The famous #1 bestselling book, Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, M.D. is about a parable that reveals profound truths about unexpected change.  The story is about characters that live in a maze. In the maze, they look for cheese to nourish themselves and make them happy. Cheese metaphorically represents that which you want in life, while the maze represents one's business, family unit or community. In the story, the cheese is moved. One character modifies his behavior and deals with the change successfully, while the other does not. I reflect back on this book every time there has been an unexpected change in the CRE world. The COVID-19 pandemic has created change in the germ-conscious maze of the net lease restaurant sector, leading many restaurants and landlords to metaphorically ask: Who Moved My Cheeseburger?

Unexpected changes for restaurants varied depending on their format. The majority of the fine dining establishments across the US were forced to close down for a time because of government restrictions and lack of outdoor dining, as well as their lack of take-out and/or delivery options.  Sit-down concepts, such as Chili's, Applebee's, and TGI Friday's, are "bar centric" models with limited or no outdoor dining, as well as restricted take-out/delivery menu items, all of which are contributing to their struggle to remain relevant. On the other hand, many fast casual and quick serve restaurants have pivoted during this pandemic and embraced the change for the better. They have created efficiencies with drive-up and drive-thru operations, meal delivery services, and mobile ordering apps for easy touchless pick-up. In many markets, as things stand right now, indoor dining and the giant Petri dish playhouse germ fest environments are no more. To survive, restaurant concepts need to quickly adjust to unexpected change.

A great example of a success story for addressing unexpected change is Shake Shack. This well-known cult burger restaurant has introduced "Shack Track," a drive-up and delivery only format. Customers can go to the drive-up or drive-thru and order on the spot, or by using a mobile application, pre-order and pick up at a walk-up window or the drive-thru.