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Fast and Visible
I just discovered a new writer — The Brooklyn Investor — whom I’m (slowly) catching up on. His most recent post — an analysis of the fast food business, and of an upcoming IPO specifically — had some great insights on why Chipotle (Ticker symbol: CMG) is such a big hit:
This is a true story: I usually only go to CMG right before lunchtime. If I can’t get there by 11:30 or something like that, I don’t bother. But one time (actually more than once) I did go during the rush. The line was really long going all the way to the front door (the line was the full length of the store). Out of curiosity, I looked at my watch and noted the time. I got my burrito in five minutes. Here’s another true story: Not too long after that, I was at McDonald’s (MCD) and I was second in line. And MCD wasn’t crowded; I wasn’t second in line with five or ten registers open. I was second in line, period. There was nobody else. And it took me TEN minutes to get a happy meal (not for me) and a chicken club sandwich meal. How does this happen? I have no idea. But it happens all the time. I remember when MCD used to give something back (food is free or something) if you don’t get your stuff within a minute or two. Now it’s a disaster whenever I go (and I do go to many different MCD’s quite often).
What I like about this is, first, I agree: Chipotle is fast. But it isn’t just speed. The transparency of the process is also really important. I can see them making my burrito. They’re all moving back there. There’s no “behind the curtain” stuff going on: everyone is visible and at work. Not the same at any other fast food place.
When I use the on-call taxi service Uber, I can see the little car on my phone’s screen, getting closer to me for the pick up. I can see it, so I know it’s coming. It’s reassuring. Unlike a regular taxi cab, where you call a number and give your address and just… hope.
Seeing means trusting. Seeing the icon — or the person making the burrito — means there’s an efficiency, and a competency, and an accountability at work.
Of course, it’s hard for me not to make a political point. There’s a generation of business owners and customers who simply don’t respond to the idea of the “man behind the curtain,” and who don’t like to have to “trust” that the taxi (or the burrito) is on its way. That’s one of the many million ways that this administration’s signature piece of legislation — Obamacare — seems so geriatric and out-of-date: there’s no part of it that’s open and accountable. There’s no part of it that’s modern.
Which is why it has to go, and be replaced by something a lot more Chipotle.
Image Credit: Flickr user Mark H. Anbinder.
Published in General
Not to mention the temporary damage the food does to the digestive tract nowadays. Fix that and McDonalds’ problems (such as they are) would likely recede amidst the rush of returning customers enjoying a good burger at a good price.
Oh sure, it does. Just not often in the US.
If you get Kosher for Passover coke (in the weeks before Passover), it tastes different, because it uses no corn syrup. Coke in Europe similarly is sweetened with sucrose.
I got some cokes from Mexico at costco, and it tasted just like I remember it from my long lost youth! Stark difference between the cane sugar and corn syrup cokes..
funny, the owner loved to say ‘Don’t worry, that oven will kill anything’.
You’re not alone. As comedian Jim Gaffigan points out: Hardly anybody admits to eating at McDonald’s. Yet McDonald’s sells about 6 billion hamburgers a day. Some folks are lying about where they eat lunch.
Yeah, I don’t see the stigma the same way there was a stigma associated with Kmart. What’s better than a Big Mac or even the basic cheeseburger for the money spent? Nothing, except maybe for the quarter pounder.
I think the bigger factor in the difference in time between Chipotle and McDonalds is in the process of making your order. You’ll probably notice that your McDonalds order (or most fast food, for that matter) will take a lot longer if you order fries – and the difference is greater the less crowded it is in the store. Also, note that you get your burrito made while you are still technically in line – that makes it seem a lot faster (and speeds up the process, since they can start making some of your food before you finalize your order and pay for it). Chipotle also seems to have more employees per order size per time, even at non-peak hours, since their assembly-line process doesn’t have quite as much flexibility as your typical burger places’ order-assembly process.