The Dow Jones and food

Going around town and talking to various restaurant owners, the same conversation always comes up — the economy. It even follows the same line: The owner will say that while his business is hurting, he’s surviving and buckling down but he’s heard so-and-so is on the brink and can’t pay employees or something equally dire. No matter how bad things get, gossip is always cheap.

But just as often the conversation turns to the stock market. Even though Kansas City is a far cry from Wall Street, the fluctuations of the Dow from one day to the next can mean a busy day or a slow day, especially at restaurants near publicly traded businesses.

From working at a restaurant near publicly held companies and from working at a publicly held company, I’ve noticed it’s usually a one-day lag. If the market goes down on Monday, you skip the breakfast croissant on Tuesday. A down Monday market sets a bad tone for the rest of the week but an up Friday market — get ready for customers!

Houlihan’s played this game in February with its “Dowwie-Wowwie” special, giving away Italian doughnuts every day the market went up. Unfortunately, those days were few and far between. On February 9 when the promotion started, the Dow stood at 8270. When the promotion ended two weeks later the Dow had lost more than 1100 points and was barely above 7000. The silver lining is that Houlihan’s did give free appetizer coupons to people when the market dropped.

Another, sadder example is Maggie’s Cantina (10235 N. Oak Trafficway) in the Northland. As KMBZ reported last night, the restaurant has put a sign up saying its “closed Mondays until Dow hits 10K.”

While other restaurateurs aren’t putting up signs like Maggie’s Cantina, you can be sure they’re hoping just as much for a return to 10K.

(Picture via Flickr: Flex)