Oh Anne, I almost spewed coffee all over my computer when I pictured you molding the face of a dead Beagle into a pleasing expression! I bet it wasn't easy to find some interesting franchise opportunities when 90% sound boring. And your Camels/Cake graph kinda makes me want to start smoking again (stopped some 40-or-so years ago). I gained 25 unnecessary LB over the last ten years, just from being old -- maybe that's a way to lose them? Only halfway kidding...
Ms. Rath I quit in 2004 and then again in 2015 and I still miss it. Smoking was a delight although towards the end I was the only one still puffing away, so it wasn't so much fun anymore. The best part of smoking was being one of the smokers. I need to remember that when I recall the good times. Those days are truly over!
“The inverse correlation is nearly perfect. The percentage of people who smoke dropped from 42% in 1965 to about 12% today. Over the same period, the obesity rate climbed from 14% to 43%!”
Anne!!! It’s NOT like me to point out a SUBSTANTIAL flaw to the Tsarina of Spreadsheets (and charts): You could change the title of the chart and you will have the same correlation: “US Fast-Food Franchise Growth and Obesity Rates 1965 to 2023.”
PS...when I was dating, I LOVED the girls who smoked...to me, there is nothing like kissing a girl right after she took a puff...now this was back in the late 60's and through the 70's, when girls had big hair, popped their gum and smoked! The Holy Trinity as far as I was concerned!!!
Since it was Midwest in its name I checked their website. Relieved this is a regional place and none near me. Been to a range a few times. Fun and bizarre world at the same time. If you look at their map one of your dedicated readers looks like they might be able to bike there https://midwestshootingcenter.com/range-locator
Their website is crazy in every sense of the word. They do offer birthday party and bachelor party packages that include a couple of pizzas and two lanes of shooting action.
I’m on board for the Shooting range. Love that pic featured women. You probably had to dig deep to find the originals. Like going to Lohmans in the 80’s. Remember Lohmans?
"Groceries and big markets buy bananas on the greener side, because they know boxes will sit around their basements and bunches will sit around in their customers’ kitchens. Bodegas usually buy bananas on the turn from green to yellow, because their customers will eat them right away."
So that confirms what you found! I also think bodegas don't have much extra space to store and ripen green banana while a bigger grocery store will. Bodegas need to limit their stock to just the ripe bananas that will be sold that day.
Thank you Julian for the links! And that is an interesting point about bananas and storage space.
One of my favorite memories is going to visit banana distributor in Hunts Point in the Bronx and getting to see the banana ripening warehouse. It was truly bananas! Not only did I see a lot of bananas, but the warehouse had a thermometer with an indicator mark of when the temperature was at "banana." Which I think was 43 degrees or something like that. The perfect temperature for ripening. But they literally referred to that number as "banana." So funny!
love hearing about the unique franchises! if you ever get the chance, going to a wedding expo can be p interesting in the same vein, but add in the desperation and stress of fiances and their loved ones, lol. i used to work at a hotel with two conference centers/ballrooms and went to our local wedding expo a few times, i always had fun walking around and chatting up the vendors.
Wow I can just imagine what a wedding expo feels like Megan! A perfect nightmare cocktail!
I could probably just go to trade expos all year and devote the newsletter to that. Coming up at the Javits Center: the Summer Fancy Food Show and the "Hotel Experience." I bet you'd get a kick out of that second one!
I'm sure you already have your own theory, but my two cents: bananas is a crazy monkey of a situation, a lack of order and control, bonkers, turns rooms upside down. Nuts is something tough to crack, so mind-boggling that it requires brute force to wrap your head around it. And of course, that bananas and nuts go so well together, as food and words is another non-coincidence, surely!
Haha, yes! I think the DMV is nuts. A truck full kids playing video games is bananas. A hummingbirds heart beats 1260 times per minute: nuts! A grocery store before a blizzard...both nuts and bananas? The crowd is bananas, and the volume of toilet paper purchased...just nuts.
So many investment opportunities! How is one to choose?! My aunt used to own a very small chocolate shop and she took me to a chocolate (or was it candy?) themed convention at Javits. I was a teenager at the time, so my memory is hazy. But it seems like what you experienced, but with soooo much sugar. Such a good memory!
Oh man, just about any trade show or convention is fun (all those booth people who have no choice but to talk to you!) but the CANDY theme really takes it over the top!
“...imaging myself gently shaping the face of a deceased Beagle into a pleasing expression.” I really cracked up at this, then felt bad, then busted out laughing again! Thanks Anne!😂
moofins AND croffles?@$%!??^!! THAT freakin settles it....im packin up gear and bustin' move to NYC ...know where i can crash? ohh forgot ! ill hit up the naked cowboy and bribe him with a free dinner at that mysterious pop-up steak restaurant...He'll be impressed with that right? are there still rats runnin loose over there?? hmmmmm....
Anne! I love this segment! What a fascinating range of businesses. And in the era of AI you've picked ones that will continue despite the rise of the machines!
We're not at the stage yet where a robot will cremate your dog and offer you heartfelt condolences.
I didn't think of that Maura but it's an interesting observation—that these all operations where you still need people to do the thing.
Your comment, however, has me envisioning a future where I take my robot dog to the robot funeral director who delivers an AI-generated eulogy. Brave New World! Brave New World!
Oh Anne, I almost spewed coffee all over my computer when I pictured you molding the face of a dead Beagle into a pleasing expression! I bet it wasn't easy to find some interesting franchise opportunities when 90% sound boring. And your Camels/Cake graph kinda makes me want to start smoking again (stopped some 40-or-so years ago). I gained 25 unnecessary LB over the last ten years, just from being old -- maybe that's a way to lose them? Only halfway kidding...
Ms. Rath I quit in 2004 and then again in 2015 and I still miss it. Smoking was a delight although towards the end I was the only one still puffing away, so it wasn't so much fun anymore. The best part of smoking was being one of the smokers. I need to remember that when I recall the good times. Those days are truly over!
“The inverse correlation is nearly perfect. The percentage of people who smoke dropped from 42% in 1965 to about 12% today. Over the same period, the obesity rate climbed from 14% to 43%!”
Anne!!! It’s NOT like me to point out a SUBSTANTIAL flaw to the Tsarina of Spreadsheets (and charts): You could change the title of the chart and you will have the same correlation: “US Fast-Food Franchise Growth and Obesity Rates 1965 to 2023.”
PS...when I was dating, I LOVED the girls who smoked...to me, there is nothing like kissing a girl right after she took a puff...now this was back in the late 60's and through the 70's, when girls had big hair, popped their gum and smoked! The Holy Trinity as far as I was concerned!!!
Hardy an error, JRB, more a suggestion for additional charting!
Ah, and they don't make goyls like they used to...
HAHAHAHAHAHA!! No, they don't make goyls like they used to!!! PMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“People who have a passion for firearms but don't really know where to start.” Now that's a market.
LOL Somewhere in the company archive there is a Venn diagram that I'd really love to see.
What could go wrong?
Since it was Midwest in its name I checked their website. Relieved this is a regional place and none near me. Been to a range a few times. Fun and bizarre world at the same time. If you look at their map one of your dedicated readers looks like they might be able to bike there https://midwestshootingcenter.com/range-locator
That's weird I don't see the range in NJ they mentioned. Maybe that is a work in progress.
I know a New Yorker believes it's NY, Midwest, LA moving east to west. NJ is not the Midwest haha. No one says youse guys here :)
Their website is crazy in every sense of the word. They do offer birthday party and bachelor party packages that include a couple of pizzas and two lanes of shooting action.
Guns and pizza! Wow!
I’m on board for the Shooting range. Love that pic featured women. You probably had to dig deep to find the originals. Like going to Lohmans in the 80’s. Remember Lohmans?
See you at the range CK! :)
Tipsy Scoop TAGLINE: "Party in a pint!
FINALLY, the wait is over!! 🥃+🍨= 🎉
Cheers!
Here are some stories on bananas and banana ripening that are really interesting!:
https://foodandcity.org/how-the-bodega-gets-the-banana/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/nyregion/the-secret-life-of-the-banana.html
From the first link:
"Groceries and big markets buy bananas on the greener side, because they know boxes will sit around their basements and bunches will sit around in their customers’ kitchens. Bodegas usually buy bananas on the turn from green to yellow, because their customers will eat them right away."
So that confirms what you found! I also think bodegas don't have much extra space to store and ripen green banana while a bigger grocery store will. Bodegas need to limit their stock to just the ripe bananas that will be sold that day.
Thank you Julian for the links! And that is an interesting point about bananas and storage space.
One of my favorite memories is going to visit banana distributor in Hunts Point in the Bronx and getting to see the banana ripening warehouse. It was truly bananas! Not only did I see a lot of bananas, but the warehouse had a thermometer with an indicator mark of when the temperature was at "banana." Which I think was 43 degrees or something like that. The perfect temperature for ripening. But they literally referred to that number as "banana." So funny!
Wow! So jealous that you have been to the banana distribution centers! It looks like such a fun place!
love hearing about the unique franchises! if you ever get the chance, going to a wedding expo can be p interesting in the same vein, but add in the desperation and stress of fiances and their loved ones, lol. i used to work at a hotel with two conference centers/ballrooms and went to our local wedding expo a few times, i always had fun walking around and chatting up the vendors.
Wow I can just imagine what a wedding expo feels like Megan! A perfect nightmare cocktail!
I could probably just go to trade expos all year and devote the newsletter to that. Coming up at the Javits Center: the Summer Fancy Food Show and the "Hotel Experience." I bet you'd get a kick out of that second one!
make room for me on your next obesity chart baby!!!🤣🤣😉
Since reading this, I've been noticing A LOT more people using the word bananas as an adjective. Is this a coincidence?
No, Mr. Roth, not a coincidence. As you likely suspect already, that is the power of bananas.
So here is my question for YOU (or for anyone, really): What is the difference between saying something is bananas and saying it is nuts?
I raised this issue with a friend last week and his answer was rather dismissive which only made me feel more determined...
I'm sure you already have your own theory, but my two cents: bananas is a crazy monkey of a situation, a lack of order and control, bonkers, turns rooms upside down. Nuts is something tough to crack, so mind-boggling that it requires brute force to wrap your head around it. And of course, that bananas and nuts go so well together, as food and words is another non-coincidence, surely!
LOL I love this analysis. Yes, bananas is very clear. Bananas is all over the place, out of control, chaos!
Nuts...its like, the DMV is nuts, right? It is not bananas.
Haha, yes! I think the DMV is nuts. A truck full kids playing video games is bananas. A hummingbirds heart beats 1260 times per minute: nuts! A grocery store before a blizzard...both nuts and bananas? The crowd is bananas, and the volume of toilet paper purchased...just nuts.
What a great question! The question itself may be bananas! But reading this explanation gave me a headache: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bananas-nuts-crackers-words-for-crazy#:~:text=These%20sources%20claim%20that%20the,slang%2C%20meant%20%E2%80%9Cnonsense.%E2%80%9D
Of COURSE someone already wrote a story about this!
You're a writer and an outlaw...PLAGIARIZE!!!
“When a thing has been said and said well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it.”
― Anatole France
So many investment opportunities! How is one to choose?! My aunt used to own a very small chocolate shop and she took me to a chocolate (or was it candy?) themed convention at Javits. I was a teenager at the time, so my memory is hazy. But it seems like what you experienced, but with soooo much sugar. Such a good memory!
Oh man, just about any trade show or convention is fun (all those booth people who have no choice but to talk to you!) but the CANDY theme really takes it over the top!
How much ice cream do you need to put in a cocktail before it's "liquor-infused ice cream" and you can sell it without a license?
🤔
Yay I found the answer!
From the State Liquor Authority ADVISORY #2019-1
"Ice cream, and other frozen desserts, made with wine, beer or cider with an alcohol
content of no more than five percent (5%) is not considered an alcoholic beverage. Even
though it is not designated as an alcoholic beverage, if the product has an alcohol content
of at least one-half of one percent (0.5%) by volume but no more than five percent (5%)
by volume it cannot be sold to any person under the age of twenty-one."
Vodka milkshake 4.9%
Oh no, it says "wine, beer or cider". Brandy milkshake 4.9%!
Those business franchise opportunities are, well, wow. America will never stop thinking of new ways to sell people things...
Yes! Such a country this USA!
“...imaging myself gently shaping the face of a deceased Beagle into a pleasing expression.” I really cracked up at this, then felt bad, then busted out laughing again! Thanks Anne!😂
Haha so happy to hear this! Thank you John!
I would love to comment, but my VOLCANO OF INNER PAIN is preventing me from thinking straight. Sorry!
LOL
I FEEL YOUR PAIN, BA!
😂
moofins AND croffles?@$%!??^!! THAT freakin settles it....im packin up gear and bustin' move to NYC ...know where i can crash? ohh forgot ! ill hit up the naked cowboy and bribe him with a free dinner at that mysterious pop-up steak restaurant...He'll be impressed with that right? are there still rats runnin loose over there?? hmmmmm....
The croffles place is also selling soufflé pancakes, Mr. King. I hope that won't make your head explode.
Thanks for the reminder on the steak restaurant, I need to check in with those folks regarding the next stage of their project!
Anne! I love this segment! What a fascinating range of businesses. And in the era of AI you've picked ones that will continue despite the rise of the machines!
We're not at the stage yet where a robot will cremate your dog and offer you heartfelt condolences.
(Until the era of robot dogs, of course!)
I didn't think of that Maura but it's an interesting observation—that these all operations where you still need people to do the thing.
Your comment, however, has me envisioning a future where I take my robot dog to the robot funeral director who delivers an AI-generated eulogy. Brave New World! Brave New World!
Robot dogs!! What about Diamond Dogs??! https://youtu.be/OTIsnYPG4lU
Robot dogs!! Goodness I hope not! Heaven forbid they shoot bees out of their mouths! https://youtu.be/OyIIqrcl-V0
I love this week’s quote! And I miss my hometown.
Awww New York misses you Mr. Steiner!
Especially Brooklyn, I’m sure!
Thanks!