Originally Posted by
BamaVol
Possible causes? I blamed the “server shortage”. Construction may have played a role at the first. The “pay it ahead” game may have caused the slow down at the ultimate restaurant. No obvious explanation at the middle stop. I haven’t seen locked doors at a fast food restaurant since the height of the pandemic when you just considered yourself lucky to find an open restaurant with a drive thru operating.
Two points:
- I skimmed an article the other day about how McDonald's is considering installing more automated ordering - something about how they are testing robotic drive through ordering in 10 Chicago stores. It was due to the labor shortage -- this thread is "server shortage" but the reality is that it's a labor shortage that affects all kinds of jobs, including McDonald's that doesn't have servers. So your instinct is probably right.
- The construction thing baffles me. I'm sure quite a few places used the shutdown to do work, which is smart. Why some aren't done yet is what baffles me. There are at least 2 places near me that are still doing takeout only and saying they're still doing construction. I know, personally, it's been a nightmare hiring contractors to do anything. We've had several give us quotes and then never speak to us again. I've been going back and forth with a mason to do some repair work for two months now and can't get a date on the calendar. But I wouldn't have expected it to impact businesses...I assumed that's why they couldn't do my smaller jobs.