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I know it's not really related but still... this article reminded of the section in the book 'Behind The Golden Arches' that discussed that although many people

I know it's not really related but still... this article reminded of the section in the book 'Behind The Golden Arches' that discussed that although many people think that there are too many McDonald's restaurants around, there are still more car dealerships. And how many times do you buy a car compared to a burger? So this article claims around 13,000 McDonald's restaurants, and I just found a page that claims 37,500 separate car and truck dealership franchises. I don't know exactly what it is about those numbers that amaze me but every time I think about it I'm gobsmacked...

ars 15y ago
Don't forget people go to dealerships also for maintenance and repair, not just to buy a car.
jackalope 15y ago
Does that include all car brands? What happens when you include all fast food burger joints (Burger King, Wendy's, etc.)?
- narcissus 15y ago
  That's a good question and I really don't know. To be perfectly honest, though, in my head, at least, any number less than maybe 10 fast food restaurants to each car dealership is low on the fast food restaurant side I reckon... but again, that's just my gut feeling about the ratio.
  - Retric 15y ago
    Except, a single McDonalds can serve ~5 orders a minute. Yet, a car dealership that can sell 2 cars a day is doing Ok. Let's assume 2 cars a day over 5 years = 3,650people before you get repeat customers. (Average salesman sells 7 cars a month * 8 sales guys.) Edit: http://www.bluemaumau.org/6057/ten_largest_restaurant_franchisors_systemwide_sales http://www.bluemaumau.org/6057/ten_largest_restaurant_franch... 2 million / store per year / 52 weeks / 6$ a meal = 6,410 people averaging 1 vist a week per McDonalds.
jleader 15y ago
When you say "separate ... dealership franchises", are you counting each physical location once, or once per brand? Around here, many dealerships carry multiple brands. Also, there tend to be multiple dealerships clustered together (probably due to zoning, and tax incentives that some municipalities offer), so they're not as smoothly distributed as McDonalds. Still, those are amazing numbers!
- qdog 15y ago
  There are small towns around where I grew up that have a car dealership, but no McDonalds. Or multiple car dealerships to a single McDonalds. Hmm, come to think of it I think towns of 20-30k usually have 2 or 3 car dealers (usually one each for the big 3), but only a single McDonalds.
- narcissus 15y ago
  To be honest I just took the numbers from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_car_dealerships_are_in_America http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_car_dealerships_are_in_Am... which claims to quote the National Automobile Dealers Association. More completely that page says "more than 17,000 new car and truck dealers with approximately 37,500 separate franchises" so even without the 'separate franchises' the number is still higher. But yeah, I agree that the numbers are amazing...
eftpotrm 15y ago
I might buy burgers more often than cars, but my total spend on buying cars is rather higher. I'm also choosier about cars than burgers. I've never inspected 15 burgers and read their delivery history before buying one. And burgers are rather easier to store in bulk, too. So, yeah, know what you mean but I'm not surprised cars trump fast food.

ars 15y ago

Don't forget people go to dealerships also for maintenance and repair, not just to buy a car.

jackalope 15y ago

Does that include all car brands? What happens when you include all fast food burger joints (Burger King, Wendy's, etc.)?

narcissus 15y ago
That's a good question and I really don't know. To be perfectly honest, though, in my head, at least, any number less than maybe 10 fast food restaurants to each car dealership is low on the fast food restaurant side I reckon... but again, that's just my gut feeling about the ratio.
- Retric 15y ago
  Except, a single McDonalds can serve ~5 orders a minute. Yet, a car dealership that can sell 2 cars a day is doing Ok. Let's assume 2 cars a day over 5 years = 3,650people before you get repeat customers. (Average salesman sells 7 cars a month * 8 sales guys.) Edit: http://www.bluemaumau.org/6057/ten_largest_restaurant_franchisors_systemwide_sales http://www.bluemaumau.org/6057/ten_largest_restaurant_franch... 2 million / store per year / 52 weeks / 6$ a meal = 6,410 people averaging 1 vist a week per McDonalds.

jleader 15y ago

When you say "separate ... dealership franchises", are you counting each physical location once, or once per brand? Around here, many dealerships carry multiple brands. Also, there tend to be multiple dealerships clustered together (probably due to zoning, and tax incentives that some municipalities offer), so they're not as smoothly distributed as McDonalds. Still, those are amazing numbers!

qdog 15y ago
There are small towns around where I grew up that have a car dealership, but no McDonalds. Or multiple car dealerships to a single McDonalds. Hmm, come to think of it I think towns of 20-30k usually have 2 or 3 car dealers (usually one each for the big 3), but only a single McDonalds.
narcissus 15y ago
To be honest I just took the numbers from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_car_dealerships_are_in_America http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_car_dealerships_are_in_Am... which claims to quote the National Automobile Dealers Association. More completely that page says "more than 17,000 new car and truck dealers with approximately 37,500 separate franchises" so even without the 'separate franchises' the number is still higher. But yeah, I agree that the numbers are amazing...

eftpotrm 15y ago

I might buy burgers more often than cars, but my total spend on buying cars is rather higher. I'm also choosier about cars than burgers. I've never inspected 15 burgers and read their delivery history before buying one. And burgers are rather easier to store in bulk, too. So, yeah, know what you mean but I'm not surprised cars trump fast food.