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> Establishments want to project an image of class. It used to be class was associated with flair. The more intricate and multi-colored flower patterns you had,
by ashark 10y ago
> Establishments want to project an image of class. It used to be class was associated with flair. The more intricate and multi-colored flower patterns you had, the more wealthy you were. The more gold foil and ornate columns the better.
In the specific case of chain restaurants, I thought flair was an attempt to replicate the cluttered-junk aesthetic that certain local joints acquired organically over time, not to signal wealth.
- rhizome 10y agoThe chains they're talking about were the original local joints. Read the article, it's really good and detailed.
- rdtsc 10y agoI was thinking in general more about ornamentation and flair used in architecture and industrial design, not just for the restaurants. But even in the context of some of those chains. I noticed those places which explicitly do the cluttered junk old-time whimsy are fine. Cracker Barrel for example, has been doing great over the years. Its stock in the last 10 years went from $30 to $160. The interesting thing about it, it doesn't aspire to be cool in a fancy way. TGI Friday wants to be a bit classy-cool. But it can't keep up with the times. Ruby Tuesday same thing. For example, in 10 years its stock went from $30 to $6.