Jeremy Deutsch must really love Burger King. Writing in today's Kamloops This Week, Jeremy writes:
The king is back.
After years without the Whopper in Kamloops, Burger King will
once again rule over the kingdom of the Tournament Capital....
To be fair, the start of the article might be an attempt to be catchy and attract our attention. It got mine.
The article is not just an announcement of some new restaurants. It actually focuses on the inability of the restaurant owners to construct a drive through in the commercial centre of North Kamloops (in more official language, "the North Shore Town Centre"). The North Shore neighbourhood plan bans drive throughs in this area. I sat on the neighbourhod planning committee and support this policy because I believe it helps create a more pedestrian friendly, more environmentally friendly area.
Now, I sometimes will make use of a drive through. Rarely, but it does happen from time to time. They are certainly very convenient. I wonder, however, if I didn't have a drive through option when I was looking for one, would I actually go somewhere else or would I park my car and walk inside?
This seems to be the major concerns of those who promote or build drivethroughs - that if this convenience is not offered, people would go somewhere else. But, personally, if I am going to a certain restaurant or coffee shop, it's because I have made quite a specific choice. I really want a Tim Hortons' sandwich or I really want a Starbucks grande latte. Sometimes, I really want a A&W double mozza burger.
I wonder what kind of research there is to illustrate people would go somewhere else if a drive through option was not available. Me, I almost always park and walk in.
A column in the same issue of the paper as this article extols the benefits the joys of "walk-throughs" or "walk-tos"
Do fast food franchisees and coffee shops really need to worry?
