Retail Disruptions.

Retail stores have learned how to adjust to disruptions in their business over the years.  Gallup reports the 1930's saw the rise of the first retail chains ;

 "In the 1920s and 1930s, independent druggists and grocers urged Congress to pass legislation that might halt or slow the growth of chain-store firms. Neither the movement nor the resulting legislation -- notably the Robinson-Patman Act (1936) and Miller Tydings Act (1937) -- proved effective in stopping the growth of chains or, more importantly, in providing significant help to smaller, independently owned stores."

"In the early 1900s, the relatively low prices offered by chains such as A&P, F.W. Woolworth, J.C. Penney and Walgreens started to threaten the survival of local merchants who lacked the same buying power.

Dexter Ave in 1906, just a few years before Chris' Opened.

I'll bet the family that will celebrate Chris' Hotdogs 100th anniversary in Montgomery on Saturday have some stories to tell about business competition---like the new food carts popping up in Montgomery and other cities!

From their webpage:

Some of our more notable patrons include Franklin D. Roosevelt (who would frequently ask for a box of the world famous hot dogs as his train stopped in the Montgomery’s Union Station), Harry Truman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Presidents Bush 41 & 43, Jimmy Stewart, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Clark Gable, Tallulah Bankhead, Whoopi Goldberg, countless sports stars and every Alabama Governor since 1917.

Read the entire Gallup article with sampling of public opinion from over the years HERE.