Waffle House, like many businesses - particularly restaurants, is facing both a harsh reality and murky future
he past two weeks have been sobering for Waffle House Chairman Joe Rogers Jr. The chain of no-frills, 24-hour breakfast spots has remained defiantly open in the face of so many disasters that theHurricane Hugo couldn’t shut the doors for long in Charleston in 1989. The same in Georgia when Irma crashed through two years ago. The index was solid green in Joplin, Missouri, after a tornado killed 158 people there in 2011.
It fits the slow-growth strategy he has pursued from the start. Rogers had planned to open around 80 new locations this year, while Burger King, which franchises 99% of all locations, added 1,000 last year.Most of why we are here today is learning what not to do,” said Rogers. “We don't have the most creative restaurant concept you've ever seen. We're just a throwback to a diner.”
When Hugo hit Charleston, Rogers duked it out with a National Guardsman who wanted them to shut down, until the guardsman realized it was the only restaurant open in the area that was able to feed 3,000 emergency workers. “When you lose the Waffle House, you're losing the local economy,” he said, noting that quarantine and shelter-in-place measures will leave the restaurant industry, along with the broader economy, in a state of disrepair.
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