Well, well. It seems I have struck a nerve again. Good. That’s one of my aims.
It seems that a number of you are skeptical about my contention that independent locally owned restaurants are important to our cities, towns and villages. A number of you don’t seem to mind the proliferation of fast food joints and so-called fast casual restaurants.
Well, I do. And here are a few more reasons why:
First, I understand your need to be cynical, but most of the local people employed by franchise holders are paid at or slightly above minimum wage. That’s not a living wage, in case you haven’t been paying attention to the cost of living these days.
Second, some franchise operations have the right to purchase locally or regionally, but most are obliged to buy their food and supplies from contract suppliers, usually from somewhere else – and it’s rarely a local vendor.
And third, every franchisee is obliged to pay a percentage of sales back to the franchisor for advertising. That’s usually money that goes to pay for national advertising that rarely finds its way to local media outlets including this newspaper, the radio and television stations in this market, etc.
On the other hand, locally owned independent restaurants can choose their food and hard goods suppliers. That includes local farmers and ranchers, locally owned restaurant supply companies, local building contractors, and the list goes on. It’s also likely that the local guy is more apt to purchase advertising from local media outlets, a further boost to the local economy.
The owner may not be the chef, but he or she is an entrepreneur that supports other community organizations and charities, hires locally, and pays taxes to the various taxing districts where the restaurant is located.
The chef designs a menu that suits the locality – not some corporate parent. The kitchen often becomes a classroom by extension where talented young people learn the culinary arts in a hands-on method. It is rarely a formula-based kitchen as most franchise operations are.
Look: I know the national chains and franchises hire local people. And I’m not saying we ought to do away with them. I’m a free-choice kind of guy. But did you know there is a growing list of towns in this country passing ordinances prohibiting the building or location of new fast food operations within their borders? They know that these places are bastions of fat-laden foods that bear a good part of the blame and responsibility for the obesity issues facing this country’s youth.
They also have changed local landscapes to a neon sameness nationwide. Every main drag in every town looks the same. Are you really okay with that?
Some of you responded with wise cracks and that’s fine. But enough of you wrote about your own concerns that I know I’ve hit on something that’s important, especially in light of these troubling economic times.
When I was young, my dad sometimes took me along on his road trips and one of the best parts of those trips was finding a local diner or small restaurant. The food was always good and the service was always friendly. I have great memories of many of those meals.
I’m also trying very hard to remember the last time I ate at a national chain restaurant where the waiter or waitress or hostess or cashier said, “thank you,” instead of, “do you need change?” or “have a nice day.”
And anyway, do you really care if a certain chain has sold “billions and billions” of gray mystery meat?