KK didn’t just overexpand they were a fad.
There is not a single one left in my metro area.
I grew up on KK in the south. Good product but sadly they let a bunch of New Yorkers drive them into the ground.
Chipotle won’t go out of business but it’s a fad in a few years they will be like Olive Garden unable to raise prices without losing market share.
When they retracted they shut them all down in multiple states. A big part of over expanding was thinking the fad bump would be permanent. Smart businesses understand that the fad time is a good time to hoard money, not to blow it. They thought they’d never stop growing, and created their own destruction.
I think it all depends on where you live. Because Chipotle started in Denver where I live (Tucson) was one of its first expansion places. They might have been a fad here 15 years ago, but that time has passed, now they’re a regular fast casual restaurant competing well in a crowded market. They might be a fad where you’re at, but they’ve proven they can make the transition and keep a solid market share in the process.
Subway kind of locked themselves in the school/business “lunch crowd” for $5 dollar footlongs.