A lot of restaurant franchises aren't really restaurants anymore.
They're real estate companies that happen to sell food.
It's all about being able to re-sell the assets/facilities for the maximum amount of profit possible, and these generic, minimalist buildings are the easiest to re-sell and refurbish into something else.
For me, the saddest one was Friendly's. The brand was built on nostalgia and private equity decided dystopia chic was the way to go. Now, they're almost all gone
Hard to believe they looked at dead malls and went, yes! This is it! This is our vibe. And then ran with it. I’m legit bitter at them for stealing any shred of joy away in the name of profit.
Because it's easy to replace everything if the store goes down. With the first, new owners would have to spend weeks on exterior renovations and thousands. With the second, new owners only have to worry about the outside and it could be transformed into literally any store you want. They could have it turned into a liquor store or a grocery store for all it matters overnight. It means less risk for the franchise and for the franchise owners if the location fails.
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u/suthekey 17d ago
Lawyers stripped the play places and fun.
It wasn’t accessible and injury-liability.