Everything Old Is New Again

Greetings from the milepost 41.4 on the Garden State Parkway, where I write this week’s edition of the Weekly Report. I’m sipping a Starbucks at the Frank Sinatra Service Center. You just never know where inspiration for this newsletter/blog comes from.

I’m “tan, ready, and rested” to tackle another week, after spending the majority of this week lakeside on Saratoga Lake and trackside at Saratoga Race Course. The lake was formed 13,500 years ago, but the track is a mere 159 years old. In both cases, the old adage rings true — everything old is new again.

I’ve lived long enough to recognize “macro trends.” Nostalgia as a theme permeates almost every industry and cultural norm. It’s a powerful brand driver, because it connects people with the past and creates an emotional attachment to — based on memories of a better time in their lives — their youth.

As I look around I can see that bell bottom pants and mullets are making a comeback. Every restaurant now serves “small plates” and every burger joint is touting their “smashburger” and places tout their new “all-day breakfast menu.” Ironically, my old school diners may be trendy once again. The Texas Inn always had small plates. We cook burgers by smashing them on a grill and we’ve served all-day (and all-night) breakfast for 87 years – 30 years before McDonalds was founded.

If you wait long enough eventually a popular trend — in culture, fashion, the arts or hospitality — will return. Glad I kept my Crocs from 2003. They’re trendy again.

QOTW: 1) What trend would you like to see again? 2) What trend should die off? Let me know via email!