Little Caesars Pizza

[cookshow]

Little Caesars has taken MGA by storm. I first saw them few yrs ago at the new mall Centroamerica, then over by Lewites Mercado, now they are in food courts at all the malls I have been in, and have Kiosk in the mall parking lots. Standard Ham or Pepperoni pizza is $4, hard deal to beat and if your are not too picky about your pizza it is not bad pizza (for $4). Surprising how fast they have expanded and from what I have seen they are doing a booming Biz.

In other fast food news, seems Burger King pulled out last year, all the stores are empty. McDonalds shut their Plaza Inter Food Court location. January when I was in Metro Center Food Court and few places were shuttered and it was dead, now is busy and few new places including Little Caesars.

Food Courts are a good way to judge things, in August, November, and January you could have heard a pin drop in Metro Center, been in there few times in last few months and it is bustling. Mall parking lot is jammed too.

[Little Corn Tom]

Sounds promising......

[bill_bly_ca]

IIRC Pizza Hut (Spawning compettitor Pizza Hot) and Pappa John's also had initial big following... The Poppa John's in Masaya was closed last Jan.

[cookshow]

Not sure if any of the Papa Johns are still open. Pizza hut still seems to do an ok business.

[RGV AG]

Food Courts are a good way to judge things, in August,

Funnily enough I was told by a very good friend of mine down there that indeed the Food Courts were a great way to judge the state of things. He said that if the food courts were totally empty is a really bad sign, as those are a barometer of things in general. The upwardly mobile eventually move out of going to them in favor of restaurants and the lower classes when doing well go to them as a sign of upward mobility. When they are totally empty it means that even those that ascended are not able to drop down and those below can't go. I wonder what group is frequenting them now? I think Nicaragua is on borrowed time as I wold imagine that quite a few of those out and about are on the government payroll.

I have understood that the government has gotten impossibly slow in paying its vendors, all money is kept to be available for payrolls. There have been some government layoffs, but there is talk about a "solidarity/loyalty" bonus next year for those loyal to the party. I guess if they can keep funding the deal things will be OK, relatively speaking.

The 1% revaulation of the Cord against the Dollar is not something I quite understand, from a dumbass Aggie perspective it tells me that the government figures it has enough Dollars to prop up the Cord and they want to take a discount on wage, pension, and other obligations that they might have.

[cookshow]

I have understood that the government has gotten impossibly slow in paying its vendors, all money is kept to be available for payrolls. There have been some government layoffs, but there is talk about a "solidarity/loyalty" bonus next year for those loyal to the party. I guess if they can keep funding the deal things will be OK, relatively speaking.

The 1% revaulation of the Cord against the Dollar is not something I quite understand, from a dumbass Aggie perspective it tells me that the government figures it has enough Dollars to prop up the Cord and they want to take a discount on wage, pension, and other obligations that they might have.

Talked to someone other day who works in the government and fears being laid off, is a secretary/clerk type of job.

Read an article on the devaluation over a few times and, really could not figure it out except they are manipulating it and must be a reason. 1% doesn't seem like much help but guess it is something.

[Daddy-YO]

Before Pizza Hut took over a prominent corner in downtown Leon, they forced the local Pizza Hot to change its name. The Hut has quality pizza and good delivery, but is a bit pricey and eating in the place is lackluster. Their full-size restaurant by the 'new' mall - whose development froze at ~80%, even before the April-18 revolt - that Pizza Hut does pretty well with those who come by car from the burbs.

Hollywood Pizza now has 3 locations in Leon and all do a booming business, usually packed & overflowing. (Well, I should say 'did' since I haven't been there since May. We'll soon return to see.) Their delivery service is excellent. Hollywood sells its dough to a van-kiosk outfit that makes pizzas in a jerry-rigged oven that turn out quite good and dirt cheap.

[bill_bly_ca]

I spent a little time skimming google on crawling peg and could not find any guiding references on why or what changing the rate will do. But if other economic decisions are bellwether chances are it is good short term, bad long term.

There are a few good Pizza places in Masaya, but it certainly is not my go-to food. Maybe when we are spending more than 30 days at a time there.

[el duende grande]

Thems what gots it gots it. No sense sitting at home behind the burglar bars waiting for gloom and doom, especially when g&d is so long term. Remember the old movie On the Beach? Every time I drive in town now I think of that movie.

We go to a little Italian restaurant on the north end of town for pizza. My wife likes their eggplant. Looks good but reminds me of a cheese enchilada. Hope he does well enough to upgrade his building to be more comfy.

Nic can't dump the buck, there is no where else to go and it would cause an internal crash as both sides of the elite are invested too deeply. If the US impedes the flow of bucks it will become very hard for expats. Imagine making a border run every month and carrying cash.

[Jonh]

I recall watching the pizza delivery people in Esteli strapping the cardboard boxes on the back of their dirt bikes and bouncing along the rough pavement, wondering how much of the pizza would end up stuck to the boxtop.

[KeyWestPirate]

If the US impedes the flow of bucks it will become very hard for expats.


Yes,, that's how it was in Cuba. Couldn't get cash.
You had to bring your own cash. Even telephone calls were routed through Canada, and cost $1 /minute.

No US credit cards,, if you had a Canadian bank connection,, a CC worked,, but I never saw an ATM.

I loved Cuba and was treated well.

A border run for cash won't be so bad. Every two or three months. I worry more about fuel. How is Nicaragua going to buy fuel? I guess Russia?? If they buy from Iran,, the S#!T will really hit the fan.
Will Nicaragua remain open to the trucks that pass through the country?
CR manufactures a lot of small items that Nicaragua consumes.

Although,, I bought diesel for my boat in Cuba for $2 /gallon,, a real surprise,, and as I remember, less than in the US at that time. Cuba was eager for dollars too,, or rather,, convertible pesos. No one wanted dollars,, they wanted your money after it had been converted. It exchanged at a 20% premium,, so you only got 80 cents on the dollar of value. Fidel's haircut, it was referred to at the time.


And you know the Nicaraguan government will be eager to assist the entrance of dollars from any source.
Remember the dollar stores during the Sandi's early days? Cuba had those too while I was there.

A PriceSmart that only accepts dollars?
The PriceSmart inventory comes from Panama now, except for the minimal Nicaragua input,, I worry more about life without PriceSmart.

No donuts,, no peanut butter,, no Honey Bunches of Oats,, how's a guy supposed to live??

[bill_bly_ca]

A border run for cash won't be so bad. Every two or three months.

Apparently we Canadians get a 120day Visa

A PriceSmart that only accepts dollars?
The PriceSmart inventory comes from Panama now, except for the minimal Nicaragua input,, I worry more about life without PriceSmart.

I think (gut feel) that the FSLN can only retain their base with things like Pricemart, Galarias, MetroCentral and other "Perks" - If those slide for the nostalgic Pinolero , rice beans and Tortilla con salt the base will fall like a house of cards...

[RGV AG]

Speaking of Nicaraguan Pizza, when I first started frequenting Nicaragua I would foot the gringo tax bill of having to pay for a lot of eat outs for coworkers and such. Whenever I would ask or was treating someone, with really no reasonable limit in place, they would invariably ask for Tip Top or Valenti's. Valentis was a bigger bang for the cord and the GD Nicas just loved it. I hated that pizza, to me it just sucked ass. Well as things go, I ate it so much and finally discovered the onion and jalapeno pizza, with only those two ingredients, but i would add olives, that the worm turned. It became my favorite franchise pizza in Nicaragua, and I could sure go for one of those Jalapeno and Onion ones right about now.

F'ing Pizza Hut in Nicaragua, at least my experience, was about as consistent as a politician is honest. The quality varied so much from store to store and even from day to day at the same stores. They did do an all you could eat deal in Managua while I was still there, something like all you could eat from 2:00pm until 6:00pm, I often wondered how that worked out for them? I could see folks going in there with shopping bags and filling them with Pizza. I did it once and it was OK, but I am just to old to take advantage of those deals any more.

[Daddy-YO]

Eating pizza in Leon is a family affair. It may be a special night out or a 'feast' delivered. And it's eaten smothered in catsup or ketchup (the word originally referred to a paste made from fermented fish guts). It blew me away when I first saw the custom (I come from a town that's half Italian (oops, PC=Italian-American; I struggle to find my own hyphenated ID) and a lot of pride goes into their marinara sauce.) A delivered pizza comes with sides of oregano, chili pepper, and a dozen mini-packets of catsup. Strange folk these Nica.

[bill_bly_ca]

Expat fellow who has weather as a hobby and is always posting weather forecasts on the FB groups reported on Apoyo be stuffed to the Gills this past weekend - Nair a place to park your car/scooter nor your butt..

Repliers quoted that Month 13 was paid earlier in the week and that why the troughs were full..

[bill_bly_ca]

I spent a little time skimming google on crawling peg and could not find any guiding references on why or what changing the rate will do. But if other economic decisions are bellwether chances are it is good short term, bad long term.

An economics professor, who has an uncanny resemblence to Jerry Lewis, explains on the show Confidencial - I think I will have to listen to this 3 or 4 times to "get it"

[KeyWestPirate]

An economics professor, who has an uncanny resemblence to Jerry Lewis, explains on the show Confidencial - I think I will have to listen to this 3 or 4 times to "get it"

I read the La Prensa announcement like four times in English translation, studied the graphs,, could not make any sense of it at all.

Why not just peg the cordoba to the dollar and be done with it?
Anything of any consequence is pegged to the dollar anyway.

[Jonh]

I thought it already was pegged to the dollar.

"Progressive" economics isn't supposed to make sense, it's supposed to dazzle you with bullshit and make you feel dumb for not getting it, while they destroy the economy.

[el duende grande]

The value of the cord depends on the faith that people (mostly abroad) have in the issuing govmint, which is pretty much squat in the case of Nic. since they went off the gold/silver standard. They have been on a controlled slide vis a vis the USD for a long time to avoid the type of sudden crash that Mexico had a few decades ago. How it has managed to hold up and what they are doing with the formula now is beyond me. Anyway, Sal, Ecuador, and Panama run on the USD directly. Nic. runs on a de facto dual currency basis. I can't see that changing. Nic would never take the ego hit to go straight bucks and would never survive on straight cords.

[Daddy-YO]

If you look at the graph of the month average exchange rate, you can see the peg:
https://www.exchange-rates.org/history/NIO/USD/G/M

But a glance at daily fluctuations over the past 90 days shows a clear inflationary trend after the economic-voodoo announcement,
https://www.exchange-rates.org/history/NIO/USD/G/90

[KeyWestPirate]

If you look at the graph of the month average exchange rate, you can see the peg:
https://www.exchange-rates.org/history/NIO/USD/G/M

But a glance at daily fluctuations over the past 90 days shows a clear inflationary trend after the economic-voodoo announcement,
https://www.exchange-rates.org/history/NIO/USD/G/90

I always wondered why the Cordoba was called NIO. So it's NIaragua Oro,, from the time the Cordoba was re-issued after the the monster devaluation. Gold Cordoba,, they were called, and initially, very hard to come by.

One has to respect the discipline that the BCN showed by not just printing a mess of them.