Consumer affairs

Good Wednesday morning, friends.  The rainy season continues here in central Kentucky.  Still.

Today's diatribe addresses a variety of topics, loosely related in that they are all related to consumer goods or activities.  The idea for this post came from a business function I attended last week.  At that event I wound up sitting with a couple of people I knew pretty well and others I didn't, but we turned somehow to the subject of restaurants in our home area that have either closed recently or appear to be on the verge of doing so.

The conversation started with someone commenting that "they're finally getting started building that Chick-Fil-A that replaced that old Applebee's."  Therein is one of the issues---that some food chains are going great guns, while others have fallen on hard times.  Applebee's locations have been closing in significant numbers in our area, and while that is rather meaningless to me (never was a fan), this changes the dining landscape for many.  Folks in the Lexington area are creatures of habit to a certain degree, which would explain the ongoing popularity of chains like Olive Garden and Red Lobster, but does not speak to how people swarm to newer spots as they open in prominent locations.  The category that is being left behind is the broad-menu casual dining chain, like Logan's (the original location here in Lexington closed a few months ago), T.G.I. Friday's, O'Charley's and the afore-mentioned Applebee's.

I was in Louisville for business last week and had agreed to meet some contacts for lunch.  They suggested Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe.  I agreed, as I hadn't been.  And was immediately sorry, as I didn't care much for their food.  Ironic that the franchisor who once owned so many Applebee's locations successfully sold a lot of those restaurants and now owns the regional rights to Taziki's.  Good luck to them, as selling Greek and Mediterranean food in a meat-and-potatoes region like central Kentucky will be challenging.

On the other hand, there's a regional chain called Vinaigrette that seems to be growing like crazy.  Started in the downtown area, which was smart because of the high density of office workers who can come there on foot.  Their primary menu features a variety of salads and soups which are very good, and now they appear to be expanding into wraps and bowls.  There are now four locations in Lexington and one in Louisville, and all appear to be thriving.  One of these is pretty close to our house, and, as a result, my wife has now jumped aboard the bandwagon, getting carry-out from there several times for herself and for the two of us.  And it's good.

There are a couple of other regional chains that we'll start seeing here in Lexington in a few months.  Skyline Chili and LaRosa's Pizza, both stalwarts of the Cincinnati dining scene, are going to open adjoining locations here in Lexington in the near future.  Hooray!

I read a piece online that addressed how food delivery services like Grubhub (with their very funny commercials) are changing the dining landscape, turning every restaurant, theoretically, into a pizza delivery chain.  There are certainly times when carryout from Restaurant X sounds really good, but we haven't gone in that direction.  Yet.

Slightly different subject, but I read something else that spoke of Coca-Cola's sales having surged in the past quarter.  This occurred largely on the strength of a) repositioning Diet Coke by adding a couple of new flavors and selling the product in skinny cans, and b) reformulating Coke Zero into Coke Zero Sugar.  The latter change was something I was against, but I have to say that the new version is very good (if you like that sort of thing) and my taste buds have adapted.  But along with that, I would also say that I drink more water than I used to.

The funny thing is that less than six months ago I read that Coca-Cola was on the ropes, that people were drinking less soda and therefore they were in danger of some hard times.  Guess not.

Finally, we have something that's unique to central Kentucky called Ale-8-1.  It's a ginger flavored soda that is HEAVILY caffeinated and a popular choice among many in this area, particularly those who work long hours in outdoor jobs like construction and landscaping.  In recent years they've diversified into a diet and caffeine-free varieties, and now have introduced a cherry flavored soda.  And instead of asking relatives to ship this stuff (which is sold not only in cans but also RETURNABLE bottles) to them in distant locations, the Ale-8-1 folks will now sell you some online.

I've never been a big fan of their products, but I have to admit that it's been a long time.  Perhaps the next time I stop into a convenience store....


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Something to think about

Fear

Latest and greatest