Retail Watchers

I do wonder how Grocery Outlet can pull such an expansion so far from home and in strong Aldi/Lidl territory, though I wish them good luck. Don't forget, they actually bought an existing chain (Amelia's Grocery Outlets) in PA as the starting point to this, so it's certainly possible that they gaine...

Condiment prices have gone up significantly so many operators are starting to limit even basic condiments like ketchup. I haven't seen anyone trying to charge for ketchup yet but I had a McDonalds try to charge me for mustard packets. The app offered mustard packets at .00. The employee told me it ...

Also, the sit-down restaurants will suffer from this too as employees can get the $20/hr at fast food and will go work at fast food instead... they'll need to increase wages as well, which in turn causes the price increase, which in turn lands them in the same exact spot as the fast-food places... ...

This sounds a bit like the long-dead Fedco chain. I think a lifetime membership was just a few dollars as well. I'm pretty sure they gave up on membership towards the end. Membership was more of a gimmick for these chains. I haven't been in a Bi-Mart as a occasional PNW tourist because I'm not a me...

I also wonder when we will start to see the foreign standard for credit cards arrive here, photos on the card. I used to work near the Port and would get many international credit cards. Most had photos on them, much higher quality than the ones from the 90s that don't seem to exist anymore. They u...

The exception for chains that have less than 60 locations is interesting. What if McDonald's rebranded their restaurants? For example, rebrand 59 restaurants as Ronald McDonald's Hamburgers or Grimace's Burgers. Would that allow below $20 per hour wages? Possibly they could get that to work legally...

The restructuring plan calls for them to continue to operate 1,600 stores and 5 distribution centers. So if the plan wins approval the store closures are almost over but not quite over yet. That they have a plan is good news, this is a lot further than some other retailers got. It will be interesti...

I've never seen a restaurant where someone was by the door demanding to see proof of payment. Plus many restaurants have multiple means of exit. Go out through the patio or pickup door. It would require too many people to cover all the points of entry and exit. The pay on phone is going away almost...

If I read the original post correctly, the restaurant still hands the customer a (printed) bill and the code is on that - thus no way to have any fake issues (since no one has access to put such a sticker on, plus even if they did it would be obvious on a piece of paper). Massive fraud issue. The c...

McDonald's will sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts in every US restaurant, rolling out through 2026. Wonder how they will be able to do that, particularly in areas where there is no Krispy Kreme anywhere nearby (like here around Albany, NY - the nearest KK locations are CT or NJ, just over 100 miles away)...