On Apr 4, 4:35*pm, wrote:
On Apr 4, 2:53*am, Graeme Wall wrote:

They also used to have to have Candbury's vending machines, though those
disappeared around 2006/07.

Too many people figured out how to get an extra free bar out of those
machines.

the NYC subway used to have thin vending machines (candy, gum) that
mounted on pillars of the station. *I think other cities had them,
too. *The MTA got rid of them some years ago claiming they weren't
properly maintained.

We forget that in the old days vending machines were strictly
mechanical and did not make change. *Today, I can't imagine a machine
not taking dollar bills and not making change.

In Philadelphia and NYC, often near subway and train stations, there
was a popular restaurant chain, "Horn & Hardart", that used vending
machines known as the Automat. *The machines were constantly refreshed
by crews working behind them. *They had good wholesome food at a
reasonable price. *Unfortunately, times and tastes changed and the
business shut down.

Does the UK have fast food chains similar (or the same) as the US'
McDonald's, Burger King, etc.?

Yes, the very same. Some of the food in McDonalds is slightly
different. Pret in New York that I went into had exactly the same
decor as the one in Croydon UK had at the time. Walking around Staten
Island Mall, a surprising number of the shops are exactly the same,
but the three big ones there , J C Penny, Sears, and I can't remember
the third one, do not operate in the UK. The second biggest
supermarket chain here, Asda, is owned by Wall-Mart, but trades under
the ASDA name. Wendy had a small number of outlets here, but then
moved out, then returned with an even smaller number, then withdrew
again. They were probably the best of the hanburger chains. Starbucks
is another name you will find over here. I think Nero and Costa are
also over there, but I'm not sure.

I think you also have some of our shops over there now, Marks &
Spencer and Tesco for example I believe operate in the US to a limited
extent.

Budweiser beer is sold here; I thought it was horrible when I tried
it. The stuff sold here if brewed at the old Watney's brewery in West
London, so I thought this might be the reason, but somebody gave me a
sip to try when I was over there, and it was exactly the same, not
much taste, and what there was not very pleasant. This was in Jersey
City, so probably from the Newark brewery, rather than the main one.
There was some link between Cadbury's and Hershey, some bars sold
under the Cadbury name here were made under licence by Hershey, but I
think this arrangement ended before Cadbury was sold to Kraft.

Borders bookshops were here, until they went into administration.

We have Greyhound over here, but they're much smaller than National
Express. I don't know if they're related to the Greyhound over there
which is owned by First Group, one of the largest bus operators in the
uk, and based in Scotland.