PRINTThe Chains
Behold the rise of the franchise
ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE MEYER
March 8, 2007 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Just east of the intersection of Highway 63 and Broadway lies a muddy developing landmass, complete with two restaurants less than two years old — an Applebee’s and a Culver’s Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers. The two eateries stare at each other, red versus blue, only a single street dividing them.
Other establishments sit behind those restaurants, including Cici’s Pizza and Quizno’s. There’s also IHOP, Chili’s and Lone Star Steakhouse down the street.
What's popping up and when
T.G.I. Friday’s, spring, the southeast corner of Interstate 70 and Highway 63
Taco Bueno, spring, Grindstone Parkway near Wal-Mart
Fuddruckers, spring, Grindstone Parkway near Wal-Mart
El Maguey, summer, West Broadway and Fairview Road
Houlihan’s, summer, Broadway and Highway 63
KOBÈ Japanese Steakhouse, summer, Broadway and Highway 63
Soon even more restaurants will fight for famished customers, with more establishments being built next to Culver’s. In less than a year, Houlihan’s and KOBÈ Japanese Steakhouse will join the mottled mass of shops at Broadway and 63, according to Jay Lindner, executive vice president of Forum Development Group, which is developing Broadway Bluffs and Broadway Shops.
“The national restaurants are realizing there’s business to be had in Columbia,” Lindner says. “A lot of that area has been underserved for quite some time, so restaurants are playing catch-up.”
Well-known chains are popping up all over town, and the old-fashioned idea that corporations aren’t interested in Columbia has been tossed aside. Brian Ash, owner of the independent Bambino’s Italian Café and former city council member, says steady population growth pushed chains to enter the market.
“It’s like once you reach that magic 100,000 population, every national business is suddenly interested in your city,” Ash says. His estimate isn’t too far from the current population of 91,814, according to MU’s Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis.
Don Laird, president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, seconds Ash’s notion. Laird says once a city obtains attractive income levels, population and housing, corporate attention becomes substantial.
“Chains know their niche and believe they can be successful in our market,” Laird says.
Fuddruckers, a national hamburger restaurant, is one of those chains. Charlie Foss, co-owner of three other Fuddruckers in Missouri and Kansas, says he investigated housing and population growth, traffic patterns and average income per capita before setting up shop. “It fit our demographics nicely,” he says.
Another big attraction for Foss was the student population of the colleges. “The university was a big factor,” he says, because he knows students eat at restaurants they recognize from home.
The massive increase of restaurants opening has set an intimidating precedent. The Columbia Health Department lists about 350 active restaurants within the city limits, including multiple franchises of the same chains.
Still, even with economic capacities rising, the city isn’t large enough to attract upscale restaurants such as P.F. Chang’s China Bistro. In April 2004, it opened in its smallest market, Wichita, Kan., which has a population of 344,284, according to the 2000 census.
“Columbia is not on our list of developing cities,” Laura Cherry, spokesperson for P.F. Chang’s corporate office in Scottsdale, Ariz., says bluntly. “We have a good idea of our clientele, and that’s what we try to go after.”
Although some of the big dogs aren’t interested, there are still plenty of players popping up.
With more chains such as Taco Bueno and T.G.I. Friday’s being built, the reality of the new restaurant scene is starting to become clear. “In the future, we’re going to see more of the same,” Lindner says. “Nowadays, national chains are an easier sell. They know what Columbia has to offer.”
Laird, whose job is to promote all businesses in the city, points out that new restaurants provide jobs for local residents and encourage people to move here for those jobs. But Leigh Lockhart, the chair of COLORS, Columbia Locally Owned Retail & Services, and owner of Main Squeeze on Ninth Street, says that though the new jobs are good, the profits of the chains aren’t redistributed to Columbians.
“My accountant lives here, my attorney lives here, my employees live here,” Lockhart says. “Anytime you go to Panera, your money is going to another community, not our own.”
To much of the local community, chains are an ominous cloud hanging heavily over restaurants without deep corporate pockets. Ash says it’s difficult absorbing losses to shiny new stores. But he’s not giving up hope.
“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Ash says grimly. “Eventually the population should catch up with the business expansion.”
Ash says that local restaurants that survive have a quality product that people want to return to.
For now, Columbians will have to wait and see just how much market share the national chains claim. One thing is certain though: Local businesses will need to keep vigorously differentiating themselves from the competition to stay alive.
“It’s not easy,” Ash says. “It’s a jungle out there.”
