Liberals Eat Here. Conservatives Eat There. - Washington Wire - WSJ http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/05/02/liberals-eat-here-conservative...
May 2, 2014, 7:56 AM ET
ByReid J. Epstein
The most liberal Americans shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s supermarkets, according to an Experian Marketing Services gauge. Bloomberg News Can you tell a person’s politics based on where they buy their groceries or hamburger?
In their front page story Thursday about how demographic shifts in suburbs are changing the politics of America, the Journal’s Elizabeth Williamson and Dante Chinni write about how the arrival of restaurants like P.F. Chang’s and Chipotle are telltale signs that conservative exurbs are turning liberal.
Experian Marketing Services does a rolling survey of thousands of people who patronize restaurants and retail establishments to determine, among other things, the politics of stores’ customers.
The survey assigns liberal and conservative scores to different establishments based on their customers’ political preferences. A 100 is average, a 120 is 20% more liberal or conservative than average, 80 is 20% less than average, and so on. Some places, like Burger King , have liberal and conservative indexes that are both below average because they attract more independents.
There are clearly regional biases here. The supermarket chain Harris Teeter scores 113 on the conservative index, probably because its stores are predominately located in the Southeast. Oregon-based supermarket Fred Meyer, which is owned by Kroger and has stores in the Pacific Northwest, scores 154 on the liberal index.
Among fast-food establishments, the most liberal customers eat at Au Bon Pain. The most conservative: Krystal, Schlotsky’s Deli and Whataburger.
Chain restaurants that score the highest on the conservative index are O’Charley’s and Cracker Barrel. The most liberal: California Pizza Kitchen.
And the supermarket with the most conservative customers is Houston-based Randall’s. There’s no surprise that the most liberal shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
Here are three sortable charts showing how liberal or conservative customers are at America’s chain restaurants, fast-food establishments and supermarkets, based on Experian Marketing Services’s gauge:
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1 of 2 1/25/2015 12:21 PM How Liberal Is Your Lunch? - The Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com http://blogs.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_LIBERALLUNCH... () May 1, 2014
Gauging how liberal or conservative customers are at America’s chain restaurants.
Conservative Index (yui-dt0- Liberal Index (yui-dt0- Restaurant (yui-dt0-href-col_0) href-col_1) href-col_2)
CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN 75 146 ROMANO'S MACARONI GRILL 96 141
RUTH'S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE 93 137 ON THE BORDER 94 136
P.F. CHANG'S CHINA BISTRO 80 133 BERTUCCI'S 87 132
THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY 87 132 FRIENDLY'S 69 132
MARIE CALLENDER'S 104 123 CHEVY'S 93 123
HOOTERS 105 121 BUFFALO WILD WINGS BAR & 86 118 GRILL PONDEROSA STEAKHOUSE 97 112
OLD COUNTRY BUFFET 81 111 CARRABBA'S ITALIAN GRILL 110 110
FUDDRUCKER'S 84 110 JOE'S CRAB SHACK 84 110
RUBY TUESDAY 93 109 O'CHARLEY'S 121 108
PERKINS 95 108 RED ROBIN 105 106
IHOP (INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF 94 106 PANCAKES)
MIMI'S CAFE 103 105
SHONEY'S 110 104 TGI FRIDAY'S 92 104
LONE STAR STEAKHOUSE & 104 102 SALOON
OLIVE GARDEN 101 102 CHUCK E. CHEESE'S 89 101
PAPA MURPHY'S 116 98 RED LOBSTER 101 97
APPLEBEE'S 100 97 OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE 100 97
DENNY'S 99 96 BIG BOY 98 96
CHILI'S GRILL & BAR 99 94 BLACK ANGUS STEAKHOUSE 101 93
HOMETOWN BUFFET 116 88
GOLDEN CORRAL 101 86
SIZZLER 103 85
LONGHORN STEAKHOUSE 115 82
CRACKER BARREL 118 75
BOB EVANS 110 71
Source: Experian Marketing Services Write to the Online Journal's editors at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) Return To Top (#top)
1 of 2 1/25/2015 12:26 PM How Liberal Is Your Lunch? - The Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com http://blogs.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_FASTFOOD201405... () May 1, 2014
Gauging how liberal or conservative customers are at America’s fast-food establishments.
Fast-Food Establishment (yui-dt0-href-col_0) Conservative Index (yui-dt0-href-col_1) Liberal Index (yui-dt0-href-col_2)
KRYSTAL 118 87
SCHLOTZSKY'S DELI 114 95 WHATABURGER 114 87
CAPTAIN D'S 113 101 STEAK'N SHAKE 113 98
CHICK-FIL-A 113 81 ZAXBY'S 110 102
BOJANGLES' 109 102 DAIRY QUEEN 109 86
CHURCH'S FRIED CHICKEN 107 97 FAZOLI'S ITALIAN 107 93
LONG JOHN SILVER'S 104 74 PAPA JOHN'S 103 97
DONATOS PIZZA 103 95 ARBY'S 103 92
SONIC 103 88 CHECKERS 102 108
HARDEE'S 102 78 KRISPY KREME 101 102
PIZZA HUT 101 83 PIZZA INN 100 108
DOMINO'S PIZZA 100 101 LITTLE CAESAR'S 100 95
MCDONALD'S 100 95 WENDY'S 100 93
COLD STONE CREAMERY 99 134 BOSTON MARKET 98 135
KFC 98 97 BURGER KING 98 95
PANDA EXPRESS 97 120 SUBWAY 97 100
RALLY'S 97 82 BASKIN & ROBBINS 96 113
POPEYES 95 111 CARL'S JR. 95 110
WHITE CASTLE 95 109 CICI'S PIZZA 95 105
PANERA BREAD 94 126 OTHER FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS 94 108
TACO BELL 94 99
GODFATHER'S PIZZA 94 75
EINSTEIN BROS. BAGELS 93 126
DEL TACO 93 109
MAZZIO'S 93 98
JACK-IN-THE-BOX 93 95
WING STOP 92 90
QUIZNOS SUB 90 117
STARBUCKS 89 136
DUNKIN' DONUTS 89 113
A & W 89 104 EL POLLO LOCO 87 94
BLIMPIE 86 136 ROUND TABLE PIZZA 85 126
WIENERSCHNITZEL 85 83 SBARRO 83 126
QDOBA 82 147 TACO TIME 81 98
CHIPOTLE 75 160
AU BON PAIN 74 182
JAMBA JUICE 72 130
1 of 2 1/25/2015 12:25 PM