No. 31: 中堅居酒屋チェーンの苦悩 (November 9, 2009)
外食産業の業績が低迷している。景気が停滞すると、消費者が外食を控えるのは自然の流れといえる。政府が手厚い生活保護を支給しても、そのお金が外食に回る可能性は少ない。経済が活性化されない限り、外食産業の復活は難しい。そのような状況のなか、中堅の居酒屋チェーンが、居酒屋事業から脱却し、給食事業を育成する決断をした。難しい決断であったと想像されるが、根本的な問題は、大量仕入れで、食材を安く仕入れ、全国どこの店でも同じメニューを同じ価格で提供する戦略にある。景気が悪くなると、値下げの勝負になり、資本の論理が働き、商品単価を引き下げることの出来ない中堅居酒屋が真っ先に打撃を受ける。このような状態になると、中堅チェーンは広告を出稿しても効果はない。広告を出稿すればするほど、お客の足は大手チェーン店に向く。規模の経済性を追うと、最後は必ず資本力の勝負になり、不況期には資本力のない中堅企業から淘汰されていく。 (Written by Shigeo Sunahara of CBC, Inc.)
Agony of a medium-sized pub chain
The restaurant business remains bleak. When business stagnates, consumers naturally spend less on eating out. Even if the government gives all households generous livelihood subsidies, they will not spend much on eating out. The restaurant business will not recover unless business is activated. As expenditure on eating out decreases across the country, a medium-sized pub chain decided to branch out into the feeding service business because of dwindling sales of its main business. It was presumably a very difficult decision. However, the real issue lies in the strategy to buy in foodstuffs at low costs by dint of volume purchase and offer the same menu at the same price nationwide. When economy slows down, what matters most for restaurants is the ability to reduce prices. Then, the theory of capital works, and medium-sized restaurants cannot compete successfully because they do not have enough capital stock to reduce prices. Under these circumstances, it is useless for medium-sized restaurant chains to advertise. The more advertisements they place, the more consumes eat out at larger restaurants. It is noteworthy that pursuing economies of scale always ends in competition of capital strength, and small- and medium-sized chains without sufficient capital strength are first to quite the market.
Agony of a medium-sized pub chain
The restaurant business remains bleak. When business stagnates, consumers naturally spend less on eating out. Even if the government gives all households generous livelihood subsidies, they will not spend much on eating out. The restaurant business will not recover unless business is activated. As expenditure on eating out decreases across the country, a medium-sized pub chain decided to branch out into the feeding service business because of dwindling sales of its main business. It was presumably a very difficult decision. However, the real issue lies in the strategy to buy in foodstuffs at low costs by dint of volume purchase and offer the same menu at the same price nationwide. When economy slows down, what matters most for restaurants is the ability to reduce prices. Then, the theory of capital works, and medium-sized restaurants cannot compete successfully because they do not have enough capital stock to reduce prices. Under these circumstances, it is useless for medium-sized restaurant chains to advertise. The more advertisements they place, the more consumes eat out at larger restaurants. It is noteworthy that pursuing economies of scale always ends in competition of capital strength, and small- and medium-sized chains without sufficient capital strength are first to quite the market.
