Restaurant owners in Groningen are concerned about the rapidly growing number of eateries opening in the city.
After Happy Italy announced plans to open a second location in Groningen just weeks after their first franchise opened, the Groningen Internet Courant writes that local restaurant owners are worried that it’s too much, too soon.
According to Dagblad van het Noorden, Irene van der Velde of the local branch of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland says that “all restaurant owners are fishing from the same pond”, and established restaurants may end up closing due to a relentless stream of new eateries opening in the city.
Sabine Baire, owner of Italia pizzeria on the Pelsterstraat, is also alarmed by the rapid restaurant growth in town. She is not necessarily worried about her authentic menu being threatened by competition from Happy Italy’s formula, but she thinks that the overall number of new restaurants could pose a problem. “No matter where you look, there are new places opening up. I don’t understand why the municipality won’t pump the brakes on it.”
Strange comment from an entrepreneur: Local municipality to stop others from.opening their operations? It’s called competitio, and it is healthy. Shape up or ship out.