From its first Red Lobster in 1968, Darden Restaurants has grown the chain to 690 locations, with over $2.6 billion in U.S sales annually. The casual dinning market may be crowded, with competitors such as Chili€™s, Ruby Tuesday, Applebee€™s, TGI Friday€™s and Outback, but Darden€™s continuing success means the chain thinks there is still plenty of room to grow. Robert Reiner, director of market development, is charged with identifying the sites that will maximize new store sales without cannibalizing sales at the existing Red Lobster locations.

Discussion Questions
1. Visit the Web site for MapInfo (www.mapinfo.com). Describe the psychological profiling (PSYTE) clustering system. Select an industry, other than restaurants, and explain how the software can be used for that industry.
2. What are the major differences in site location for a restaurant vs. a retail store vs. a manufacturing plant?
3. Red Lobster also defines its trade areas based on market size and population density. Here are its seven density classes:

Ninety-two percent of the Red Lobster restaurants fall into three of these classes. Which three classes do you think the chain has the most restaurants in?Why?

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Households Density Class per Sq. Mile 8,000 4,000-7,999 2,000-3,999 1,000-1,999 600-999 100-599 0-99 Description Super Urban Urban Light Urbarn First Tier Suburban Second Tier Suburban Exurban/Small Rural 4