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Guillermo Perales is the owner and operator of 400 fast food and restaurant franchises. He began purchasing franchises as a way to diversify his business portfolio in 1999. Through Sun Holdings, LLC Guillermo Perales has purchased Burger Kings, Arby’s restaurants, Cici’s restaurants, Popeye’s restaurants, Del Tacos, Golden Corrals, and even T-Mobile stores. When Guillermo Perales first began purchasing the various franchises, he did not put a lot of thought into how hard economic times would push people to change their customary dining habits. “Many people would take some time off and go out to eat instead of always cooking at home, but this changed when the recession hit. People started to guard their money and many larger restaurants started losing profits,” says Guillermo Perales. Due to the recession of 2008, many cities and communities have seen the impact of the economy on restaurants. When money gets tight, people turn to the cheaper fast food chains. This creates a growth in business but in a long-term recession, even fast food restaurants suffer. Guillermo Perales has seen how even fast food chains have had to merge for survival. This was what happened with Arby’s and Wendy’s in 2008. Another survival method fast food chains, and therefore franchise owners like Guillermo Perales, had to make were menu changes. “There has been an increase in people blaming the fast food industry for health problems and obesity. This pushed fast food restaurants to start including healthier menu choices like fruits and vegetables while maintaining the lowest prices possible,” says Guillermo Perales. Many people who still chose to go out to eat went to larger chains like McDonald’s. During the recession, McDonald’s remained profitable and increased their advertising. Many times, the commercials were about the low cost food featured on their dollar menu. This made it difficult for other fast food chains to compete. “The smaller fast food chains did not have the advertising power of the larger chain and that meant the smaller chains struggled in the economy. Burger King was desperate to bring in customers and they began selling a burger that costs over a dollar to make, for a dollar,” says Guillermo Perales who owns over 170 Burger King franchises. There have been many changes as a result of the recession. To remain competitive among competing fast food chains and to draw in more customers, fast food restaurants started offering as many cheap food options as possible and many started to sell breakfast. Guillermo Perales is one of many franchise owners and operators who felt and watched the industry change. For more information on fast food restaurants and the economy Guillermo Perales recommends reading: http://www.economist.com/node/16380043
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2010/db2010038_123647.htm
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