Denny's gets 'Slammed'

If anyone had any doubts that consumers are looking for better value -- if they spend their money at all these days -- all they had to do was show up at Denny's on Tuesday morning.

The lines of people were well more than 100-deep at the local Denny's I went to, and they were out the door as eager customers -- young and old -- waited for a free Grand Slam breakfast.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, quite frankly. It looked like a line to get into a thrill ride at Disneyland.

To me, what's amazing is that a year ago -- maybe even six months ago, if you would have told me that a restaurant would give away entire meals to anyone for a day, I would not have believed you.

But the times have changed -- drastically.

People are truly holding on to their money, and anything free in today's economic climate seems to create a huge frenzy.

Not that that's a bad thing. It's just that Tuesday's showing of hundreds of people outside of Denny's entrance, proved that people are only looking for good deals, if they are spending money at all these days.

It also proved that when we save, it hurts businesses, and gives consumers some leverage over price.

I saw it all on Tuesday...kids were fiddling around on laptops. And families dug in for what were long waits.

But the fact that you could get two sausages, two pancakes, two pieces of bacon and two eggs for free was worth the wait -- even though your arteries may come out the worse for it.

I was disappointed that I couldn't get a meal. I had a deadline to meet, and just couldn't wait. After visiting the Irwindale Denny's, I had no chance of getting a meal at 9 a.m. I next tried Baldwin Park's Denny's. The line was just too large to get in.

So, I just walked over to another old stand-by: McDonald's. Now if they start offering free food...look out.

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