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Hooters seeks buyer in hard times

Jeremy Hobson Feb 11, 2010
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Hooters seeks buyer in hard times

Jeremy Hobson Feb 11, 2010
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Steve Chiotakis: The restaurant chain Hooters, the one known for — ahem — wings, is looking for a buyer. According to the New York Post, tough economic times have hit the chicken and scantily-clad waitress market. Here’s Marketplace’s Jeremy Hobson.


Jeremy Hobson: The entire casual restaurant industry is experiencing disappointing sales, down 5 to 10 percent this year. But Ron Paul, an industry analyst with Technomic, says Hooters is a little different than its strictly food-focused rivals.

Ron Paul: We would speculate that they’re much more sensitive to corporate travel, as an example, than some of the other chains. People like Fridays and Chilis and Ruby Tuesday and Applebee’s and so forth.

That’s because Hooters are often found near convention centers, so sales have dropped as convention business has slowed. Paul says Hooters is more of a destination restaurant, so the slump in travel and tourism has hurt, too. And the chain’s attempt to launch an airline, he says, didn’t help the bottom line at all.

Amazingly, he managed to make all of these clever points without using any inappropriate Hooters-themed puns.

Paul: I tried to make it for public radio consumption.

As did I.

I’m Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.

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