One thing that's seemingly guaranteed in life (besides death and taxes) is that there's always movement and change in the restaurant industry. One place goes out of business and another one opens up, whether it's in the same space or across the street.
There are a number of things that drive this ongoing change of scenery. First, while every chef and restaurateur would say (if asked) that their food is great, their service is great, and their interior is clean, attractive and conducive to having a good time, we've all been to places that didn't measure up. Their recipes and combination of ingredients and flavors may be odd and not appeal to everyone or their food is not consistently well prepared; their staff may not always be taking their best care of customers, and the inside may not always be clean, attractive or inviting as the owners think it is. It's one of the reasons why some places don't even last 6 months. That happens when they run out of customers. When they don't come back on a regular basis and don't get their family, friends and co-workers to come, the business barely has a chance to get off the ground before the 'OOB' sign goes up.
Another reason for the changes are fickle customers who follow the latest dining trends. We all recall what happened when Krispy Kreme shops opened in the Phoenix metro area. Everyone went out of their way to get their hands on some of their doughnuts and business boomed. The company then opened up a few locations spread out over the area and they all still did well - that was, until the "no or lo-carbs" and then the "no or low fat" fads. Between the two, everyone stopped eating those very "bad for you" (but still delicious) circles of dough and Krispy Kreme experienced a substantial loss of business. And the trends continue - for awhile, it was the BBQ restaurant trend, then the steak restaurant trend, followed by the sushi trend, the burger trend, the "local fresh ingredients" trend, the craft beer trend and then the "faster than the speed of light" quick baked custom pizzas trend. Every time there is a "new" trend, there is a massive rush to open up one of those restaurants. What generally happens however, is that before long, there is an over-saturation of the market and then a new food fad appears on the horizon.
The food isn't any different than what had already been available but people think it's new because it's been repackaged as if it is.
The bottom line is - no matter whether or not the restaurant and food is "trendy," only the strong are likely to survive.
There are a number of things that drive this ongoing change of scenery. First, while every chef and restaurateur would say (if asked) that their food is great, their service is great, and their interior is clean, attractive and conducive to having a good time, we've all been to places that didn't measure up. Their recipes and combination of ingredients and flavors may be odd and not appeal to everyone or their food is not consistently well prepared; their staff may not always be taking their best care of customers, and the inside may not always be clean, attractive or inviting as the owners think it is. It's one of the reasons why some places don't even last 6 months. That happens when they run out of customers. When they don't come back on a regular basis and don't get their family, friends and co-workers to come, the business barely has a chance to get off the ground before the 'OOB' sign goes up.
Another reason for the changes are fickle customers who follow the latest dining trends. We all recall what happened when Krispy Kreme shops opened in the Phoenix metro area. Everyone went out of their way to get their hands on some of their doughnuts and business boomed. The company then opened up a few locations spread out over the area and they all still did well - that was, until the "no or lo-carbs" and then the "no or low fat" fads. Between the two, everyone stopped eating those very "bad for you" (but still delicious) circles of dough and Krispy Kreme experienced a substantial loss of business. And the trends continue - for awhile, it was the BBQ restaurant trend, then the steak restaurant trend, followed by the sushi trend, the burger trend, the "local fresh ingredients" trend, the craft beer trend and then the "faster than the speed of light" quick baked custom pizzas trend. Every time there is a "new" trend, there is a massive rush to open up one of those restaurants. What generally happens however, is that before long, there is an over-saturation of the market and then a new food fad appears on the horizon.
The food isn't any different than what had already been available but people think it's new because it's been repackaged as if it is.
The bottom line is - no matter whether or not the restaurant and food is "trendy," only the strong are likely to survive.
