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Gourmet and Specialty Foods Moving off the Shelves at a Record Pace

Despite the recession, specialty food items are holding their own as sophisticated foodies refuse to give up some of their guilty pleasures.  While many consumers are scaling back the number of times they dine out each month, these same consumers seem to be spending the money they save on their favorite luxury items in the [...]

Move Over Colonel Sanders; Fried Chicken is Going Gourmet

Colonel Harland Sanders must be turning over in his grave – again.  First his beloved Kentucky fried chicken had to make room for Kentucky grilled chicken.  Now, one of the south’s most famous comfort foods is being imported by northerners and turning into haute cuisine.
Upscale restaurants in Chicago have taken a hankering to the breaded [...]

Behind The 1 Million Free Burgers at Friday’s

Back in April when T.G.I. Friday’s launched plans to sell all salads and sandwiches for $5 through the end of next May, it was clear the recession took a huge bite out of casual dining sales. In fact, same-store sales have been on the decline for well over twelve consecutive months.
Subway started the trend in [...]

Baby’s Badass Burgers – Gourmet Style

With banks hording cash in a tanked economy, venture capital is hard to come by. Opening a conventional restaurant requires hundreds of thousands of dollars rendering brick and mortar restaurants passé. The latest trend is roving restaurants on wheels with a Twitter account.
So ex-New Yorker and restaurateur Erica Cohen, and her partner Lori Barbera — [...]

McDonald’s Has Starbucks On The Run

McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, and 7-Eleven have got Starbucks on the run. The current recession has cash-strapped consumers thinking twice about waiting in line for an $8 dollar cup of coffee. To capture lost market share, Starbucks’ new policy is to grind beans each time a new pot is brewed instead of grinding coffee only in [...]

Original McCormick & Schmick’s Closes After Three Decades

The recession has hit some long-established restaurants hard as more people than ever before are unemployed and on food stamps. People just don’t eat out as frequently these days. After failing in attempts to renegotiate their lease, the original McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant in Portland, Oregon, closed down Wednesday after 30 years. McCormick & [...]

Food War – Target vs Wal-Mart

Get ready for a food price war spearheaded by Target stores against their major competitor Wal-mart. Since tapped-out consumers are buying more of just the basics, target is losing customer market share rapidly. Only 37 percent of Target’s revenue stems from basic supplies and food compared to Walmart’s 60 percent.
“Consumers are buying what they need [...]

Restaurants Resort to Recession-Beating Strategies

We’re not in full-fledged panic mode yet, but there’s definitely cause for concern.  Restaurants at all price points are feeling the loss of customers as the economy continues to sputter, and there’s no relief in sight.  The fast food chains are poised to lose the least, thanks to their initially low menu prices and their proactive [...]

BJ’s Accepting Food Stamps; Offers free 60-day Membership through July 6

Americans who qualify for and receive food stamps are now able to use them at more places.
BJ’s Wholesale Club, the third largest warehouse club in the country, says it is now accepting  electronic food stamps as a payment option at all of its 180 locations.  Previously, only a small fraction of their clubs accepted food [...]

People, Not Funds, Pouring into Food Banks – Part I

Peanut Butter being distributed to hungry people.

The Problem
The story is pretty much the same no matter where you go. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a rural farming community or a large city … people are going hungry. Caught in a recession not of their making, more Americans than ever before are tightening their [...]

It’s a Great Time to Be a Restaurant Customer

Unfortunately, there’s a dramatic thinning of the herd going on as more and more people opt to eat in as a cheaper way to weather the recession.  This decreased patronage is not the only problem currently plaguing the restaurant industry, however.  There are more restaurants in existence now than ever before, and with fewer available [...]

The Brown Bag Revolution

Not the type of brown bag we are talking about unless you do Martini lunches.  Then yes this will save you money.

Fast food restaurants, neighborhood cafés and supermarket salad bars are continuing to show declining numbers of customers during lunchtime hours as more and more workers opt to brown-bag their lunch. This isn’t good [...]