Good restaurateurs know how to sell the sizzle, and few chains have done a better job of hustling the stuff over the past 25 years than Hooters.
But now, inspired by the success of Hooters’ wings-toting female staff, restaurants such as Twin Peaks, Bone Daddy’s and other local operators with cute waitresses, cold beer and a male clientele are, well, busting out all over. And Texas, where the sole Hooters’ franchisee is both the chain' sales leader and No. 1 in locations nationally, is a prime market for the "breastaurant" concept.
Having withstood lawsuits by men who wanted to join the women-only waitstaff and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission discrimination charges, Hooters had system-wide sales of $997 million in 2008, up 2 percent from 2007, according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution report. Hooters won’t admit to worrying about the competitors, even in a bad economy.
"At this point, there' no Avis to our Hertz," said Michael McNeil, marketing vice president for the privately held, Atlanta-based Hooters of America. "We’re not looking over our shoulders."
Still, there’s only so much dining dollar on the table in a bad economy, and the new kids are going for a piece of it, using many of Hooters' hooks.
Read the full story at star-telegram.com
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