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> It's unfair. I want restauranteurs to be good at restauranting. Restaurants have to pay an arm and leg (often around 1/3 of revenue) for prime real-estate; o

> It's unfair. I want restauranteurs to be good at restauranting. Restaurants have to pay an arm and leg (often around 1/3 of revenue) for prime real-estate; or pay higher wage in more prosperous places.... is it fair? In the end, restauranteurs who are good at this business will thrive and those who are not good at it will falter. Google/Yelp/DoorDash just provides additional dimensions for restaurants to compete in. And as always, when new technologies emerge, there are winners and losers. In this wave of change to restaurant industry, the winners are actually smaller restaurants at cheap locations who are previously invisible to most potential customers but now are on equal footing with restaurants at prime locations in terms of exposure. And in the long term, it'll shift restaurants' expense breakdown, and those who pay too much rent will struggle because they don't have the budget to pay for online exposures. It doesn't mean the restaurants paying less rent will be more profitable, the money simply goes from landlords to tech companies. And as long as restaurant industry is a fiercely competitive market, profit margins will remain low.

feteru 6y ago
Doesn't this then threaten to destroy the dynamic of our physical spaces at the expense of virtual optimization?
- analyst74 6y ago
  Yes, expensive walkable commerce centers will have reduced relevance, as fewer sales come from walk-in customers. Speaking as someone who took over a failing restaurant at a hippy commerce center, only to close it down after realizing the walk-in traffic is going down while rent is not. As long as people desire such physical congregated commercial areas, they won't go away. But I'm not confident that people really want them, based on how they vote with their wallet and time.
naravara 6y ago
>In the end, restauranteurs who are good at this business will thrive and those who are not good at it will falter. If the differentiating factor between success or failure is SEO rather than location, quality of food, or service I have trouble seeing how that's a net benefit for anyone but Google. Maybe "fair" was the wrong term. It's encouraging maladaptive behaviors in the industry.
- curryst 6y ago
  Why is location a net benefit for anyone but the landlords? SEO is essentially just your digital location. It makes your restaurant easy to find and navigate to, in the same way that a good location makes your restaurant easy to get to (and maybe park).

feteru 6y ago

Doesn't this then threaten to destroy the dynamic of our physical spaces at the expense of virtual optimization?

analyst74 6y ago
Yes, expensive walkable commerce centers will have reduced relevance, as fewer sales come from walk-in customers. Speaking as someone who took over a failing restaurant at a hippy commerce center, only to close it down after realizing the walk-in traffic is going down while rent is not. As long as people desire such physical congregated commercial areas, they won't go away. But I'm not confident that people really want them, based on how they vote with their wallet and time.

naravara 6y ago

>In the end, restauranteurs who are good at this business will thrive and those who are not good at it will falter. If the differentiating factor between success or failure is SEO rather than location, quality of food, or service I have trouble seeing how that's a net benefit for anyone but Google. Maybe "fair" was the wrong term. It's encouraging maladaptive behaviors in the industry.

curryst 6y ago
Why is location a net benefit for anyone but the landlords? SEO is essentially just your digital location. It makes your restaurant easy to find and navigate to, in the same way that a good location makes your restaurant easy to get to (and maybe park).