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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 16, 1993                   TAG: 9302160346
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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CHAINS DON'T FEED LOCAL ECONOMY

I'M TIRED of hearing how great are all the new corporate restaurant chains coming to town or about how wonderful the food, service and decor are. People actually wait 30 to 60 minutes to enjoy this stuff. Meanwhile, our older, established local restaurants wonder where their customers went.

Well, the fact is that these new, trendy places don't offer anything that can't be found in our locally owned restaurants. But what is really important to know is that these new restaurants are part of large, multimillion-dollar corporations with hundreds of locations nationwide, whose headquarters are in other states. Unlike the local owner-operators who spend their profits on homes, boats, cars and appliances in the Roanoke Valley, the "big boys' " profits go to those distant states, never to be spent here.

Furthermore, these restaurant giants even have their own commissary and distribution centers, cutting out our local wholesale suppliers. So what these new places actually contribute to Roanoke is more of the same old food and some more minimum-wage jobs. Big deal!

For years we in the Roanoke Valley have been trying to revitalize the market and its restaurants and the economy in general. Now we have deserted them for some trendy desserts in the suburbs.

Y'all come back! LANCE COPPERMAN ROANOKE

Editor's note: The writer is a local restaurant owner.

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