Closure Studies#

Every trade press profile is survivorship bias#

• the restaurant that made it: profiled, franchised, written up
• the one three doors down that closed in year two: nothing
• same neighbourhood, same rent, same year — only one leaves evidence

A closed restaurant still leaves a trail#

• reviews, dated and often specific about what changed near the end
• a delivery-app menu, sometimes still online
• health-inspection records, public in most jurisdictions
• a map pin still marked “permanently closed”

This course reads that trail like an autopsy.

Four lenses, one at a time#

1. location — foot traffic, rent, what else is on the block
2. menu — cost structure, what the prices actually say
3. service — the reviews, read for the point sentiment turned
4. narrative — the excuse everyone believed, tested against evidence

What’s due#

• week 4 — Specimen Dossier: prove the case is real
• week 9 — Autopsy Report: the written case, cross-examined by a peer
• week 12 — Coroner’s Inquest: defend the verdict, live, under questions