Restaurants are another Flexpro Meals frequent candidate for niche specialties. Virtually any ethnic variety of food is represented in a restaurant somewhere. But restaurants have many more options for finding their niche than just their national identity on the menu; and so we have truck-stop diners, wine-country bed-and-breakfast inns, swanky upper-crust establishments, sidewalk cafes, family-oriented pizza parlors, and specialties like bakeries and ice-cream shops.
It could be argued that pizza, by itself, is no longer identified with Italian food. The national "Chuck E. Cheese" chain demonstrates that very well. Founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell in San Jose California, they knew their target market was suburban families, and so they set up a restaurant not just selling pizza, but arcades, shows, and a wide variety of entertainment aimed mostly at small children. The chain remains today as one of the few reliably family-friendly establishments to offer a viable option for a night out for the whole household. The restaurant is suburban and Americanized; you will find very little references to Italy aside from the menu.
Even hotels and casinos get in on the niche marketing action. Here, the niche marketing is less important, since these establishments are too large to not be aimed at being for everyone. Casinos especially aim for a specific theme to style everything after. A cruise of the Las Vegas strip will reveal casinos themed after an ancient Roman emperor, a Western saloon, an Egyptian pyramid, the city of Paris, the city of Venice, and so on. Many casinos now target fun for the whole family as well, and include everything from movie theaters to full scale amusement parks with rides, live shows, and attractions.
Whatever niche you pick for your own business, you should be able to understand your target audience. Think of it as a system of points. You score one point for your Asian restaurant if your menu is authentic enough that a member of that country could eat there and not know the difference. You score more points if the business is decorated with a theme of the country; for an Asian restaurant Foo dogs, Buddhas, and bamboo and water fountains are all popular touches. You score another point for your Asian theme if you offer chopsticks as an alternative utensil. And so on. Each point you can add to the score card represents one more way you can provide your niche market customer base with an authentic experience.
It could be argued that pizza, by itself, is no longer identified with Italian food. The national "Chuck E. Cheese" chain demonstrates that very well. Founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell in San Jose California, they knew their target market was suburban families, and so they set up a restaurant not just selling pizza, but arcades, shows, and a wide variety of entertainment aimed mostly at small children. The chain remains today as one of the few reliably family-friendly establishments to offer a viable option for a night out for the whole household. The restaurant is suburban and Americanized; you will find very little references to Italy aside from the menu.
Even hotels and casinos get in on the niche marketing action. Here, the niche marketing is less important, since these establishments are too large to not be aimed at being for everyone. Casinos especially aim for a specific theme to style everything after. A cruise of the Las Vegas strip will reveal casinos themed after an ancient Roman emperor, a Western saloon, an Egyptian pyramid, the city of Paris, the city of Venice, and so on. Many casinos now target fun for the whole family as well, and include everything from movie theaters to full scale amusement parks with rides, live shows, and attractions.
Whatever niche you pick for your own business, you should be able to understand your target audience. Think of it as a system of points. You score one point for your Asian restaurant if your menu is authentic enough that a member of that country could eat there and not know the difference. You score more points if the business is decorated with a theme of the country; for an Asian restaurant Foo dogs, Buddhas, and bamboo and water fountains are all popular touches. You score another point for your Asian theme if you offer chopsticks as an alternative utensil. And so on. Each point you can add to the score card represents one more way you can provide your niche market customer base with an authentic experience.
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