I’ve wondered previously, under Trump, if we’re winning too much. Then-candidate Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” had a skit where he went on a rant about how there’s going to be too much winning and we’ll be begging him to stop (if anyone can find the full skit, please post it below or send us the link). As I’ve been saying, what we thought was Trump having fun with how great of a president he'd be literally turned into a campaign promise that he kept.
Krystal is proof that not everyone can handle this much winning.
Up north there’s White Castle, but down south we have Krystal. If you grew up as a young adult in Atlanta, you’ve spent many-a-night blitzed with your friends coming back from Buckhead trying to decide between Waffle House or Krystal on your way home. Everyone from the South is nodding their heads right now. It’s bittersweet for us, but Krystal has filed for Chapter 11 to reorganize.
I’ve seen a few hit pieces by citizens of Libtardia using this as an example of how Trump has been fooling his followers about the strength of the economy (yes, the economy for which Obama tried to take credit). However, like any attempt by lefties to paint the economy in a bad light, they fail.
From the news article:
In its filing, Krystal cited several contributing factors toward its bankruptcy: Increasing competition, shifting consumer tastes and the rise of online delivery platforms all have made it difficult for the 88-year-old brand to thrive.
The filing also said that the tight labor market has it made it hard to find employees and that it’s not “uncommon” for quick-service restaurants to have a 200% turnover rate.
Does too much competition and a tight labor market sound like a bad economy to you? They have other internal challenges of course, but they're forced to re-adjust to market dynamics specific to a red-hot economy. That turnover rate is ridiculous. Under the Obama depression, you'd be crazy if you even thought about quitting your job.
I’m confident they'll figure things out, but back to the original point about winning, this economy is truly testing many businesses. Labor is no longer abundant and cheap, and you have to worry about competitors nipping at your heals.
Krystal will have to get creative and really think of new, innovative ways to not only recruit workers, but retain them as well. They’ll also need to be more competitive with their products, because I’m on a diet and they can no longer rely on me.
Buckle up, because the winning is only going to get worse.
