Quote: Originally posted by PANDAQUEEN
The main ways to go up and down the floors is via stairs, elevators and escalators.
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...Aren't those really the only ways, unless you have a lot of fireman poles?
Quote: Originally posted by PANDAQUEEN
I have a plan to put in major restaurants in a complex with similar dimensions, but would restructure sit-down restaurants to be bus-your-own-table versions.
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Quote: Originally posted by Nymphetamine
I'd prefer to see a spot where dedicated farmers or people doing it in their communities could come together to sell, eat, and sustain the community. You're guaranteed to be helping the little fellow instead of big chains, contributing to their livelihood and putting money back into where you live instead.
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Are those necessarily at odds? I mean, the structure would be a little ostentatious, but you could definitely organize something that would work.
The reason people don't eat out is that it's expensive, and companies want to make money. However, if making money isn't your goal - just making a place that's fun to eat at - then that's not a problem. All you really need to do is break even or make enough money in other investments that you can afford a moneysink.
There's a concept called "economies of scale". For instance, think about a can of tomatoes: the smaller cans cost more per ounce than larger ones. Economies of scale means that it costs less per unit to produce a larger amount.
There are also middleman markups. Essentially, you pay for services rendered between the farm and the grocery store. The factory processes the food and then sells it to a wholesaler, who markets the products to grocery stores. The factory sells the food at a higher price than it got from the farm, because it pays for the food's transportation, factory upkeep, the advertisements and brand logo, and the salaries of the people who work there. The wholesaler sells higher because it pays for transportation, salaries, and the upkeep of their location. Same for grocery stores. This is one reason store brands are cheaper: they cut out the wholesalers and receive the products directly from the factory.
Thus, buying directly from the farms would be cheaper.
Now, suppose you ran a factory in your mega food court. You would pay for buying the food, transporting it to your food court, the salaries of the workers, and the upkeep of the factory. It could be transported directly to the kitchens, which would be far cheaper than driving. Then the only costs left would be the salaries of the restaurant workers and other such costs.
What this means is that conceivably, by buying directly from the sources, taking care of the processing yourself, and deliberately charging less than it would take to make a profit, you could create a massive food court where the food is cheaper than it would be at the grocery store AND needs no preparation.
Now, if your food court was the cheapest place to get food, let alone eat out, you would have a ton of customers. In fact, depending where you put it, you could feed an entire town or city. It could become the most popular place in the area.
You would still have to pay for upkeep costs, but you could potentially do other things to make up the lack of profits. Coating the thing in windmills or solar panels, for instance. Renting out space at high rates - make it a proper mall and add in stores or vendors. Those such things. It would take a LOT of planning, but it's possible.
Again, this would only work if you really don't care about profits, and it's not likely to actually happen unless you're very wealthy and have a lot of experience in these areas. Still, if you could manage it, it would be extremely popular and help people, as well.