The ad that aired during the Super Bowl promising customers a free grand slam breakfast at Denny’s on Monday was a huge hit, with folks lining up for the free meal all day long.

In Valdosta, the restaurant’s team was well prepared, and according to one of the managers, Danny Earle, the eatery on St. Augustine had the most guests of any in their company, with 1,364 meals given away.

The grand slam — pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage — giveaway was Denny’s way of thanking its customers and lending a helping hand in this trying economy. “The company wanted people to be able to eat for free and spend their money somewhere else,” said Earl.

Locally, more than $28,000 in free meals was given away, and nationally, more than $5 million company wide, which includes the money spent on one commercial. The ad generated so much interest in the third quarter that the company recorded 14 million hits on its Web site, which crashed their server, according to Earl. Two things can be learned — if it’s free, people will come; and advertising works. Whether you are a national company spending on a large scale or a local company spending on a small scale, people can’t spend money with your business if they don’t know about it.

Congratulations to the Denny’s team for making us all look good by handling your customers courteously and by giving back to the community.

Valdosta really is doing fine

It’s interesting to me that I am frequently criticized for being a “cheerleader” for the community, with (some) people insisting that there is doom and gloom around every corner. Not so, I keep saying. The local economy is doing just fine, thanks, and will recover later this year.

So when two economists this week discussed the outlook for business this year at the Chamber’s invitation, it was gratifying to hear that they both essentially agreed with me. Dr. Terry Humphreys from the University of Georgia and Dr. Cliff Lipscomb of Valdosta State University both said that the recession started nearly a year later in Valdosta than the rest of the country, it will be milder here than in many areas, and the diversity of the local economy goes a long way towards helping keep us afloat. Others who rely heavily on one sector aren’t faring well at all these days.

Yes, there’ve been layoffs. Yes, there are businesses in trouble or who have closed their doors. But businesses are still opening, entrepreneurs are still taking chances, and the local economy really is doing pretty well overall. And two experts agree.

Business Roundup

It appears that the Raceway in Lake Park has reopened after being closed for a couple of weeks. Cheap (er) gas is back in the southern part of the county.

The health food store in Remerton is moving across the parking lot to where a former auto dealership was on Baytree Road.

It looks like Diamond Eagle Marine is closing on South Patterson, but hopefully the boat repair aspect of the business will survive.