There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Ray Stone opened the door to Pete’s Café and walked directly to the register to order some lunch to go. Before stopping at the diner in Farmers Branch, Stone tried to go to Denny’s in Addison to cash in on their Grand Slam campaign that was aired during a commercial break on Superbowl Sunday. He didn’t get very far. “I didn’t go in,” Stone said. “There were so many people there. It was at least an hour wait.” A FedEx salesman, Stone drove down the street to Pete’s Café because he doesn’t have time to take a leisurely lunch. He waited ten minutes before he was served. His bill was $6.77, including tax.

Big corporations—like Denny’s—are trying to lure new and old customers with drastic promotions and price cuts. It’s a risk but they have the capital to absorb a small loss. A Dallas radio station reported that one store ordered a week’s worth of food in anticipation of the rush fueled by the promotion. But what about smaller, local businesses like Pete’s Cafe?

“I can afford to go one day without any sales,” Judy Lamb, co-owner of Pete’s Café said, “but it wouldn’t benefit me in the long run. I would get some new business but I would venture to say that I would know 90% of the people that walked in that front door by their first name.”

During peak hours at Pete’s Cafe, waitresses are taking orders, serving food, and patrolling the walkways with coffee pots and ice tea pitchers. Customers can see cooks flipping pancakes and scrambling eggs through the small window. A throng of people waiting to be seated normally blocks the center aisle. Now that North Texas is starting to feel the recession, the path is noticeably clearer.

This summer, Lamb, raised prices to accommodate for rising food costs. However, her total sales for January 2009 is almost even with last year’s, even with the price increase. “That’s bad,” Lamb said, with a worried look in her eye. “Very bad.”