Saturation

I love University Ave. They've really made it awesome. A few weeks ago Kathy and I took a long walk down the Ave to duck into a few favorite businesses. We discovered a new restaurant, the PennyRoyale Cafe. It was shabby chic serving mostly vegan food and hot chocolate. However just recently we had begun frequented a near by hangout, Spark, which is a "restaurant/longue" for mocktails and a sense of superiority and fun. Our thought, how could we support both places?

I began thinking about oversaturation of markets.

I remember hearing a story on NPR about how one contributor to the current financial situation was the oversaturation of the general markets. So many new businesses opened but the consumer could not adequately support everything and thus many went under -- really good businesses -- supported by loans (foreclosure anyone?) leaving folks unemployed and dreams dashed. Maybe you will say that this is life and get used to it. But I think a lot of really good ideas died because there was just too much of a good thing.

For instance, we have Starbucks, and Seattle's Best (which really is the best), and Brewers, and numerous mom and pop cafes. Does anyone need this much hot chocolate? Perhaps. However, it's true that it's great to be able to find your favorite, but if the "vote" is split, my favorite place might go under. 

There is oversaturation in other circumstances. And it leads to a decrease in value of the the product-- when supply exceeds demand. 

I'm not going to make any judgment of the Duggar Family (pictured),but I wonder how you support -- emotionally, mentally, physically, etc -- almost 18 children. Kudos and good luck. 

My ward is oversaturated with girls. The boys cannot possibly romantically support ever girl. And their small minds are overwhelmed by sheer mass of option which paralyzes them.  

Land Before Time -- not stopping at number one has decreased the value of the franchise and made it a joke (there are at least 11 by my count). 

Teens -- they drive me nuts and they're everywhere. :) 

With so many homes on the market, values drop (which is both good and bad). 

There are so many models of cars that we've lost a classic and individualistic styles and the companies are going out (oh wait - the government decided to absolve consequence of poor choices -- just kidding on the last comment). The companies should focus on perfecting a few good models. My parents can still name year and model of old 1960s-era cars. Let's go there again.   

The PennyRoyal Cafe ended up not meeting expectations upon closer inspection so Spark is safe. But had it been amazing, my "vote" would have been split and if that happened to enough people we could have ended up losing both businesses. Not cool.