Which food shops have disappeared since COVID?

I am just now logging into my MSC accounts for the first time in almost a year. They look very bare, despite getting emails with lots of shops for my Top 7 companies (I kept them out of curiosity). . . .Now that I'm browsing around, it seems a lot of food shops (understandably) are gone.

Any that you know of/can confirm are 100% gone?

Just because it is gone from your list of shops does not mean it is gone. Did you want a list of food shops that have gone out of business? Those that are still in business may return to mystery shopping once they can re open and start making some money.
The only one I know that is oob and not coming back is Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes and I dearly miss them, even on my own dime.

@sandyf wrote:

Just because it is gone from your list of shops does not mean it is gone. Did you want a list of food shops that have gone out of business? Those that are still in business may return to mystery shopping once they can re open and start making some money.

Oh, I hadn't that of that. I think I was thinking of places no longer shopped (for whatever reasons - be it oob or temporarily suspended).

@ wrote:

The only one I know that is oob and not coming back is Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes and I dearly miss them, even on my own dime.

I logged into ACL for the first time in a year and all their dining shops are gone off the board. There isn't even the shaded section showing others having taken them. Not that I did those shops per se, but just in seeking the lay of the land, I noticed they were wiped out.

Shoptastic ACL just posted some food shops in my area. It is a place they did not have pre covid. I am sure more will show up in the next months as people get vaccinated and start eating out again. I was able to snag one of them.

What food shop disappearances have you noticed since COVID??

@shoptastic wrote:

Which food shops have disappeared since COVID?

I am just now logging into my MSC accounts for the first time in almost a year. They look very bare, despite getting emails with lots of shops for my Top 7 companies (I kept them out of curiosity). . . .Now that I'm browsing around, it seems a lot of food shops (understandably) are gone.

Any that you know of/can confirm are 100% gone?

@Madetoshop wrote:

What food shop disappearances have you noticed since COVID??

Eeek. If I hadn't mentioned ACL by name, I'd be glad to list their dining shops. In my area, I don't see a single one. They were casual sit-down dining types. I only did two of their myriad restaurant shops, though. I typically dislike ACL shops, but made exceptions for those two restaurants.

I haven't seen El Pollo Loco since the Covid. I hope it comes back.

@sandyf wrote:

I am sure more will show up in the next months as people get vaccinated and start eating out again.

I hope so for the industry. February saw huge increases in payroll for restaurants, so that is good news. They are hiring again and that must be a relief to so many in the industry.

CNBC had this article on January 27th, 2021 detailing results from two separate surveys - one by First Insight and another by NielsenIQ - on consumer sentiment/plans for shopping post-vaccination:
[www.cnbc.com]
The NielsenIQ survey had some interesting dining out data:

@ wrote:

Forty-one percent said they plan to spend the same amount of money on dining out post-vaccination, while 24% said they plan to spend more, and 22% will spend less.

A month can sometimes make a huge difference in sentiment, though. Cases and hospitalizations are dramatically falling (though still elevated in absolute terms) and 50% of seniors in America have gotten at least 1 vaccine dose now.

I'm hoping to eat out with my parents for the first time in a year some time in June. We'll do take-out a lot more after they get fully vaccinated (only have gotten first shot so far).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2021 06:33AM by shoptastic.

I can't guarantee that these aren't shopped, but I used to shop them and haven't seen them in quite a while: Panda Express, Sbarro, and MOD Pizza.

Shoptastic, I would not really take much from a survey of a small sample like a thousand that was done online to those who are spending time online and are more likely to be people more comfortable doing things online. In addition I think once people have been personally vaccinated and past the waiting period their feelings might change. I can imagine that there will be overall more online shopping as that was already a trend before covid but many of the bulk of shoppers for retail are in a catagory that has not yet been vaccinated and they do not know when they will get a vaccine so a survey that asks will you shop in 2021 which is right now their answers may be different once they and their friends and kids they used to go shopping with are all feeling more safe. And when they feel safe I would imagine restaurants would be a place many will want to go to celebrate freedom from eating at your own table out of paper or plastic. I can imagine an eating out boom in celebration of freedom once everyone they shop and eat with are vaccinated and numbers stay down for a while But when that happens is iffy right now.

@shoptastic wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

I am sure more will show up in the next months as people get vaccinated and start eating out again.

I hope so for the industry. February saw huge increases in payroll for restaurants, so that is good news. They are hiring again and that must be a relief to so many in the industry.

CNBC had this article on January 27th, 2021 detailing results from two separate surveys - one by First Insight and another by NielsenIQ - on consumer sentiment/plans for shopping post-vaccination:
[www.cnbc.com]
The NielsenIQ survey had some interesting dining out data:

@ wrote:

Forty-one percent said they plan to spend the same amount of money on dining out post-vaccination, while 24% said they plan to spend more, and 22% will spend less.

A month can sometimes make a huge difference in sentiment, though. Cases and hospitalizations are dramatically falling (though still elevated in absolute terms) and 50% of seniors in America have gotten at least 1 vaccine dose now.

I'm hoping to eat out with my parents for the first time in a year some time in June. We'll do take-out a lot more after they get fully vaccinated (only have gotten first shot so far).

Panda Express is still shopped although it's not a full reimbursement. It's on a text-based one off from an MSC that does a lot of dining reimbursement shops

@sandyf wrote:

Shoptastic, I would not really take much from a survey of a small sample like a thousand that was done online to those who are spending time online and are more likely to be people more comfortable doing things online

Oh, I definitely take those surveys with a grain of salt. You're correct, too, that online sampling has some built-in biases (e.g., often skewing younger to the more technologically savvy). But, I like to keep them in mind, nonetheless, and cross compare them with other consumer surveys and tracking data. Open Table data was popular in 2020 for tracking dining patterns, but even it has some major drawbacks. Many restaurants aren't even on the platform/network, for example!

But, for econ./stock market nerds, these are always interesting to look at. The one thing I tend to expect is shops to be skewed towards larger companies, who had the financing and other big biz advantages to stay afloat. We saw 2020 end with about 110,000 (and 17% of all) restaurants permanently closed or long-term closed according to the NRA (National Restaurant Association - not that other NRA, lol): [www.goodmorningamerica.com]
In that same report, they showed from a sample period in November that:

@ wrote:

- 87% percent of full-service restaurants (independent, chain, and franchise) reported an average 36% drop in sales revenue.

These numbers (granted, for only a very small sample period) just don't give restaurants much room to survive who are not deep pocketed or had corporate-level or PPP aid. If Joe's Hot Dog Diner typically has (made up #'s for ease of calculation):
Revenue of $100,000
Total Operating Costs of $90,000
Net Operating Profit Margin of 10%
Net Income: $10,000.
What happens if R (Revenue) is $64,000-$70,000 suddenly? How much of those $90,000 C (Costs) can be reduced? That diner looks to be taking losses.

Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, Cracker Barrel, etc. can more easily survive with deep pocketed financing vs. Joe's Hot Dog Diner. I would be absolutely thrilled to see the small biz shops back, but am kinda expecting lots not to be sadly. ...And if they are? I'm eating at my favorite restaurants as much as I am able to. I want to show support of them.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2021 07:50PM by shoptastic.

@foodluvr wrote:

Panda Express is still shopped although it's not a full reimbursement. It's on a text-based one off from an MSC that does a lot of dining reimbursement shops

How much do you have to pay out-of-pocket to cover? No fee at all (old MSC had a small one)?

I haven't seen:

Papa John's
BJs Brewhouse
Panda Express
El Pollo Loco
Applebee's
Habit Burger
Peet's Coffee

There might be a couple others I can't think of too. I live in CA though where restrictions are still high, so maybe these companies are being shopped in other states. I miss the food shops. :-(

@dafizisblue wrote:

I haven't seen:

Papa John's
BJs Brewhouse
Panda Express
El Pollo Loco
Applebee's
Habit Burger
Peet's Coffee


That's a good list as I used to shop all of them here in California except Peet's. Here's a couple more that I shopped in 2019 on a regular basis (some may have already been mentioned above by others):
Baja Fresh
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
Presto Pasta
Souplantation
Sizzler's
Wingstop
Mimi's Cafe
Shake Shack
Urbane Cafe
Jamba Juice
El Pollo
Chipotle
Pinks Hot Dogs
Sharky's
The Grill on the Alley
Yardhouse
Lazy Dog
Red Robin
Cheesecake Factory
Chilis
P.F. Chang's

Wow, prior to Covid 19 we ate almost all our meals in the above places and had leftovers for several days. Now its just the occasional pizza from Little Caesar's, In N Out Hamburger or Arby's (tomorrow).

Wow Kenasch nice list, I guess I need to sign up for a few more companies and find Pinks!

@sandyf wrote:

Wow Kenasch nice list, I guess I need to sign up for a few more companies and find Pinks!

I did Pinks once. It was delicious.

@sandyf wrote:

Wow Kenasch nice list, I guess I need to sign up for a few more companies and find Pinks!

Pink's hot dogs?

I remember waiting 30-40 minutes in line for them.

I haven't seen Elevation Burger shopped in a long time.

Ah yes I miss Urbane Cafe and Wingstop! I think Wingstop canceled their shops right before Covid though. I've seen Red Robin once or twice on the boards but unfortunately not in my area.

Texas is open. We have everything from fast food to fine dining. Most fast food is still drive through only, and some casual and fine dining is curbside or carry out only. But I have done all types including oil changes, car dealer visits, gas station audits, test centers, furniture stores, high end fashion, hotels, grocery stores, movies, just about everything since the start of the pandemic.

Papa John's closed all their locations in Upstate NY pre-Covid so they might have financial issues and stopped shopping entirely.

I'm signed up with just under 150 MSCs and have only seen Texas Roadhouse, Arby's, and Five Guys available in my area,

However, only about six of those listed in the list above have locations within an hour drive of me, and I haven't seen any of them having shops.

I've been impressed Five Guys is still being shopped. They are not exactly what you'd call a "value meal," given their price points, but certainly are a yummy luxury I'd assume in a recession.

Texas Roadhouse really took off after the 2008-9 recession, because they were about 50% cheaper than Outback, LongHorn, et. al and had wholesome meals. Dollar and discount stores exploded too (Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Five Below, Ross, TJ Maxx, etc.).

Good for Five Guys. Hope they stay busy, b/c I love their shops!

Five guys need to up the reimbursement amount. Heck Sonic has.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2021 07:39AM by 2stepps.

@shoptastic wrote:

@foodluvr wrote:

Panda Express is still shopped although it's not a full reimbursement. It's on a text-based one off from an MSC that does a lot of dining reimbursement shops

How much do you have to pay out-of-pocket to cover? No fee at all (old MSC had a small one)?

I want to say it was like a $5 total fee and it was only a five or six minute report done via text message while you were at the location. It was a pilot program done by an MSC that's known for their reimbursement only shops primarily in the hotel restaurant industry.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2021 01:12AM by foodluvr.

I love Wing Stop.. Wish we had an Five Guys in my area.

I actually miss Blaze Pizza, which stopped being shopped quite a while before the pandemic. One of the shop requirements was to take a picture of the bottom of the pizza crust. Some shoppers went to hilarious extremes attempting to do this.

@2stepps wrote:

Five guys need to up the reimbursement amount. Heck Sonic has.

True but in my area, Sonic's fees are so woeful that I'm better off going $1.44 or whatever over reimbursement at Five Guys, considering I can get fees from them that regularly run $10-$15 above what I can get from Sonic. Plus, for my money, the food is better at FG.

Getting back to topic, I haven't seen Smashburger shopped in a while.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2021 03:06AM by KokoBWare.

@KokoBWare wrote:

Getting back to topic, I haven't seen Smashburger shopped in a while.

Me either. Their black bean burger was pretty lousy.

Forgot to mention Panera Bread but they stoped being shopped before Covid, I believe.