The cone is there for a reason!!!

[raudf]

I think the State Fried Chicken finally gave up in the town that I frequent. It was opened in that location so long that they tore down the old steeple style roof and brought in the boxy look. I have no idea how long the building itself has been there, because it was there when I first visited my grandparents out in the boonies. Rumors had it that the building is so old the cockroaches started evolving intelligence.. and promptly committed suicide in the friers.

At this point, I can't see the SFC using that building again. If they open another 'straunt, they'll probably build one down by the freeway and Hell Mart Super Center. Where the old building is.. well, it's hard to get into. Not as bad as the Sound Based Drive In, which literally is between lights and t-section street setup. Countless times Arga's Arkansas mates get called to that intersection due to stupidity.

[Mr. Anubite]

Yeah, you're right, it could most certainly be a redesign (tho it makes me wonder, why not just gut the place and redecorate? Would likely be cheaper)...

I always thought that would be cheaper, but apparently in some cases, it is cheaper to tear down and rebuild, for some reason.

My college is doing that with one of their dining halls right now. It was supposedly a better financial decision to build a new one and tear down the old one from the 1950's. It needed too much work or something?

[Argabarga]

It's basically the same thing as the threshold for totaling out a wrecked car. You reach a point where the cost of repairs are equal to, exceeding, or within 2/3rds of the value of the object you're thinking about fixing, and it just no longer makes sense, be it a car, a building, a ship, or a china plate.

The Colonel was deployed to the field and left town here in the 90's, and has been MIA ever since. No idea why, they didn't seem to be doing that bad, had 2 locations, but both were inherited from other defunct chains, one was an ex-Hardees the other an ex-MisterDonut (Dunkin' Donuts kinda place that existed only in the NE USA and went defunct in the late 80s), so neither had the "look" of a corporate place, whatever they were supposed to look like back then. I get the feeling it was a decision from up top, and not the franchisees on the bottom, because they closed simultaneously.

[XCashier]

"I didn't see the truck there!"

If he can't see something the size of a delivery truck in a small parking lot, he probably shouldn't be driving >_>

I know, right? And I've heard that "I didn't see it" excuse so darned many times from idiot customers I have to wonder if they all got icepick lobotomies, and the icepick had to be pushed in the hard way on both sides...

[Cia]

When Taco Bell first put in their drive thru they also had the short concrete berm surrounding it. Unfortunately the arc around the building was so sharp that any car larger than a small four door had to stop, back up a touch, go forward, back up a touch three or four times to get around the back of the building between the order board and the pick-up window.

Thankfully they have since remodeled widening the drive thru, easing the arc and removing the berm.

[RealUnimportant]

As I understand it, a lot of the big chains use a lot of prefabbed parts to build their new locations, which keeps build times down so they can (re)open faster. A Golden Arches near me was swapped from old to new style so fast, no-one knew they'd even shut down for the rebuild!

[wolfie]

the other an ex-MisterDonut (Dunkin' Donuts kinda place that existed only in the NE USA and went defunct in the late 80s),

During the early '80s, I recall going to a Mister Donut in western Canada.

[BearLeeBadenaugh]

The "I didn't see it" defense reminds me of a car I towed out of a MediaPlay parking lot quite a few years ago. High schooler driving a thumpa-thumpa-mobile with more stereo than horsepower was hotdogging in the parking lot. I think it was December, had a layer of frozen rain with a couple inches of powdery snow on top. Kiddo went sideways across a decorative landscape island in the parking lot and snapped all four of his mag wheels.

[Aethian]

The Colonel was deployed to the field and left town here in the 90's, and has been MIA ever since. No idea why, they didn't seem to be doing that bad, had 2 locations, but both were inherited from other defunct chains, one was an ex-Hardees the other an ex-MisterDonut (Dunkin' Donuts kinda place that existed only in the NE USA and went defunct in the late 80s), so neither had the "look" of a corporate place, whatever they were supposed to look like back then. I get the feeling it was a decision from up top, and not the franchisees on the bottom, because they closed simultaneously.

The Colonel here is doing badly. They have three stores but one is always closed by 9pm and the other two don't close till 11pm. The one that closes at 9 is ON campus of WMU. You'd think that one would have better hours.

Only one of them is the new look but, in my opinion, all need to be trashed. The food only tastes of the oil they used. I'm told they don't even smell of chicken but have a burnt oil scent.

Here in KZoo we had a DD up till a KK built a brand new store right across from them. I was sad to see the DD close. The KK did okay for a bit and then Timmy's moved in down the block. KK is now a Vitamin Store. Irony there...

We now have two Timmy's and as of last year a beautiful DD's and all three are constantly busy or have at least three people consuming whenever I go by one.

[sms001]

Well, it seems like it's faster anyway. I could be wrong.

When I used to have to frequent macca's often I'd eyeball whatever car I would have pulled in behind while going inside and then check their progress on my way out - used to beat them easily nine out of ten times.

[Argabarga]

As a college town, I was amazed when we lost Little Caesars for the better part of a decade. There were two here as well, one on each end of town, we went to both regularly. And then, suddenly, in the dark of night my senior year, they were closed. As if a killing frost blew through that only affected pizza chains.

I never found out the reason why they left, only that I was happy when they returned about 8 years ago. It was strange that you could get any kind of pie you wanted, plus the option of about 20 mom-n-pop ones, but not the Pizza-Pizza one unless you drove an hour to the next city over. Funny thing was the ads still played on the radio, as if corporate wasn't aware our area had been abandoned.

The real oddity was the Shoney's we had for the longest time. They're mostly a southern chain, and to the best of my knowledge, we were the northernmost city to have one. The only exposure I'd had to them otherwise was seeing their name in NASCAR advertizing. Anyway, they did great, food wasn't bad, and of course, I have a biased opinion since they were my first employer and the manager was kick-ass, Tennessee drawl and all*.

They closed fairly recently when they got tired of the property owner raising the rents to the point that all the other businesses in their little plaza withered away, leaving them the only thing open on that side of the street. (A calculated move in retrospect, they eventually bulldozed the block and put up an office park)

Speaking of defunct. We also used to have a Boston Market, a Kenny Rogers Roasters, two Hardee's and a Roy Rodgers, but they all closed down when their parent companies went under or had to slash and burn locations to stay alive, unsurprisingly. We also have, at least once a year, a new franchise deciding to throw it's business model at the wall and see if it sticks, betting college students can save it even if it doesn't seem to match the local demographic's tastes. Sometimes they do, often they don't.

We just had an Arthur Treacher's open up, I honestly thought they were out of business!

There was a Hooters here too that we used to tow the pickups of drunk rednecks who'd overstayed their welcome from, all the time. (Can't imagine why!). It just closed like 2 years ago amid allegations the owner was a crook/creep who cost the franchise quite a bit in harassment settlements (Can't imagine why!**). I kept the "FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD TOWING" sign I had to pull out of the ground when they left, because it specifically had the Hooters name on it and couldn't be re-used for the next tenant, who's doing quite well at that location with a regular ol' sportsbar.

* The breaker on one of the roof AC units tripped one day, he came into the kitchen and declared: "Hey, eeny voluneteeee-ahs to go up on tha' roof and reset thaaayt? Otherwise, I gotta cahl spy-duh maaaahn." Accents are funny.

** Wayyyyyyyyyyyy back when I went to high school, when gas was $1.99, nickles had bees on them, and dinosaurs wandered into your yard, the place was a pizza joint/bottleshop. Pretty good one too. Then one day, out of the blue, the owner decided to lay off his male waitstaff and adopted a new dress code for the female staff that was, well, you can probably guess. The resulting mutiny didn't leave the place standing for long. After it closed, the Hooters remodel job began shortly thereafter. Make of it what you will.

[Ophbalance]

I presume the Gumby's still stands? I just found one here in NC but have yet to visit it.

[AccountingDrone]

We just had an Arthur Treacher's open up, I honestly thought they were out of business!

Holy shit, I thought they were totally defunct!

Well, I found out that there were a few Shakeys Pizzas left in the LA basin - Oakleaf had contracts with them for the waste stream. It is always interesting to see a company that you once liked still has a little heartbeat left.

I may have to modify my drive to Pennsic next summer and hit it for some lunch if it is still open!

[BrenDAnn]

Thank you, Chazzie and sms...I'm not (completely) crazy! I think I got that bit about going inside the fast food joints from my Dad, actually. Arga... I hadn't heard the name Shoney's in a long, long time. Wow! Also, the town eldest nephew lives in just got their Pizza! Pizza! place back too. It seems different from what I remember it being, though. Ah well... progress, right?

PS: Chazzie, what part of truck always winning a truck vs car fight don't your customers get? Just curious.

[Argabarga]

I presume the Gumby's still stands? I just found one here in NC but have yet to visit it.

Yeah, but I can't eat there, towed too many of their drivers for trying to annex the parking lot next door, that doesn't belong to them. At this point, I MAY order a pizza from them, just to immediately take it up to the chem lab on campus and see what they put in it.