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Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

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Re: Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

#21
post #11

Until I read this story I didn't realize the Chikfil-A sandwich cost 50 cents less. But the two times I've tried Popeyes sandwich, it definitely felt like a superior value in terms of quality and amount. I'd argue it's even better tasting than Shake Shack's ~$7 chicken sandwich.

I've never understood the love for Chikfila. Maybe it's just been the ones I've been to, but the chicken fingers and nuggets seemed average at best. Now Popeye's, I'll gladly go to every once in a while with the understanding that I'll likely need to take a nap after. Their biscuits are a meal in itself, probably containing 4-6 sticks of butter, but damned if it isn't delicious.

I like Chick-fil-A's wafers. They are so tasty. Its the main reason why I would go there.

Re: Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

#23

Apologies for the off-topic comment — I’m not really sure if the Popeyes sandwich is an indicator of anything, but it’s a damn good sandwich. My trash food friends and I drove nearly an hour (sans traffic it would’ve taken 20 minutes) to one of the only Popeyes in the Seattle area on Wednesday. There was a small line but a very long wait for food (understandably! It was similar to Shake Shack at lunch — lots of peopl…

Your comment seems unbelievable to me, though maybe this has more to do with my distaste for lines in general, but I can't believe that a fast food place has developed a sandwich that would warrant a 30 minute drive let alone a 25 minute wait.

I love the food in question, fried chicken sandwiches, and I was fairly disappointed with my first Chick-Fil-A sandwich, it was fairly lackluster. In my experience there are far better examples in non-chain restaurants that would warrant a bit of a wait.

Your comment may have convinced me to swing by a Popeyes, during a low usage time period, and give it a try.

Re: Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

#24
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just a classic price discrimination strategy; nearly all retailers do it in some way. Starbucks drinks have a nearly identical marginal cost to them; but have wildly different prices. Software companies disable certain features (that already exist in the software) to sell a lower cost version of the same thing without hurting the margins with those who can pay more. Pharmaceutical companies will sell both a g…

I've always been a little unsure of the usage of "price discrimination." The basic economics glossary definition generally refers to price discrimination between identical or nearly-identical products. Yet I hear it used for things that have obvious significant functional differences, like the storage tiers of the iPhone. Surely many people are buying iPhones with upgraded storage not simply because they are willing…

The greater the degree that the ratio of marginal cost to marginal revenue for the upgrade differs from the ratio of baseline cost to baseline revenue, the more you can call it price discrimination in a loose sense.

This would be typified by upgraded goods having higher margins than baseline goods.

Re: Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

#25

Apologies for the off-topic comment — I’m not really sure if the Popeyes sandwich is an indicator of anything, but it’s a damn good sandwich. My trash food friends and I drove nearly an hour (sans traffic it would’ve taken 20 minutes) to one of the only Popeyes in the Seattle area on Wednesday. There was a small line but a very long wait for food (understandably! It was similar to Shake Shack at lunch — lots of peopl…

I live around the corner from the Chick-fil-A just outside the Fulton St station. They have a snaking line inside _and_ a roped off line outside. A line to wait in line, and the outside line often is 40, 50, 60 people plus. I suspect some of those people waited as long as you did end to end, for a chain chicken sandwich in one of the culinary capitals of the world. To someone who hates lines, that's mind boggling!

Re: Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

#27

Apologies for the off-topic comment — I’m not really sure if the Popeyes sandwich is an indicator of anything, but it’s a damn good sandwich. My trash food friends and I drove nearly an hour (sans traffic it would’ve taken 20 minutes) to one of the only Popeyes in the Seattle area on Wednesday. There was a small line but a very long wait for food (understandably! It was similar to Shake Shack at lunch — lots of peopl…

I have never had fast food that warranted waiting that long in line for. Rarely, there's good fast food, but nothing extraordinary. It's all kind of gross.

But given that you are in NYC, you have a lot of other options then. So may be worth a try.

Re: Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

#28

Funny story: 'Super size' was a hoax. You got the same sandwich, larger fries and a larger cup. But with free refills, the cup size is irrelevant. So you got a few more fries. At the time (super size is gone) I bought both sizes and counted. The 'super size' fries had 15 more fries. That's what you got for your 80 cents or whatever.

I once asked a friend why he was buying an extra large drink. He told me because he wasn't a little asian dude like me that drinks tiny portions and that he needed an American sized drink.

...

Re: Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

#29

Funny story: 'Super size' was a hoax. You got the same sandwich, larger fries and a larger cup. But with free refills, the cup size is irrelevant. So you got a few more fries. At the time (super size is gone) I bought both sizes and counted. The 'super size' fries had 15 more fries. That's what you got for your 80 cents or whatever.

The calories for McDonalds small/medium/large are 230/340/510. I don’t know how many individual fries each size has, but it seems like they do substantially jump in portion. The drink size is about how much you’re able to take away from the restaurant. It’s true fries and drinks are higher margin items than sandwiches for fast food restaurants, though.

The jump is smaller at Burger King - 320/380/430.

Re: Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is an Economic Indicator

#30

Apologies for the off-topic comment — I’m not really sure if the Popeyes sandwich is an indicator of anything, but it’s a damn good sandwich. My trash food friends and I drove nearly an hour (sans traffic it would’ve taken 20 minutes) to one of the only Popeyes in the Seattle area on Wednesday. There was a small line but a very long wait for food (understandably! It was similar to Shake Shack at lunch — lots of peopl…

I have never had fast food that warranted waiting that long in line for. Rarely, there's good fast food, but nothing extraordinary. It's all kind of gross. But given that you are in NYC, you have a lot of other options then. So may be worth a try.

get the spicy
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