Chain Leader

David Farkas

Extreme Measures
January 5, 2007

Talk about trying to regain market share! According to the New York Times, the operator of a New York City KFC simply torched the doughnut shop next door when it began selling fried chicken more cheaply than his KFC. He burned down his own restaurant in the process.

That’s a rather dramatic—and illegal—way to remove rivals. Better to knock out opponents the way Domino’s Pizza began doing Jan. 1 with its “Anything Goes Deal” promotion, which involves selling any large pizza, on any crust, with any toppings for just $9.99. That’s going to be a tough price to beat.

Yet pizza isn’t the only product available for $9.99. The delivery giant is also peddling cars, iPods, bicycles, motorcycles and electric guitars for the same price. The catch—and, of course, there is one—is that “customers” have to solve a puzzle to find these products on eBay, where they’re hiding among thousands of other goods. The details are here.

Meanwhile, the rest of you will have presumably a mild winter in which to boost traffic. Good luck finding it.

Posted by David Farkas on January 5, 2007 | Comments (0)