how big does a town have to be to get a .....?

Where my sister-in-law lives the combined city-county population is around 100,000. They have seven McDonalds and almost that many Subways and Baskin-Robbins. 3 each of Burger King, Arbys, Taco Bell, KFC, and Wendys.

When a chain decides to come into town is population really that much of a factor or is it just picking the right location?

A co-worker once told me that Red Lobster and Outback Steakhouse won't even consider opening up shop in a town whose population is less than 30,000 yet I can think of many, many towns with a figure less than half of that who sports one of those chains.

On the flip side of this I know of at least one town whose population is 5,000 and they are still waiting for their first fast food outlet.

I know the Rogue Valley where I live is too small (275,000) to have a Trader Joe's,
because we keep asking them to come. On the other hand, it has opened the door for folks to open similar local venues.
As far as chains, you have to distinguish between company operated stores and franchises.
Someone can hold the rights to a franchise territory,(or franchises) but not put any outlets in.

Old Forge, NY probably has a population (permanent year round), of about 2000.
Last time I was there, was in 2005, and there was only one FFR.
Micky D's.
Thats it. I think it is the only FFR from Boonville (has a Burger King), NY to Saranac Lake-about 120 miles.

I am assuming with their summer population and the amount of children that are there, is the only reason why.

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4355
Here's an old topic about how Applebee's has targeted small to medium areas
with great success.

Over and out...

Not sure exactly how true this is or not but I have heard that in order for a city to get a Ruths Chris Steakhouse it has to be a big sports town ( college, major league, Nascar, etc..).

I am pretty sure demographics play more as far as who gets what than just population only. If a town has only 20,000 but most of the people who live there make a lot of money then I can see that town having some upscale chains.

If a town has say 5,000-10,000 and they have yet to see their own fast food, then chances are politics play a role there. Some towns just simply don't want any chains regardless if its retail or restaurants.

Yep, some times it's just politics. Or small towns that don't want "Wally~World" invading their small town.

Somtimes it tends to start with one FF restaurant.

Our first FF restaurant here in Chipley (population 3,500-5,000) was Pizza
Hut in 1980. At that time, even though I-10 was open to traffic, most of
the businesses were located 1 mile north of the exit. McDonald's, Hardees
& Beefmaster, a local chain, settled near Pizza Hut.

When Wal-Mart opened in 1994 next to I-10, then things took off with BK,
Wendy's, KFC, Waffle House & the newest additions Arby's & Sonic.

Of course, in the '70s, we were the "home" of Big Sam's Fried
Chicken ("It's as good as Mom's), a chain that expanded to 10-15
outlets in NW Florida, but died about 10 years later.

Dave Thomas once said that his locating research amounted to putting up a store where there was a McDonald's already open. While many groups look for a large and moveable population, often highway access is a large factor when it comes to building in smaller communities. For example, where the town may be small but two busy interstate highways intersect.

Due to a recently added Walmart; our two new latest restaurants are now Zaxby's and Sonic. Before that it was several years ago when a Burger King came to town. Most of the town went into a collective orgasm when Walmart announced it's plans to come to build here (notice I didn't say another word for orgasm...). Anyway, I think the entire area of my abode is a bit "touched", if you know what I mean... Ahem... (except moi and a few other area transplants).

In the area of politics some towns have been known to make a deal with one chain to keep them from building in nearby towns even if those towns may be much larger in population.

Martinsburg, West Virginia ( around 15,000 ) back in 1996 made a deal with Outback Steakhouse. Build here but dont build one within a 30 (?) mile radius of Martinsburg. The town believed that Outback would help out a nearby failing mall.

For a time it work but the agreement lapsed and within a few years the nearby larger towns ended up having their own Outback Steakhouse.

The town tried this with the other restaurant chains, even a few retail ones ( Kohls and Target come to mind ), but I believed only Outback agreed to it.

I'm still trying to figure out the thinking and reality regarding my winter home town, Green Valley, AZ. The winter population is around 30,000, nearly all affluent retirees, but at least half those people disappear in the summer months--including me. On the other hand, there's a town right next door, Sahuarita, that is the fastest growing in southern Arizona with houses popping like mushrooms and selling to middle class families with kids who live here year-round. the two towns constitute a single commercial market.

Right now, we have McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Subway, Taco Bell, Denny's, Coach's, Dairy Queen Broiler, a local Mexican fast food chain called Rigoberto's, a couple independent sit-down Mexican places, a couple independent Italian places, 2 sit-down Chinese (niether very good--and one doesn't even do take-out if you can imagine) and a Chinese buffet-style take-out (Panda House), a small Vietnamese place and a small diner type place that's only open for breakfast and lunch. There's also a Walmart Supercenter. The "fine dining" options are all golf-associated (there's 8 courses in the area)--the dining room of the country club and the clubhouses of a couple other courses are open to the public and have slightly upscale dining--or casino-associated (the local tribal casino has a nice restaurant and buffets).

Recently the first serious independent pizzeria opened which boasts a brick oven and the kind of eastern-style thin crust pizza I prefer. I'm planning to try it tomorrow. Supposedly, a Carl's Jr. is also coming next to the Walmart.

We too have been begging Trader Joe's to come to town for years (there are several in Tucson 20 miles up I-19). Supermarket options right now consist of 2 Safeways, a local chain called Basha's (which looks to me like it can't last now that Walmart is open) and the Walmart Supercenter.

For the life of me, I can't understand why one of those buffet type places that I remember as being wildly popular with seniors in Florida hasn't opened. I'd also love some decent BBQ and an Arby's. I know a good Thai or Indian place is too much to hope for. And finally (I'm on my knees for this one) . . . In-N-Out.

I live in Salem Township, Wisconsin, population, about 11,018 (I looked it up), but we get tourists for Country Thunder, Kenosha's County Fair and a racing oval in the summer and several area ski hills, including Gander Mountain in Illinois, for which the Wisconsin based sporting goods chain is named, in the winter. We have a McDonald's and Burger King, on opposite corners of a fairly busy intersection, which makes NO sense to me, as Antioch, IL (about two miles south, population, 25,025, and I looked that up) ALSO has a McDonald's and Burger King across the street (you won't walk across that street, but there they sit) from each other. In Illinois, The McD's side has a KFC and Subway, and a few good local entries, not all of them restaurants. The Burger King side has a Taco Bell, Pizza Hut (that share a building), local Mexican place that's great, and a Mobil station with a ripoff convenience store. The two other corners have a custard place which does a brisk burger business, and a sit-down-have-a-good-lunch-place. In Wisconsin, the Burger King shares a building with a Mobil station, and there's a good seasonal fruit and veggie stand next door. The McDonald's shares a building with a BP station, and there's a Walgreen's next door. There's a strip mall across from the Burger King that has a Chinese place complete with good-but-not-great buffet, an Italian take out place, a grocery store that sells a real good home made sausage and other butcher shop delicacies, but I wouldn't get anything else there unless it's on sale, a few non food places, and plenty of space for rent. Across from McD's is a softball field with a concession stand, but not much else. Hey, all of the above were here before I was six years ago. Go figure.

There are some interesting entries down both east-west highways, but not much on State Highway 83, which you'd hit going from one state to the other on the way from McDonald's in one state to Burger King in the other. I can't see that, either, but that hasn't changed in the years I lived here. Both Salem and Antioch have schools and the local library on Highway 83, but nothing private . . .