Why urban areas are a challenge for casual chains

Famous Toastery opened its first of two downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, locations about a decade ago — veering from its primary market in the suburbs. Urban areas such as Charlotte’s downtown can be challenging environments for casual dining restaurant chains like Famous Toastery for a number of reasons. Rents are high, those areas don’t always generate traffic outside workweek hours, and dense business corridors can come with a number of space limitations, experts say.