At 12:05 AM 5/27/02 -0400, you wrote: > >----- Original Message ----- >From: fabio guillermo rojas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> 3. They aren't as profitable as you think because people can frequently >> use quasi-public restrooms such as fast food places, hotels, gas stations, >> etc. Ie, there are real competitors. >> >> Fabio >> > >Yet this is just the point. The few pay toilets that I have seen in my life >were in the very places you describe as 'competitors.' Why don't >McDonald's, convenience stores, etc., make their restrooms pay their own >way? Why pay for the maintenance out of their profits? > >~Alypius Skinner >
Probably because of what some Burger King guy called the "veto-vote." Let's say you have a group of four or five people, and one has to use the bathroom. They are in an area with a McD's and a Burger King, but the McDonalds charges $0.25 to use the facilities. Burger King, on the other hand, is free. Which are they more likely to stop at? BK. And the other four people are likely to buy some fries, a soda, whatever. BK actually offers a veggie burger (in some places) because of this. Four or five people out for a quick bite, one is a vegetarian, they all go to Burger King. The restaurant makes its money not on the veggie burger, but on the other sales. The same principle should hold true for pay toilets at places like McDonald's. Dan Lewis
