The announcement in the News & Record of the opening of Dame’s Almost World Famous Chicken and Waffles at the former location of Vintage 301 at 301 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Greensboro reminds me of a trend I've followed in Greensboro for many years.
New restaurants in new locations almost never succeed unless they happen to be fast food chains. Sometimes the second restaurant to open in the same location makes a go of it but usually it's the third incarnation of a restaurant location that manages to thrive over the long term. If I were wanting to open a new restaurant in Greensboro, my fifty some years of living here tells me I would look for a location that has failed twice before.
You see, you need a couple of failed restauranteurs to pay down some of the overhead before you go jumping into the volatile restaurant business. Especially in a city like Greensboro that is known for being especially hard for restaurants and other non development related businesses to prosper.
I could be wrong and I wish them no ill will, but I'm predicting Dame's will waffle their chickens back to Durham in less than 5 years, maybe less than 3. You see, constant turnover is the economic model upon which Greensboro now operates. It's what keeps the development elites in power and in the money.
UPDATE: Jim M corrects me. The location chosen by Dame's has failed twice before. They stand a very good chance at success.
