How do you build a retail/food business that all different kinds of people feel comfortable in?

I’d copy something like a Golden Corral’s food choices mixed with an Applebee’s alcoholic drinks.

What about these food and drinks make them broadly appealing?

They change them up everyday I think, at least on the weekends they do. I haven’t been to them in a long time.

Serve food that everyone likes to eat. Like hamburgers.

I am unclear on why there would not be comfort to all in the first place outside of places that are overpriced and posh.

I think Starbucks caters to everyone.

Open a New Jersey style diner with a 5 page menu and everyone will come! Serve great breakfasts and include yogurt smoothies and egg white omelettes.

@Forever_Free – take my examples for example. I don’t think a lot of places intend to exclude people, but they do, be it through their prices, menu choices, ambiance, television choices, lawn jockeys out front, open carry signs in the window or whatever. Owners often project their personalities through their businesses, and many personalities are unappealing to large groups of people. While many businesses can survive like this, I don’t think it’s a winning strategy in my area. I’m looking for tips to avoid this common pitfall.

@kritiper – my first dream was a pop up cart I would call “100 burgers” and just set up in opportunistic locations with 100 gourmet pattys and buns, bust out a quick 1000 bucks in sales and drive off into the night. Now my project is way bigger and more complicated, but I still want to find a way to sell burgers.

This must be a personal problem for you. I do not see the world the same as you. I don’t see stores as republican or democrat. What a sad way to live.

Thanks for nothing.
@SnipSnip do you just try to breeze over the human understanding and insult everyone who asks for help? What a sad way to live.

@janbb – that actually sounds like my personal hell. I’m sure it’s great to eat at, but professionally, that about the last behemoth I’d be interested in running. Are there many still around?

I would expect the difficulties of staffing plus inflation screwing with their low cost model has driven a lot of these places out of business. I think Benigan’s died, right? Anyway, In my opinion, it’s better to be flexible with your business, and a restaurant model of “we are always open and we always have everything” doesn’t have much room to adapt to an uncertain future.

I suppose I could clarify. Sometimes I forget that everyone else isn’t constantly analyzing everything in a restaurant.

This problem probably doesn’t apply to a large corporate outfit, except in whatever eating at McDonalds means about a person, because they have marketing teams to work on these things. Smaller establishments almost always project some element of their proprietors into the “feeling” of the business. Haven’t you ever been in a bar where it was painfully obvious you were the only X? Smaller businesses tend to attract people from the larger social circle or demographics as the proprietors. I have no data, but I’ve been conducting a long term inquiry.

I dunno, maybe it’s more of a rural thing. I just see lots of places fail and I want to be loved by everyone. I don’t want people to assume we’re too expensive, or that only the rednecks drink there, or that we ruined the character of the neighborhood, or that we sell hippie shit for hippies.

@Smashley It might be helpful if you mentioned what region of the country you’re in. I don’t see restaurant patrons dividing in the way you describe here.

These days everything is controversial. you need to come up with a theme that target your desired clientele with out offending anyone. Not an easy task these days. McDonalds has Ronald McDonald and the Hamburgler, Arby’s has ‘the meats’ and so on.Your theme will put you in a class but without one you have no way of distinguishing yourself from everyone else. Anything you do will offend someone so just shoot for offending the least number of people.