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Old Jun 13, 2011 | 11:10 pm
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No Pie For You!

People were asked to leave during their meal!
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Old Jun 13, 2011 | 11:19 pm
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It's no one's fault. Just not enough customers.

We're going through a recession nationwide and it's an inevitable result of the down economy
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 12:13 am
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Originally Posted by Eastbay1K
The article you linked to says nothing about patrons being asked to leave a restaurant mid-meal. Perhaps the article has been updated?

BTW, I agree with analyst quoted in the article that Marie Callender's has lost business over the past several years because they've failed to invest in their stores and haven't kept their menu fresh. They've certainly lost my business for those exact reasons.
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 12:33 am
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Originally Posted by darthbimmer
The article you linked to says nothing about patrons being asked to leave a restaurant mid-meal. Perhaps the article has been updated?
....
This was in our local online newsletter:

"A friend of mine was just at Marie Callenders and mid-lunch the restaurant shut down. Didnt even let them finish eating or pay. Apparently they got a fax from HQ that said they had to close immediately."
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 1:37 am
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Looks like customers got kicked out in Seattle as well.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/123743974.html
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 1:54 am
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Not surprising that they're having problems. Ate there a while back (sister needed to get a quick lunch) and both the food and service were fairly bad. No reason to go back. I would guess that their main clientele were local workers who weren't in the mood for "ethnic" food and couldn't decide on anything else. And their pies were, generally, pretty bad too.
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 7:56 am
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The few that there were here in Colorado closed several years ago. I went there a couple of times back in the day. Agree that they didn't seem to be keeping up with the times, as the article stated. Heavy, down-home style cooking. Which is not my favorite type of food.
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 9:03 am
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Legend has it that when the local MC's closed down after lunch one day, the staff were offered the opportunity to carry home the pies on hand as a severance bonus....
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 1:39 pm
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I've been to a couple Marie Calenders in the Phoenix area and I was never overly impressed. To me it was the same as Coco's and a place I didn't mind if someone else was paying but for my own dime, I was never thrilled. Still, it seems to have some history behind it so I hope they work things out.
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 2:20 pm
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I've never seen it happen during the day like this, I have seen trucks waiting at restaurants for them to close, and then clean the place out and chain it up.
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Old Jun 17, 2011 | 10:11 am
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It is a well thought-out but a very difficult decision.

I'm stumped at how throwing out patrons mid-meal is "well thought out"? Strikes me more as deranged.
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Old Jun 18, 2011 | 12:40 am
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Wow..

I guess the restaurant was corporately owned..

Wouldn't happen like that if franchisees owned the store.. Not finishing meal and paying that is..
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Old Jun 18, 2011 | 4:41 am
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Originally Posted by Points Scrounger
It is a well thought-out but a very difficult decision.

I'm stumped at how throwing out patrons mid-meal is "well thought out"? Strikes me more as deranged.
Agreed. There's nothing "well thought out" about chucking someone out mid-meal - unless you are intent on generating horrible PR, which this little stunt seems to have done a good job of doing.
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Old Jun 18, 2011 | 10:07 am
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More likely a scared low-level supervisory sort obeying
the letter rather than the spirit, and Corporate being
too dumb to have worded the missive right.

Anyhow, Marie Callender's is/will be no enormous loss.
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Old Jun 18, 2011 | 10:45 am
  #15  
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No great loss. I've seen coupons for MC but have never been tempted enough to go in there.

Originally Posted by Allan38103
It's no one's fault. Just not enough customers.

We're going through a recession nationwide and it's an inevitable result of the down economy
Someone posted a few years earlier that these low-end restaurants popped up to cater to people who would normally hardly ever eat out because it wasn't really in their budget. Their clientele was marginal (as in ability to afford eating out) at best and with this recession, the clientele ave traded down (or arguably up, for some) to home cooking.
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