It's Not the Food...Experience is Everything

Over the summer, I visited 10 national sit down restaurant franchises disappearing in New Jersey mainly for nostalgic reasons. What I discovered - as a corporate communications professional - was a common thread between them all - lost identity and customer connections. Essentially, the "north star" experience had burned out for each of these restaurant powerhouses and the last remaining thread is the name connection to the past. While name recognition can be a powerful ally in the business world, failing to deliver on that name caused the erosion and hopefully it can still be salvaged before extinction.

In each instance, there were three key missing ingredients that continue to hurt these establishments. And when you visit the restaurants, the missing element becomes abundantly obvious.

1. Experience is Everything. Sure, we went to places like Friendly's Restaurants , (sit down) Pizza Hut , and TGI Fridays for the functional reason of eating the food, but wasn't it more about the experience? The soda in the red cups tasted better and the wings the best on the planet. What ran deeper than the food in your belly, though, was how you felt when at the restaurant. I would beg my parents to take us to a themed restaurant or quick serve meal. My kids never ask me. Why? Because there was a vibe when you entered the food establishment. And, there was personality that accompanied your presence. Sure the meal at Friendly's still wasn't great when I was little, but you were getting that ice cream at the end. You could go to the pizza bar and get any flavor you wanted (while you were there with your Little League International team). You could also chase down that hot pepperoni slice with the best tasting soda in the world served in #plastic_red_cup. I'll be the mere mention of that cup will make you nostalgic for a soda from the Hut (there was no red cup when I went but the fountain soda was still as I remembered).
2. Maintain Your Identity. A red thread between every place I visited, whether it was Roy Rogers Restaurants , Pizza Hut, White Castle , Fuddruckers or Denny's , was they were trying to be everything to everyone rather than leaning into what made them great. Menus were all over the map. Denny's doesn't need to be a diner in New Jersey. Just tee up your breakfast Grand Slam menu. For Pizza Hut, just serve the deep-dish pizza with the soda in the red cups (which they didn't even have). I don't need a cookie pizza. Although the chains may claim a shift in American culture, that doesn't seem to impact Chick-fil-A Restaurants where they zero in on one thing and do it really well. Customers need to understand the identity of the restaurant, particularly when it's a nostalgic brand. The food being served is available to make at home, for probably a lower price and higher quality.
3. Price with Purpose. People pay for the experience. In most places, I couldn't believe the prices for the food being served. It was really noticeable once the experience was gone. For example, it would have been cheaper to get a rotisserie chicken and two sides at ShopRite than at Boston Market . In fact, the supermarket also has a space where I can sit and eat the meal, so what is the differentiator for Boston Market? The same was true for Blimpie where I could go to Jersey Mike's Subs for the same sub at a cheaper cost for a better experience.

It's unfortunate, because each person working at these restaurants was terrific. Denny's had one waiter for the entire place (working 7 table at once). In some places, you could tell it was the owner and their family working all aspects of the restaurant to keep the lights on. What became readily apparent is the parent company had lost its connection with the consumer. Hopefully, there is still an interest in restoring that connection.