A business trading on a name without some kind of sunk cost that incentivizes them to protect that name should be a red flag for consumers. It's the same thing that's made Amazon a surreal morass of brands like DYBOOP and BIPLOZA. If a ghost kitchen can shut down and reopen with a different name just by clicking a few buttons and not actually have to move their kitchen or anything, the whole concept is totally untrustworthy.

There was an interesting local example of a place that started out trying to be more or less a ghost kitchen but wound up being forced by success to become a real eatery. It had the endearingly utilitarian name "Pizza Online Company". They had no phone nor any in-house delivery system. You could order online or in-person to pick up, or via GrubHub/Doordash/etc., and that was it. Initially they had no eating area, just a tiny space big enough for three or four people to stand and wait for their orders.

But the pizza wasn't bad and it was (at least at first) remarkably cheap. It undercut Domino's prices by at least 25% while being much better quality. The place became popular. And sure enough when a place becomes popular people start wanting to go there. They added a small counter with stools to the waiting area. They didn't have space for more than that inside, but when it wasn't enough they took over some of the strip-mall walkway outside the front door and made it into a patio with seating for 8-10 people.

Unfortunately it closed abruptly a couple years ago, apparently due to some kind of family emergency.

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gorgoiler 19 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I completely agree with your point about food quality being borne from the economic incentive of protecting an initial investment.

However, I always thought the DYBOOPs and BIPLOZAs of this world existed on Amazon because of a glut of Chinese manufacturing expertise outpacing any ability to do proper branding and marketing. My QSMYYUYE grill stove, CYEER steel plates, and SUNYAY telescopic bug sprayer are all well made and reasonably priced commodity objects.

	▲	palmotea 11 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> However, I always thought the DYBOOPs and BIPLOZAs of this world existed on Amazon because of a glut of Chinese manufacturing expertise outpacing any ability to do proper branding and marketing. IIRC, if you have a "brand name" it unlocks some desirable features in the Amazon Seller experience. The DYBOOPs and BIPLOZAs are almost always just heavily marked-up items you can buy on AliExpress much cheaper if you're willing to wait a week or two.
	▲	BrenBarn 18 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		It's certainly possible that some of those weird brands are of decent quality. My point is just that, if they're not, they'll just change the name from DYBOOP to CYEER and keep selling the same thing. There's no reputation to uphold.
	▲	red-iron-pine 12 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		something like 63% of sellers on Amazon are Chinese front companies. They often use random strings of letters for brand names to easily register trademarks. This practice allows them to bypass stricter naming regulations and flood the market with products that can be difficult to distinguish from one another. to be clear, much of this is an Amazon rule, and branding is meaningless if you sponsor items to be searched; most people DGAF about things like plastic containers or cellphone cases and are happy to buy whatever

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aitchnyu 20 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The modern version of "mob's money laundering Pizzeria becomes wildly popular legit Pizzeria" is boring.

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HDThoreaun 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

We had a very similar story in chicago. Someone started making pizza out of a ghost kitchen and eventually got so popular they opened a storefront location. I think they might have 2 now. millys pizza in the pan