November 12, 2007
Frisco Shop Finds New Digs at Former Curra's on Burnet
With the Brentwood Tavern and the Travis County Farmer's Market both closing last month, the Allandale culinary scene is certainly undergoing some transition. The Austin Business Journal and the Statesman's Dale Rice report that the Frisco Shop (North Central Austin's haven of pie and artery-clogging comfort food) has found a new home and will not close its doors after learning last year that its location would soon house a Walgreens. The diner, which is the last remaining outlet of the Nighthawk chain of restaurants, has been operating at the Burnet and 2222 location since 1953, and some of its staff have logged as many as 40 years behind the counter. The Akin family was able to reach a deal with local restaurateur (Hill's and the Tavern) and radio personality Bob Cole to make the move. According to Rice's Austin360 blog post, the central Curra's, which closed in late October, is searching for a central location with a larger kitchen to accommodate its growing catering business.
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I just don't get why they need to build a new Walgreen's on that spot when they are about to open on at Northcross and they already have one at N. Lamar and Justin. Is it so bad that someone might have to drive more than two miles to get to a frikken Walgreen's?
All-powerful pharmaceutical corporations must have numerous outlets to sell "medicine" for restless-leg syndrome.
Do you want to be labeled as objectively pro-restless-leg?
The same thing happened in Houston starting about 3 years ago: Walgreens and CVS started building a new store every half mile along major roads. Looks like the trend is hitting Austin now.
I don't know about CVS, but Walgreen's entire business plan is to be on every corner in America. At one point they would tear down an existing store and build another a block away just so they could be on a major corner, hence becoming more convenient. Sustainable? No. Profitable? Yes.
I read all about it in the book Good to Great. Interesting stuff.
Who cares how many there are? They suck because of how they're built, not because there's a lot or only a few.
And the "just drive a couple more miles" guy is part of the problem, not part of the solution. The Walgreens at 45th/Guadalupe sees non-trivial walkup and bike-up business.