Waffle House Needs to Sell Merchandise Alongside T-Bones

It’s not quite a diner, it’s not quite a QSR, and to steal a Stewie Griffin quote, it’s delightfully white trash (no offense to the fandom). And if
Waffle House was to sell its t-shirts and caps alongside its waffles and t-bone steaks, I’m sure they’d sell.

I ate at one for the first time yesterday in Kissimmee, because my friend Rob has given my the recommendation every time I’ve headed south. This time I told him if I liked the experience, and a Waffle House camouflage cap was available there, I’d buy us both one.

And when I changed my Facebook status update to read “is heading to Waffle House,” my friend Sheryl immediately commented, “I love their syrup, steal some for me.”

Waffle House definitely has a brand following, and they are selling some merchandise online. But think of the impact they could make if they had these items available for sale in its restaurants. A “scattered, smothered and covered” t-shirt may not sell like hotcakes (or waffles) in Pendleton, IN. But in some of the tourist-trap towns like Kissimmee, first-timers like me may want a souvenir.

And seeing many of the Waffle Houses I saw in the greater Orlando area are tied into these souvenir stands anyway, hawking $8.95 t-shirts to the out-of-towners probably isn’t a bad idea.

Now the syrup… I liked it, Sheryl told me she liked it, so maybe a licensing deal could be in the works? It would (maybe) keep me from asking Sheryl and Rob if they want to take a 157-mile road-trip to Allentown to get another taste of the Waffle House experience.

My advice to Waffle House: Test in-store product-selling. See how it goes in a few stores. Work out a deal with RealTree.com to bring some of your product into some select eateries. Bottle and label some bottles of your own syrup. And let me know how it goes.

And if it’s successful, they can thank me with one of those camouflage caps… and one for Rob, and a bottle of syrup for Sheryl.