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Re: Rite Aid Lunch Counter Asheville, NC closes

Posted: May 18th, 2018, 7:21 pm
by buckguy
Department store restaurants were largely gone before Macy's expansion. They simply did not do well in the suburbs in mid-market or even upper-middle brow stores. Even chains like Lord &Taylor got rid of restaurants long ago. The level of service and specialized departments (coins, books, cards, stationary, etc.) that made flagship downtown stores special often didn't work in the suburbs in their often cutdown form. Over time they became less viable downtown as the flagships lost volume. Drug store luncheonettes were largely killed off by fast food and most chains got rid of them by the early 60s, or else kept them in a small number of locations.

Re: Rite Aid Lunch Counter Asheville, NC closes

Posted: May 18th, 2018, 7:48 pm
by babs
buckguy wrote: May 18th, 2018, 7:21 pm Department store restaurants were largely gone before Macy's expansion. They simply did not do well in the suburbs in mid-market or even upper-middle brow stores. Even chains like Lord &Taylor got rid of restaurants long ago. The level of service and specialized departments (coins, books, cards, stationary, etc.) that made flagship downtown stores special often didn't work in the suburbs in their often cutdown form. Over time they became less viable downtown as the flagships lost volume. Drug store luncheonettes were largely killed off by fast food and most chains got rid of them by the early 60s, or else kept them in a small number of locations.
Yet they work for Nordstrom.

Re: Rite Aid Lunch Counter Asheville, NC closes

Posted: June 14th, 2018, 10:50 am
by Brian Lutz
Although they aren't lunch counters, I've seen that in the past couple of years Bartell Drugs has been putting quick-serve foods into a number of their urban locations, and have also added espresso bars and ice cream to a number of newer and remodeled locations. There's also a Walgreens in Downtown Seattle that has pay-by-the-ounce Frozen yogurt, although I don't think they have much more than that.

Re: Rite Aid Lunch Counter Asheville, NC closes

Posted: June 14th, 2018, 11:05 pm
by rwsandiego
babs wrote: May 18th, 2018, 7:48 pm
buckguy wrote: May 18th, 2018, 7:21 pm Department store restaurants were largely gone before Macy's expansion. They simply did not do well in the suburbs in mid-market or even upper-middle brow stores. Even chains like Lord &Taylor got rid of restaurants long ago. The level of service and specialized departments (coins, books, cards, stationary, etc.) that made flagship downtown stores special often didn't work in the suburbs in their often cutdown form. Over time they became less viable downtown as the flagships lost volume. Drug store luncheonettes were largely killed off by fast food and most chains got rid of them by the early 60s, or else kept them in a small number of locations.
Yet they work for Nordstrom.
They also work for at least four suburban Chicago Macy's converted from Marshall Field's.