Boycotts, or the threat of, can work very well. The Subway over at the Preserve at Grayton, is one example. I rarely see more than three cars there, and I am sure that at least one car must be an employee's. Unless things change, I doubt they will renew their lease.
Someone on the Starbuck's sign thread mentioned Starbuck's Mgt style, and I completely agree. I have done some research into Starbuck's over the last few years, and I do not know of a "fast food" place which treats its employees as well as Starbuck's. Forget fast food places -- I don't know any major businesses which treats its employees as well as they appear to do. This is far from saying that Starbuck's isn't playing heavily on trend setting, addiction, social pressures (keeping up with the Jones), etc.
While I don't wish to see all of the franchises roll into the area,
I do understand the public's desire to frequent franchises with which they are familiar. At franchises, there isn't much guessing involved with menu selection and type and quality of service which one will receive when they stop in to eat. As many of you know, small towns across this country may be hit or miss when it comes to mom and pop restaurants. SoWal is no different. Heck, we even have a forum on SoWal.com for recommendations on where to eat to take that hit or miss guesswork out of the picture, but what about those who haven't looked on SoWal.com or don't want to put forth the effort. "Just get me to McDonalds so I can get my kid his fix of fat, sugar, salt and caffeine."
If you want to see local businesses survive, forget about the franchises and stick to the local places when you go to pull your $$$ out of your pocket. Take the time and do a little homework. Sometimes shopping locally is exponentially beneficial to our area, such as the case when you buy your cup of coffee at Cerulean's in WaterColor, where they serve coffee which is brewed with locally roasted beans. ;-)
Someone on the Starbuck's sign thread mentioned Starbuck's Mgt style, and I completely agree. I have done some research into Starbuck's over the last few years, and I do not know of a "fast food" place which treats its employees as well as Starbuck's. Forget fast food places -- I don't know any major businesses which treats its employees as well as they appear to do. This is far from saying that Starbuck's isn't playing heavily on trend setting, addiction, social pressures (keeping up with the Jones), etc.
While I don't wish to see all of the franchises roll into the area,
I do understand the public's desire to frequent franchises with which they are familiar. At franchises, there isn't much guessing involved with menu selection and type and quality of service which one will receive when they stop in to eat. As many of you know, small towns across this country may be hit or miss when it comes to mom and pop restaurants. SoWal is no different. Heck, we even have a forum on SoWal.com for recommendations on where to eat to take that hit or miss guesswork out of the picture, but what about those who haven't looked on SoWal.com or don't want to put forth the effort. "Just get me to McDonalds so I can get my kid his fix of fat, sugar, salt and caffeine."
If you want to see local businesses survive, forget about the franchises and stick to the local places when you go to pull your $$$ out of your pocket. Take the time and do a little homework. Sometimes shopping locally is exponentially beneficial to our area, such as the case when you buy your cup of coffee at Cerulean's in WaterColor, where they serve coffee which is brewed with locally roasted beans. ;-)
