Long-time reader and good friend Torgo Jr. has sent me a link to the above map of hamburger fast food restaurant dominance in the contiguous United States of America.
Torgo Jr. and another reader have been sharing their thoughts about the map with me. One thing pointed out is how Dairy Queen controls much of Texas. There is a saying that Dairy Queens are "Texas Stop Signs." Wendy's core is in Ohio which is where the chain first began. Meanwhile Sonic seems mostly contained to the South. Surprisingly McDonald's does not control much of America's geography. However, it does have a vise grip on the greater New York area, Washington DC, and Chicago. These areas contain a good sized minority of the country's population and can lead to the false impress of McDonald's overall control of the hamburger fast food landscape.
One thing that caught me off guard is how the western coast, especially California, is still an open free land of choice and competition. Also, besides cores in Texas and around Salt Lake City there is no major clusters of hamburger fast food dominance west of a line formed by the western borders of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Variety is the hamburger special sauce of life out west.
2 comments:
a variable that might explain the West as a fast food frontier is the presence of regional choices like In-N-Out, Fatburger, etc. just a thought.
I agree with torgo, also from the Tri-Cities in Wash down to Salt Lake is a local chain called Arctic Circle, and what about Checkers / Ralley's?
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