It’s good to see the consumer waking up a bit to it. Every now and then if you want it that’s ok i guess- but going there like everyday just doesn’t make sense- it’s so much more expensive than other similar options. They can’t get away with ripping customers off forever- the consumer will stop showing up or go elsewhere for their coffee- or just make it at home.
You can go to some sit down places now and get a really cheap meal that ends up being less than fast food. Some of the diners around me have cheap breakfast or sandwiches that end up being less than going thru the drive through now.
Yeah it’s no longer cheap- and it’s always been unhealthy. I think it’s good people are going there less. It really only makes sense to go there IF it is cheap and quick….but it has and always will be very unhealthy.
@SniperKingz yes- if the fast food restaurants aren’t cheap they will continue to lose their customer base….especially the ones who used to eat there multiple times a week. They simply can’t afford it financially and of course health wise it is terrible too for the person consuming it.
@@yochillfelix Big Mac meal is around $10 CAD. Chicken is expensive in Canada due to supply management (look it up if you are unfamiliar) Basically government set pricing controls for all poultry products to guarantee profits for farmers. $16 CAD is $11.75 USD by the way.
@@sawyerleemoore Yes, Trudeau and many other governments are destroying the countries and it's all for control, not about working for the people anymore. We are just polluting carbon specs in their eyes.
The customer service at restaraunts these days has significantly gotten worse & worse also the quality of the food stinks & it's more expensive. Guilt tipping is also a problem.
Starbucks is trash. Has been garbage for a loooong time. Their coffee is low quality and always tastes burned. If I am going to buy coffee outside its going to be from a mom and pop shop.
Moved out to the countryside 7 years ago. Dont have access to take away food/uber eats so I cook all my meals. Being in the country I have developed relationships with local farmers. Get all my meat amd produce direct. Make my own sourdough bread, craft beer, cured meats, etc.. When i want to catch up with friends I invite them over for cake and coffee (make my own cakes and buy quality coffee from Guatemala. This is living. Why would I go out to eat at a steak house to get charged $100 for a subpar steak when I can cook a 600g grass fed black Angus aged steak over woodfire for a quarter of the price? Why pay $6 for a coffee at a cafe when I can make a french press coffee with much higher quality coffee beans for 40 cents?🤣
I'm living in the city and still with ease found access to what you're describing in your comment. I don't know why anyone would step their foot in any of these places.
Sad that people need to get a side job just to afford your morning routine. 20 years ago and you can walk in and out, have 4-5 coffees plus a dozen doughnuts for under $20 with change to add to your change tray.
Used to be a place near work that had a $6.99/lb salad & hot bar back in 2022. It was $10.99/lb last time I went earlier this year and after a $20 salad I did not go back.
They should be doing great. Fast food places have been fleecing customers since the pandemic. They have been making record breaking profits. Me, I stopped going. Food is smaller portions and not much meat. Food just does not taste good or worth paying for. And they have 5 star prices. I rather cook at home and not go out multiple times a week.
Went from 21 meals eating out a week years ago to 2 meals eating out on my days off. So 19 meals I prepare myself from the grocery store and my blood pressure dropped like a stone. Was taking 2 blood pressure meds now 1 pill, but because of my dietary change I'm losing weight and may stop taking my other blood pressure pill in the future.
People will cry "corporate greed" on just about any video talking about fast food and inflation. There's always some component to that, but they clearly don't understand that this is what happens when unskilled labor for these places is $16+ an hour. It plays a huge role in this, and I imagine that places that have money to do so like McDonalds, will be finding ways around this in the next 5 years with more automation, AI, etc.
Yeah wages are certainly part of it. When the companies are forced to pay their fast food employees more - that will result in higher prices for the consumer. As consumers- we can’t really control this- but consumers are voting with their wallets and are pulling back. When the prices reach a certain level- many consumers no longer view these restaurants (McDonald’s, Starbucks, and many others) as providing a good value….so they look for substitute products that will cost them less. Or you will see people still going to these restaurants but they will go less frequently- because the prices are too high to justify going as much as they did before.
Yeah I was just in Vegas and the locations at the hotel properties are always loaded because they have a captive audience (their hotel guests) But off the strip at normal locations I would imagine traffic is down. Some consumers will still choose to go wait in line and pay $10-$20 everyday for their Starbucks- but I think less and less are going to be doing that in todays world. All the other necessities in life continue to get more expensive (housing, insurance, clothing, transportation, basic food) And Starbucks, McDonald’s and all of these other restaurants are really classified as discretionary food purchases- so with less money in general for the average consumer it is a safe assumption to predict they will spend less money in the aggregate on discretionary food and beverage purchases like starbucks.
Yep- I agree. Folks are choosing the grocery store over the restaurants because they just can’t stomach the high costs of these restaurants anymore. All the other necessary costs in their lives continue to rise (rent, insurance, transportation, healthcare, etc) that they just can’t justify eating out anymore from a financial perspective.
It's not that the prices are too high, it's the fact that all the fast food restaurants food is horrible and servings have shrunk. For the same price you can get a nice meal in a restaurant.
I find myself saying did I really just spend that much for that? So I rarely eat out at restaurants or buy fast food - a few times a month at the most. Even if you make decent money today- it feels like many places you go you are spending $20 as a minimum and can often end up higher if you start adding in beverages, appetizers and of course the expected tip (at a sit down restaurant) And for me- I just know I can go eat something for $2 or so at home or from the store and save close to $15-$20 per meal. So it’s hard to justify spending that much for just one meal of the day. Also- the Starbucks food/coffee sometimes doesn’t even qualify as a meal because even after consuming it you are still hungry.
Prices are not coming down. Perhaps some budget minded promotions will cycle through and some items will be priced as loss leaders. However truly affordable times are gone I'm afraid. It's the new normal I'm sorry to say.
I own a commercial property across from a large starbucks and McDonalds. Yes in the last 3 months it has gotten bad. Starbucks would go full tilt from 5:30 to 11. I look over now at 7:45 2 cars.
Yeah- folks just can’t afford it anymore. Eating out and getting coffee are discretionary purchases- so when money is tight and all other required expenses continue to rise (insurance, housing, gas, transportation, utilities) consumers have to stop buying their Starbucks coffees and stop eating out at restaurants. They are battening down the hatches- there isn’t a lot of money left over for these kind of discretionary food purchases for your average consumer today.
So I order pizza hut online I pay when I order I decline tip on the checkout page I go to pick up my order and she slid me the credit card reading device and it's asking to choose a tip amount again. A second time for the same order. What is the point in the checkout page on the website if it doesn't "check you out" 🤡 Build Back Better 🔥
funny. i was just traveling and had not been to Subway in years. yet noticed they limited the toppings. i got a half a sandwich and they only permitted like three veggies. couldn't even get lettuce AND tomatoes once i had added the bell peppers and cucumber.
Yeah it sucks man- I stopped going there. The sandwiches are mostly bread and they are total sticklers on giving you any amount of toppings. I got the cops called on me one time at a subway for getting into it with a subway employee. The lady was a power hungry manager that wanted to boss people around and insult them- she was ultimately fired.
@@JoshPiper back in the day, i really liked Quiznos. WAYYY better than Subway even at Subway's peak, where you got a decent value for a 5 buck footlong or even the 6 inch. Q's story is now widely known but even before they went downhill, I knew a guy in Jersey that bought a franchise with his buddies, and they said corporate sucked. seems everything goes to s...t. when it's all about quarterly profits. just stick with local delis or value plays in the neighborhood.
Yeah it’s overpriced and there are many other options available for cheaper. Even just making your own coffee in a pot is significantly less. I think a lot of folks are finally waking up to it- they still may go to Starbucks and these other food restaurants- but I think they will be going less frequently. The rising costs of everything else related to living is likely a big reason for that- consumers are feeling squeezed and stressed financially- so spending $10-$20 everyday at Starbucks is a hard sell.
I’ve seen this a lot at formerly packed restaurants that are now ghost towns. The Mexican joint that is usually packed, had only 2 customers in it on a Sunday morning. It was kind of scary. The owner, who I know, came by and said business is really slow. I am sad for them.
2:45 Starbucks coffee is terrible. I don’t think it’s so much the coffee people are addicted to as the ritual of going through the drive-thru. It’s a temporary escape from their misery. It’s also a chance for them to show off the horrifically expensive SUV that they’ll be paying $1k/month for until the turn of the decade or thereabouts. 😅 Edit: Most of the chicks in the $90k SUVs aren’t buying coffee but rather large cups of ice with water, food coloring, and corn syrup.
Yeah that is absolutely true. Even if it was free- it would still be awful- because you are right- it is so so bad for you. But now that it costs so much more than other alternatives (mostly the grocery stores) then it makes sense why traffic is down so much. Even the grocery stores aren’t cheap anymore - but on a relative basis it is much more affordable than the restaurants.
Your take on Starbucks is fairly accurate for me. My wife loves them and is addicted to the app, always texting me and asking me if I want a coffee while she's at working and I'm somewhere else. When I go to pick it up, I will sometimes get a "surprise" that she not only ordered me a coffee, but also something like a sandwich that ends up being like $16 dollars for what is basically a coffee and a snack. We've been intentionally going less in the last 6 months, and I make sure to tell her I only want a coffee. I think a lot of folks are in the same situation, where it's not that you technically can't afford it, but more about refusing to go often or at all just because it just doesn't seem worth it at the current prices. I've also seen the same thing you have with busy locations having the traffic spill out onto a major street to the point where it occupys a lane. Seems really unsafe and I think anyone is willing to wait more than 10 minutes ina drive through for a premium priced coffee is crazy. Starbucks is decent, but it ain't worth all that.
Yeah- spot on. Most people probably can afford spending $10-$15 a day at Starbucks- but it just no longer is a good value. So even the most frequent goers have to internally ask themselves “is this really worth it anymore?” Maybe I’ll go get my Starbucks drink once or twice a week instead of everyday- I think that is what is going on here. I mean you just really can’t feel good spending that on a coffee and a muffin everyday. Sure- Starbucks has to pay their employees more, their food costs likely have gone up and they still want a big profit- but as a consumer you have a choice to stop going or just go less often. And yes - the people who enter the very long drive through line I will never understand…..for some getting their morning Starbucks coffee is such a ritual that they have to have it no matter what lol 🤣
@@JoshPiper You may or may not be old enough to remember when they sold pretty much zero food beyond a pastry or cookie. Back then, the stores had a chill vibe, jazz music playing, couches etc. It was a cool place to come and just chill. Right around the time they started serving food, it basically just turned into another fast food place with some nicer flooring and tables. Probably a smart move for them in terms of overall profits to start offering food, but that was definitnely about the same time the experience started to change for me. I have no desire to actually hang out in one longer than I have to..
4 short years ago we could afford to eat out every single day of the week and plenty of money left over. IF we wanted to. Raising minimum wage has consequences, voting democrats has consequences. Make your choices wisely.
It isn't that big an issue that you can't enlarge your fat ass anymore with cheap fast food. Workers deserve fair pay and if a company can't afford it, that company deserves bankruptcy. Your emotional attachment to the brand is irrelevant.
Senior will continue to get their monthly income from social security. But that income will not buy as much products or services and that is due to inflation. The government will continue to devalue the dollar thus making the social security payments not as much of a burden because they are paying the benefits with a devalued dollar. The seniors will continue to get the same nominal amount of money each month while the true purchasing power of that income erodes significantly.
Crazy… the normal person just can’t justify doing that more than a few times a month at most. And I would imagine many have simply accepted they will not be going back at all.
@BenQotsa im not sure about that. I don’t think these restaurants and corporate companies want declines in revenue and lower profits. I think these large companies have taken advantage of consumers for decades and every now and then there are times when the consumer is just so squeezed they can no longer participate. The corporations response to everything is to just pass the costs along to the consumer - and well at a certain point a large cohort of consumers will refuse to participate- largely because they cannot afford to financially. So- the corporations have to change their strategy- or they will continue to see decreased revenues and profits.
Those who make about 50k a year and under are going much less to fast food now. They simply can’t afford to spend that much at these restaurants with where their incomes are at- it is no longer a good value.
Cutting rates will drive the wedge between rich and poor even further. Money becomes cheaper, inflation picks back up, asset prices go up and normal people now have to pay higher nominal prices for everyday items. Also- lower rates will make it harder for someone who doesn’t already own a house because it increases buyer competition and can bid up the price of homes (because more consumers have access to cheaper debt). Although it could be OK if it is timed correctly and you can get a decent home with an interest rate that makes sense for your budget- it just likely won’t be in a major city area- because those areas are so incredibly overpriced. But a 5% loan on a 250k or 300k relatively new or brand new home could be a very good option for folks who have been on the sidelines the past few years and want a chance to enter the housing market. But again- these homes will not be found in any major metropolitan area……that’s fine with me though. You put 20-25% down on a 300k house and your mortgage with taxes and insurance will be around $1600-$2000. Which I think that is doable.
This isn’t directed at you- I’m just commenting on the way people communicate policial thoughts. Like on both sides- I can still be respectful and just say hey I don’t agree with what they are doing and I’m going to vote for trump. And you have people who are left leaning who the instant they find out you support trump they blacklist you. It’s just crazy- like what ever happened to having a civil discussion….and ultimately if need be we can just agree to disagree and still be civil. But man people get so heated over this stuff- I think we should be able to disagree on stuff and still be respectful. However it feels like many people on both sides - when they find out you are on the other side they dehumanize you and become incredibly rude.
I don’t think Starbucks is terrible- it’s just so much more expensive than alternatives. Why would you repeatedly pay 10-15x what it costs to just make a cup at home? It just doesn’t make sense- I mean maybe once a week or a few times a month you can go buy the coffee- but I think a lot of folks are going to be cutting back on it.
@@JoshPiper I'm from melbourne australia and starbucks was that bad went out of business in australia over price tasted terrible we like our italian coffee here
Oh wow really….i did not know that. That is interesting…I’m surprised they didn’t try to alter the product offered for the type of taste that the Australian likes… Or maybe they did and it was still bad lol
I don’t know if it will get to that. But we are becoming a society of haves and have nots. The strong middle class really has shrunk. You either are in the top 10-20% and you are doing great or doing pretty well or you are in the bottom 80% and you are kind of just scraping by. I mean even 100k a year of income just doesn’t get you much anymore…..and most folks don’t earn anywhere near that as an individual. After taxes, housing expense, food, insurance, transportation, medical- there just isn’t much left. Hard to save or get into a house when such a high percentage of one’s income is required just for day to day survival.
