Why are so many State College bars and restaurants going out of business?

[scvhinghi]

That's too bad. Target should operate that location as a near loss leader and give students whatever they want for whatever the market says you should pay for it. It would turn some into Target shoppers for life.

One would think that would be a good long term plan, but low price can actually be a bad plan in SC. Everything is relative to one’s competition. The taxi business is one example. Uber and Lyft have pulled so much market share the only one local cab company remains, Handy Delivery (the blue cabs). Price wise, the online companies charge double to triple that the local companies do. Riders were more concerned with the whistles and bells of the location software, online billing, and never having to talk to a human, that they would overpay. This led the typical customer of the local companies, more concerned with price, to be less likely to tip well. Local drivers earnings dipped, and many fled to Uber to chase the bucks. The price war actually hurt the ability of locals to retain employees, the local companies were forced to fight over a smaller share of a less attractive customer pie. Only one local company remains. Now that the market has equalized, online companies raised prices. Maybe it is one of those buggy whip situations, but in the end prices have generally doubled in exchange for a service many don’t consider worth it. Reminds me of Comcast.

Edit: Speaking of Comcast, my service in State College cost me $200. I have moved to Pittsburgh and now get Armstrong cable. I get literally the same channels and pay $80. In SC every customer that isn’t gouged is a wasted opportunity. Try getting your car serviced there and things become clear pretty quickly.

 

[manatree]

The taxi business is one example. Uber and Lyft have pulled so much market share the only one local cab company remains, Handy Delivery (the blue cabs).

Get your facts straight. Uber & Lyft are not taxi/transportation companies. they are technology companies, thus are exempt for taxi/transportation regulations and oversights.

Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.

 

[psu1969a]

Well - he’s forgetting one of the primary costs (labor)


FWIW - the VERY general rule often used (by some folks in the industry) as a guide is:
1/4 Material (food costs), 1/4 Labor (cooks, servers, etc), 1/4 overhead (building, lease, utilities), 1/4 gross profit.

But, of course, every situation has its unique components...... and there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Labor is 1/3 of your overhead!

 

[BBrown]

His high margin items are off the menu.

LOL, I remember in the either late 90's or early 00's he (Scott L.) was in "hiding".
Rumor was that he owed some people some money.

 

[Langmuir]

The Target downtown has limited space and is not “full service”. The availability of items there is much less than that of McClanahan’s and not much better than Rite Aid. No deli, produce, limited meats and frozen, etc. There is also a noticeable markup of prices than at a normal Target by about 25% on non sale items. If you have no other options then I guess one could survive, but it isn’t close to being a “grocery store”. It is outclassed in every way except location and housekeeping by the ghetto Weis on Westerly. It is far less trouble and almost as cost effective for the kids to hit the low end restaurant options like pizza (dollar slices), tacos (the taco shed in McCalister Alley is the new thing), or the pie tin Chinese places scattered around town. This rolls into the volatility issue as kids look for bang for buck and effort, and frequent low profit margin places. If you are counting on selling 500 dollar slices, and you forget that it is a Thon canning weekend or there is a heavy rain, the receipts are going to come up short. If a student is going to cook for himself without spending a significant amount of time chasing things down on CATA, a vehicle is needed. Now the student has to park it somewhere and that gets expensive as well. The only other options for a student without a car are to bus to campus from apartment complexes located on Waupalani, Martin St, or Vairo, to be close to retail centers. Those places aren’t cheap. Sending a kid to college is a hard thing to pay for, but the town is set up to shake every last cent out of a students pocket, and it has become significantly worse in just the last few years.

Yep, my daughter is sophomore and she was very excited to have a car this year so she could drive to Walmart on Atherton to get what she needs. I asked her why should just could not walk to Target. She said it was small and rarely had anything she needs. At home she hates Walmart (just full of weird people) and loves Target. However she is a practical girl (as much as a 19 year can be) and Target just does not meet her needs.

 

[DrJC]

Is it a market thing or just individual businesses either poorly run or owners retiring?

I hate to see Zola's close their doors. One of the few good restaurants in SC. For such a large school that has a lot of year round visitors, it is a shame that there is not a high quality restaurant. Part of the problem seems to be the availability of liquor licenses and the cost of purchasing one that may become available. SC really is mismanaged in my opinion. It once was a real class town worth visiting. Now it is becoming high rise city and is losing some of its remaining charm. I used to come from NY for all the home games. Now, maybe one a year, as hotel prices are ridiculous. They will eventually ruin it.

 

[jerrycalpal]

You have about twenty weekends to make real coin. If you have the space you can make extra money those weekends to offset the drought on the other
Thirty weekends. If you can handle the overflow, then you can afford the drought weeks.

 

[uhlerlion]

Yep, my daughter is sophomore and she was very excited to have a car this year so she could drive to Walmart on Atherton to get what she needs. I asked her why should just could not walk to Target. She said it was small and rarely had anything she needs. At home she hates Walmart (just full of weird people) and loves Target. However she is a practical girl (as much as a 19 year can be) and Target just does not meet her needs.

drive another 1/2 further and she can get to a Target

 

[scvhinghi]

Yep, my daughter is sophomore and she was very excited to have a car this year so she could drive to Walmart on Atherton to get what she needs. I asked her why should just could not walk to Target. She said it was small and rarely had anything she needs. At home she hates Walmart (just full of weird people) and loves Target. However she is a practical girl (as much as a 19 year can be) and Target just does not meet her needs.

Congratulations on your daughter’s second year. Another change in town is that the speed limit has been lowered to 25 mph on Atherton Street from Prospect Ave in the south to Mitchell Ave to the north. As I was leaving town a few weeks ago a speed trap was set up next to the Exxon at the corner of Hillcrest. The painted lines are all set up for clocking and cars were being pulled over in groups into the lot next to the garage. It looks like they mean to enforce it. As a good dad I’m sure you would like to pass this info on. Congrats again!