.

 

[Masked Hero Dark Law]

I think that some businesses will shut down some locations, but full on disappearance is off the table. One of the thing that has pushed people away from buying fast food is both the increase in price and downgrade in quality. However, there will always be people in the U.S. willing to buy fast food because they're lazy, this is even if it does cost more. For example, look at someone like Boogie. When that dude did the documentary on Boogie's finances, we saw that the Butter Ball was spending hundreds of dollars a month on fast food and there are thousands and thousands of people like that.

Also, The Secret Sauce brought a good point by pointing that Blockbuster also got felted by improving technology, which at this point in time isn't really a problem for fast food joints.

 

[Rebecca_of_Kiwi_Farm]

The big difference is that blockbuster's business was made completely irrelevant by new technology. In order for this comparison to be worthwhile, we would need the ability to download goyslop for free at home.

In that regard restaurants might be the one of the only brick and morter store that can't be replaced by online shopping.

 

[The Secret Sauce]

What does mcdicks offer? Food is meh. Options are limited. Dining in experience is shit, prices aren't much cheaper than elsewhere. All it really has is drive-throughs and decent parking, only convenience and location, That really doesn't matter in a world with delivery apps, now everywhere is just as convenient.

Like I said I dunno how it is in the US but anywhere large enough to have a mcdicks here will probably also have 40-50 independent places offering delivery.

Yeah, i'm not saying that McDonald's is fine dining. You told me that Uber Eats was a free alternative to fast food. It isn't free, and it isn't an alternative to fast food. It's merely a delivery system.