Chain mergers / Corporate brand extensions

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

This was something I was thinking about with the "Chains not in your area" thread. I'm sure there are other examples of this worth discussing and I couldn't come up with the right wording for the thread (I was thinking "conglomoration") but the idea is weighing the pros and cons between chains that merge into one or those funky places I see in the US where it's half KFC half Taco Bell.

 

Where I live, we used to have 4 major convenience store chains: Mac's, Beckers, Winks, and 7-11. Now we have 2. Basically, the "Couche-tard" company absorbed Winks, Beckers, and Mac's and turned them all into Mac's but with the winks logo and colours (blue sign with a red winking owl as opposed to a yellow sign with a cat, persumably named Mac). I thik Mac's and Winks might have been owned by the same company for a long time anyway, but the total merger (and elimination of any trace of Beckers) has caused some changes.

 

Pros:

The brand of chocolate milk Beckers sold was tops. Now all the stores get it with the Mac's logo.

Froster's are no Slurpee, but it's good that they're streamlined now.

 

Cons:

Loss of individuality.

I'm probably wrong but I blame this merger for arcade cabinets vanishing from these stores.

Most importantly, while Mac's and Beckers sold generic food in a bag for reheating, Winks had a whole hot food counter with some decent chicken and incredibly awesome potato wedges. Those are all gone now.

 

So yeah, this thread is basically me publically complaining about Winks no longer selling potato wedges. Anyone else have any examples?

[Nighthawk 0]

I got really pissed off when Thrifty's became Rite Aid. Thrifty's was awesome. It had character, it felt very 70s, and they had great ice cream and cool toys. They even got name dropped in an Aquabats song. Rite Aid is just... a drug store.

[treble 0]

Mac's was selling Becker's milk for a long time before they all became Mac's. I can't drink that milk anymore, the jugs have a weird taste. I also don't think either the Mac's or Becker's here had arcade games before the merger, but neither of those stores are very big.

[Darthtiki 0]

I got really pissed off when Thrifty's became Rite Aid. Thrifty's was awesome. It had character, it felt very 70s, and they had great ice cream and cool toys. They even got name dropped in an Aquabats song. Rite Aid is just... a drug store.

 

The only thing left is the ice cream and even then I don't think they even do the puck shaped scoops anymore.

[CanadianChris 0]

Mac's was selling Becker's milk for a long time before they all became Mac's. I can't drink that milk anymore, the jugs have a weird taste. I also don't think either the Mac's or Becker's here had arcade games before the merger, but neither of those stores are very big.

Yeah, Mac's bought out Becker's awhile before Couche-Tard bought them all.

 

Pretty much every Mac's in Kingston had an arcade game in it when I was growing up, but then I grew up in the 80s, when arcade games were huge. That probably has more to do with why you don't see them anymore, plus the fact that you get tons of kids in there just to play the game and not buy anything.

 

On the original topic -- I was disappointed when Eaton's closed and Sears bought out all the stores. Not that I thought Eaton's was a really great store or anything, but it was just another little piece of Canadiana gone.

 

Oh, and Little Caesar's buying out Mother's Pizza was just WRONG.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

We have an A&W/Long John Silver.

[razazteca 0]

Some convenience stores have Subways.

[Vern Gagne 0]

We have a KFC/Pizza Hut in the area. You can only personal pan pizzas, so it's much more of a KFC restaurant.

 

 

[King Kamala 0]

Back in the day (by back in the day I mean way back six or seven years ago) on Route 1 outside of Boston, there was a KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut.

[Nighthawk 0]

We have an A&W/Long John Silver.

 

That's weird. We have A&W/KFC.

 

In both instances, I don't know why anyone would choose the alternative to A&W. A&W's the shit.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Back in the day (by back in the day I mean way back six or seven years ago) on Route 1 outside of Boston, there was a KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut.

 

 

Well back then they were all owned by Pepsi, so that makes sense. The crosses now with A&W and LJS are, well, a joy really. Being the only employee with a brain at a KFC/Long John's was not how I enjoyed spending my 2005. There is also a TB/Pizza Hut in my area, but the Pizza selection is fairly scarce and the building itself is Taco Bell.

 

 

We haven't had an A&W in my area for around 15 years.

[Epic Reine 0]

Over in my area, Genovese turned into Eckerd and now it's becoming Rite-Aid, very very confusing. CVS is next.

[Nate 0]

We have an A&W/Long John Silver.

 

i do too, where state do you live in

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Indiana

 

That's weird.

 

Tell me about it. It's pretty entertaining to get a chili dog, a chicken plank, and hush puppies.

 

 

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Yeah, Mac's bought out Becker's awhile before Couche-Tard bought them all.

 

I didn't realize that was actually the conglomerate's name - I kinda thought Venkman was trying to slap an insult together over his loss of potato wedges, which he would be justified in doing. There's a variety store about 5 minutes from my place that was at one time a Wink's, and they had a Chester Fried - the fried chicken and wedges Venk described, both of which were stellar. A buddy of mine who's from Fort Erie, where Chester is originally from, goes to college in Ottawa. He claims that he misses Chester more than anything else about home. He went nuts a few weeks ago when he was at my place, and saw the aforementioned variety store still had the Chester logo up, even though they haven't been there (nor has the Wink's for that matter) for a number of years now.

 

Invariably, we'll often argue about which the better fried chicken is out of that, Popeye's, and KFC, which is fine segue to my addition to the topic - The new Taco Bell/KFC on Ontario Street in St Kitts. During my brief tenure at a job I had in June, one of the guys was constantly hyping up a deal they had, which I've still yet to partake - Five tacos, five pieces of chicken, ten bucks.

[Matt Young 0]

I got really pissed off when Thrifty's became Rite Aid. Thrifty's was awesome. It had character, it felt very 70s, and they had great ice cream and cool toys. They even got name dropped in an Aquabats song. Rite Aid is just... a drug store.

 

We have both here. There's a Thrifty's near UC-Riverside.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Its funny here because in two seperate areas there were a Rite Aid and an Eckerds on the same corner, and Rite Aid had just put two new stores across from the Eckerds that they're now closing because Eckerds had the better location.

 

We just got a Walgreens though and I must say Walgreens > Rite Aid

 

In town we have a KFC/LJS though which is kinda odd, they tore down the old KFC and remodeled it into the KFC/LJS, but Im not really a fan of LJS fish, ehh..and Im allergic to shrimp and all shellfish so..

 

I like the combo of Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robins for some reason.

 

And I was shocked the day I learned that McDonalds owned Boston Market..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[King Kamala 0]

Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins might be my favorite combination restaurant of the ones I've personally seen. Donuts and Ice Cream make perfect sense together. Though I really like the rest stop an hour or so from my stop that has a Burger King, Popeye's (Which is the only Popeye's in a 100 mile radius of my house) and Cinnebon. It's nice to know after a long drive back home I can get a Whopper, some fried chicken and a cinnemon bun if I so choose (unfortunately I haven't partaken in all three in one meal)

[The Man in Blak 0]

Indiana

 

That's weird.

 

Tell me about it. It's pretty entertaining to get a chili dog, a chicken plank, and hush puppies.

 

Count Missouri for the LJS/A&W combination as well - there were even two of them that I knew of, at one point, but the largest one off of I-44 (right next to the KFC/Rib Crib combo) shut down a couple of years ago. Had a "drive-in" like Sonic and everything. Strange establishment.

 

There's a Pizza Hut / WingStreet combo that's muscling into my hometown in Kansas as well.

 

I think Yum Franchises! just throws the various brands in a hat and picks out two whenever they want to build a new restaurant.

[Maztinho 0]

Utah rocks A&W/KFC it's rare these days not to find the two conjoined at the hip in a burger-chicken melting pot.

 

The most peculiar joining is Tommy's Donuts and Iceburg Burgers at a gas station around here, oddly enough they are separated from the A&W/KFC by an Arby's so within a stones throw there are five eating joints.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

There's one place I know of in the Detroit area that is a Mobil gas station (I think), some huge convenience store with lots of variety, and an A&W all in one. Very convenient.

[BruiserKC 0]

I enjoy eating at Applebee's...but I hate IHOP with a passion. Makes me a little scared now that IHOP has bought Applebee's.

[Guest •]

IHOP is pretty bad (I remember going to an IHOP in McHenry way too frequently for like a year in the mid '90s), but I can't find boysenberry syrup anywhere else. I've always liked Walker Brothers for pancakes, though the last time I went to one, it was very loud and crowded.

[Nighthawk 0]

I actually really like IHOP. The butter pecan syrup is the best.