...along with nine other products/brands including Sony Picture and Saab.
Really?
This list was compiled by 24/7 Wall St.com .
Each year, 24/7 Wall St. regularly compiles a list of brands that are going to disappear in the near-term.
It compiled a list last year -- predicting the demise of T-Mobile among others.
Here's 24/7 Wall St's take on A&W:
A&W All–American Food Restaurants. A&W Restaurants is owned by fast food holding company giant Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) which has had the firm for sale since January. There have been no buyers.
The chain was founded in 1919. The size of company grew rapidly, and immediately after WWII 450 franchises were opened.
The firm pioneered the “drive in” fast food format.
A&W began to sell canned versions of its sodas in 1971 – the part of the business that will survive as a container beverage business which is now owned by Dr. Pepper/Snapple.
The A&W Restaurant business is too small to be viable now.
It had 322 outlets in the U.S and 317 outside the U.S at the end of last year. All were operated by franchisees.
By contrast, Yum!’s flagship KFC had 5,055 stories in the U.S. and 11,798 overseas. Two massive global fast food chains are even larger. Subway has 35,000 locations worldwide, and McDonald’s has nearly as many.
A&W does not have the ability to market itself against these chains and at least a dozen other fast food operators like Burger King. And, A&W does not have the size to efficiently handle food purchase, logistics, and transportation cost compared to competitors many times as large.
I hope this is not true. I always have a soft spot for A&W. My first fast food experience was a meal at their outlet at Taman Tasik Seremban many many years ago. I always love their connie dog and root beer.
ReplyDeletehow about some msian cos .... MAS,
ReplyDeleteNST, Proton etc that should have disappeared a long time ago....
My kids will miss the root bear :-(
ReplyDeleteMy very first mobile phone was a Nokia. That was back in 1992. Then it was Ericsson for a short while and onwards to SE when Sony merged with them. Have been an SE loyalist for many years now. So both of them are dying huh? Maybe it's time for me to switch to HTC...
ReplyDeleteBigCat: The first A&W in Malaysia was the one in PJ. I'm not sure whether that was first or the one in the AiA building in KL. In the early days of A&W, we were served by the waitresses. They had chilli con carne. Later that went off the menu. The chairs were wooden and the menu was also made of of wood that had been polished. There was a jukebox. Upstairs was a sort of games room. The burger was also a little different. A little bit like burger king.
ReplyDeleteAnd it ws the first time I tasted root beer and hot dog. Root beer I took an instant liking. As for the hot dog, it took me years to like it. I couldn't understand the meat.
It'll be really sad if it closes down.
anon@9:41AM: you'd like that, wouldn't you?
ReplyDeleteTidak!!!!!
ReplyDeleteJangan buat aku bernostalgia kehilangan ROOT BEER....
Lagipun kat situ je 'BEER' yang HALAL!!!
I miss pancake to....bigger than other outlet!!!
I will not be surprised if A&W closes down.. I'm impressed that they can actually last this long when their customer-based is so small.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I like is their root beer which will still be available in the market even if the fast-food chain folded.
Nokia is a bit of a surprise tho.. I guess they missed the "smart-phone" boat. Too bad.. I like Nokia phones.
RCZ
The first A&W was opened in 1963 @ BATU ROAD (Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman,now.The second was the AIA outlet and the third was the PJ Drive In in 1967 !
ReplyDeleteThe first A&W was opened in 1963@ BATU ROAD( now Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. The second was @ AIA and the PJ Drive In was opened in 1967.A&W was the first fast food restaurant in Malaysia as well Asia !
ReplyDeletealvin: thanks for the clarification...i totally forgot about the batu road restaurant.
ReplyDelete