WHDN (was Re: Food Chains

[Scott Fybush]

John Francini wrote:
> Five Guys seems to be doing quite well by word-of-mouth (or maybe
> just print) advertising -- I've not heard them on local radio (either
> Boston or Nashua), and their Nashua location is always packed at
> lunchtime.
> 
> I consider them the "In-and-Out" of the Northeast.
> 

Five Guys opened several locations around Rochester in the last three
years or so, and without much in the way of advertising, they always
seem to be pretty packed here as well.

One of the Rochester locations is just across a parking lot from what
was the first Krispy Kreme in town. I remember when *that* opened, circa
1999-2000 - they put on a huge PR campaign for the grand opening, and
they were busy for a while, but then fizzled out. The site was vacant
for several years but eventually reopened as a Verizon Wireless.

On another matter, the Rochester area has always been pretty good for
Friendly's, slow service notwithstanding. At least here, a
Friendly's/Perkins buyout would create a great deal of redundancy. We
lost Perkins for a few years in the late 90s when the local franchisee
pulled out, but the company re-entered the market a few years later with
several company-owned locations that seem to be doing OK.

s