Double the Waffle House?

November 27, 2006 6:25 PM

Why two waffle houses on each side of the Interstate?

Granted, this is not a deeply important question - but I've tried Google, Wikipedia, even the Waffle House customer line. In several southern states, in a number of cities in each - I and others have come across Waffle House locations on each side of an Interstate exit.

This seemed wasteful to me - certainly it hurt the overall profits. But a successful chain like this would not pursue such a strategy without reason, right?

Does anyone know why this is as it is? Peace, everyone, and take care.

posted by gbinal to travel & transportation (27 comments total)

Simple: North-bound, south-bound. It's the same reason you have more than one gas station at each off-ramp.

In Georgia, there are places you can see 6 Waffle Houses without squinting. I have to believe they're all making money, else they wouldn't be there.
posted by SPrintF at 6:28 PM on November 27, 2006

I think it's where demand is such that a single Waffle House would be full. The design of the restaurant doesn't really allow a single larger building, so they just build two.
posted by dcjd at 6:29 PM on November 27, 2006

Traffic flow, most likely.

McDonalds, for example, does very extensive studies on travel patterns in cities, which they use for strategic placement of their restaurants. Sometimes this results in seemingly non-intuitive placement, such as two McD's on the same block, or one right up the street from another.

On an interstate, it's easier to stop at places on the side of the road corresponding with the direction one is traveling, so that might very well be the case here.
posted by First Post at 6:32 PM on November 27, 2006

Could ity be they bought out competitors?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:36 PM on November 27, 2006

Two waffle houses? That's nothing. In Paramus, NJ there are two Best Buy stores on opposite sides of a shopping plaza (about half a mile apart).

And then, of course, there's Lewis Black's Starbucks across from a Starbucks.
posted by CrayDrygu at 6:42 PM on November 27, 2006

People on road trips don't turn around. It's easier to just stay in the car and wait for the next place.
posted by pompomtom at 6:44 PM on November 27, 2006

On an interstate, it's easier to stop at places on the side of the road corresponding with the direction one is traveling, so that might very well be the case here.

Especially when you're a trucker, which is a large percentage of Waffle House's demo.

It's just easier to exit and re-enter the highway if you don't have to cross the other side, so they put one on each side to catch both directions. Both restaurants essentially function as one with supplies and whatnot (possibly even staff), which is why they're at the exact same exit and not the very next exit (sometimes miles away).
posted by dogwalker at 6:44 PM on November 27, 2006

So you don't have to eat at the dirty one.
posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh at 6:50 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

This is an awesome question and the business involved can be regionalized easily. In Seattle, you're more likely to see two Starbucks on the same intersection.

When we drove through the South in 2005, we all four picked the number of Waffle Houses we thought we would spot on the trip at the very start. By the time the week was up, the number we spotted had superceded ANY of our guesses. It got to be kind of a hilarious game, where the person whose number was about to be surpassed would intentionally not volunteer that they'd seen another one, hoping the others wouldn't notice it.
posted by GaelFC at 7:31 PM on November 27, 2006

well, that was eponysterical.
Next time you encounter the double waffly goodness, check the certificates of ownership. Chances are they are run by two different franchisees who got in on the cheap (i.e. waived their right to geographic exclusivity) and are fighting to the death in a horrible exercise of restaurant darwinism. The stronger franchise survives, which makes corporate happy.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 7:37 PM on November 27, 2006

Making one of them a Cracker Barrel or some such certainly wouldn't help Waffle House in any way.
posted by smackfu at 8:04 PM on November 27, 2006

Hang on... do you mean one waffle house on each side, or do you actually mean two on each side? Because the latter really would be hard to explain. Maybe they're just four shopfronts for a single underground store linked by tunnels?
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 8:09 PM on November 27, 2006

Many times while traveling down South, I've stopped at one of these said Waffle Houses only to find an enormous wait. I got back in the car and drove across the interstate to the opposing Waffle House only to encounter the same thing. Obviously, there is enough demand to warrant two.....While we're on the subject of Waffle House, I wonder why the chain hasn't expanded out West? I live in the SF Bay area and would go out of my way for a Waffle House....scattered, smothered, covered, mmmm!!!
posted by hangingbyathread at 8:26 PM on November 27, 2006

In Paramus, NJ there are two Best Buy stores on opposite sides of a shopping plaza (about half a mile apart)

And that's not the only example of doubled chain stores in that town, but it's *PARAMUS*. Shopping out the wazoo, but hell on earth to drive around.
posted by booksherpa at 8:37 PM on November 27, 2006

As already mentioned, they do it so that motorists and truckers don't have to turn around. And because demand during peak hours for these things is high, since they tend to be the only thing open late at night and certainly the only thing open within easy reach of the off-ramp. And the Waffle House buildings themselves are tiny, so it's not hard for one to fill up.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:02 PM on November 27, 2006

We see that our here with Quiznos & Denny's locations. It's almost always because one is a corporate location and the other is a franchise.

Yes, I've been bored enough to go in and ask.
posted by drstein at 10:01 PM on November 27, 2006

And then, of course, there's Lewis Black's Starbucks across from a Starbucks.

In Seattle (OK, Bellevue), I saw, from I-90, one contiguous strip mall with a Starbucks at either end. Granted, it's Seattle, so that's kind of expected, but wow.
posted by oaf at 10:24 PM on November 27, 2006

For fast food, 40% of decisions are made based on convenience as most people don't want to bother turning left if they can help it.

As mentioned above, sometimes companies have issues with franchisees ... sometimes it's just greed - the see one city/location is generating a huge return so they get in the action also - most often though it's becaise fast food companies change policies - this year, it's all about branding and keeping it a certain way so they open their own stores but next year, they ned revenue and less outflow of capital to build stores so it's franchising - so somethimes what you see is merely the result of changing corporate policy, sometimes it's sheer greed and yes, some companies get mad at franchisees and try to drive them out of business by opening one up close by though that's generally pretty drastic as lawsuits are usually filed.
posted by jbelkin at 10:42 PM on November 27, 2006

My mom owns and operates a Huddle House (same as the Waffle House, but don't tell her I said that...) on the interstate down in South Carolina.

If she could I'm sure she would open another across the bridge to catch north bound traffic too. These are literally very inexpensive franchises and among busy interstates it's all about location.

People traveling (myself included) will not cross an intersection or turn left to get a quick bite to eat or gas or whatever when they can shoot down another mile or two (at 70 mph) and get what they want without waiting at a light or wasting time driving around.

This isn't anecdotal either - there is are plenty of market research studies done every year that show this. (Sorry, I don't have any links to back that up - they tend to be boring industry specific type studies...)
posted by wfrgms at 12:08 AM on November 28, 2006

I live in Indiana, and personally speaking on the toll road or interstates, there are usually two rest stops right across from each other and they almost always have the same restaurants. Traffic flow. Solves the "I really want McDonald's but it's only on the other side of the road so I'm gonna try to get over there and kill someone in the process" thing.
posted by IndigoRain at 2:33 AM on November 28, 2006

Maybe the double scattered smothered has something to do with it? I would agree with the idea that it has to do with traffic flow and convenience.
posted by scooters.toad at 4:27 AM on November 28, 2006

I noticed two Waffle Houses right next to each other on the same side of the interstate a few miles South of Atlanta... I always assumed it was because one was constantly busy and since Waffle Houses only come in one size they just built an extra one for the overflow-the wait in those places can be insane sometimes. I always wondered if the employees bounced between the two or if each had a dedicated staff.
Kind of along the same line, in my (very) small Southern home town, there is a Walgreens, a CVS, and an Eckerds (all pharmacies) on three corners of the same intersection. I've never understood that.
posted by cilantro at 5:48 AM on November 28, 2006

Rival stores on opposite corners isn't surprising at all. Companies will often make a point of opening locations right across from a competitor, hoping to drive them out of business. Those three drug stores are probably fighting a war of attrition — each one's parent company is hoping the other two will give up first. Whichever store wins will suddenly have triple the market share, and get lots of love from the parent company for driving the other two out.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:58 AM on November 28, 2006

I live about two miles from twin Waffle Houses. And there used to be a third, also within rock-throwing distance.

Thing thing is, around here, for many years, Waffle House was practically the only eating establishment open after midnight. Now, we have a couple of IHOPs and Taco Bell has changed its hours, but still: after ten pm or so, the options drop off to almost nothing and after midnight it's even worse. There are at least six WH's in this city and one or two in a town about six miles up the interstate. On Friday and Saturday nights, every single one of them is standing room only.

Something else to consider: a Waffle House is usually damn tiny. You could fit three of them in one IHOP. So in order to take care of the same number of customers, they have to have more locations. Also, your average WH is run on a shoestring; a small, poorly paid staff combined with cheap fixtures and even cheaper food. So operating multiple resteraunts works out for the owners economically where as it might not be such a hot idea for, say, McDonald's or Jack-in-the-Box.

And finally... when you see one WH across the street from another, think of it as one greasy diner passing the torch on to another. They build the new one knowing that it will eventually take over for the old.

As someone mentioned, there's usually the clean WH and the dirty WH. The dirty one is the older of the two, obviously. See, those buildings do get incredibly filthy after they've been around a while. When they receive a real cleaning, it's quite a sight. The owner shuts down the business for a few days and brings in something just this side of a hazmat team that basically hoses down every surface. I've seen 'em do it. Of course, eventually, the building is just beyond all hope; they sell the property and the building is torn down. However, the franchise owner has seen this day coming for some time and doesn't miss out on any business; the customers just go to the newer WH across the street.
posted by Clay201 at 6:42 AM on November 28, 2006

Edmonds, WA used to have three Starbucks in an intersection (they're down to two).
posted by deborah at 3:16 PM on November 28, 2006

Oh yeah, if y'all want to see density.. look for Starbucks locations in downtown San Francisco/Financial District.

There are often 2 locations on the same block.
posted by drstein at 9:42 PM on November 28, 2006

Thanks everyone! I do look forward to coming across that secret WH (waffle house) document that sums all this up in their eyes, but thanks a bunch.

The part about truckers especially wanting to be able to turn left was helpful.

And for A 1000 Baited Hooks, no, I just meant 2 at the intersection.

I believe that the point about the perpetual small size of a WH is a big factor in rationalizing two within stones throw.

Again, thank you for reading and answering. Peace,
posted by gbinal at 7:29 AM on November 30, 2006