‘Why do we hype them up?’ Gee and Ursula debate whether restaurant chains deserve media coverage

Several national restaurant chains opened in Washington for the first time in 2025. Now, Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin, the hosts of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, are questioning whether those chains deserve all the media attention while small businesses struggle to survive.

“There are restaurants that seem to get tons of headlines. Chick-fil-A, we always hear about a Chick-fil-A opening or a Dick’s opening, and why is it that we hype these things up? Do people care as much as editors think we care?” Ursula asked.

“Yes, we do,” Gee responded. “We care because we get on social media and talk about these things constantly. What we don’t realize is the impact that it truly has on our communities. These chains are coming into our communities, and they don’t build them; they kind of extract. What I mean is, for every big chain that comes in, there is a small mom-and-pop restaurant that is closing.

“It’s really good to go out and support the small businesses, but at the same time, we know that the small businesses are having a hard time because their costs are through the roof,” Gee continued. “Some of these big chain restaurants, it’s cheaper to go eat there than it is at a small business. That’s the whacked-out problem. There are a lot of people who would love to go and support the small business, but they have a budget every month.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.