It was 1995 all over again

Power and the money, money and the power
Minute after minute, hour after hour

I stepped into a worm hole, as the trekkies would say.

Imagine going back in time to 1995. Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" was blaring on the radio. The show about nothing ruled the small screen. Computer animated toys dominated the big one.

Toy Story is based on toy's having feelings. What if a restaurant had feelings? More importantly what would a restaurant say if it could talk?

I went to KFC this weekend. The tiled floors, wall paper, seats and countertops hadn't been renovated since 1995. On one wall, the owner proudly displayed pictures of the business after each renovation. The first picture was the original building in 1965. The second was the restaurant in 1985. I was standing in a restaurant last renovated in 1995.

Most franchised restaurants require its franchisees to renovate the space every 10 years as part of the franchise agreement. Having owned and worked in a franchise environment, there are times when it seemed the 10 year "refresh" was a waste of money. Seeing this restaurant was a reminder why that refresh is so important. Nostalgia can be a great thing when we're reminiscing, or looking at old pictures or movies. Nostalgia can also be a wonderful marketing tool for the business trying to promote an earlier, simpler time. 60's Diners, drive-in theatres come to mind.

This restaurant wasn't nostalgic. I couldn't see the cleanliness past its old and tired legs. It was like an old grandma. Although sweet, and cheerful, the sex appeal had withered away with age.

Cursed by knowledge, I look at the lack of a renovation as a reason for the owner to make more money. Not investing in a renovation that I know exists screams out the owner doesn't care about his customers. His passion is gone. His pursuit of growth is fanned out. His success is shrinking. He may own the building without debt. He might not go to the restaurant everyday anymore.

He's apathetic. More importantly complacent. His customers are rewarding him and the franchisor for their lack of motivation. The value of the business is sliding.

Sliding only happens one way. 1995 was a good year. It belongs in our memories, not in the present KFC...

Everybody's running, but half of them ain't looking
What's going on in the kitchen, but I don't know what's cookin'
They say I gotta learn, but nobody's here to teach me
If they can't understand it, how can they reach me
I guess they can't, I guess they won't
I guess they front, that's why I know my life is out of luck, fool

Lyrics are from Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise".  The fight for survival, learning, and change is eerily similar to what a restaurant goes through in the battlefield of consumer demand. 20 years later, this restaurant is talking to us through a song from the same year of its last rebirth.