Local Charm
It doesn't help that they also seem to specialise in disinterested staff, and dingy poorly cleaned interiors with all the charm of a municipal toilet.
Are you sure those are not just the charm and colour of your locale or hometown?
I know the first KFC to open in my neck of the woods (circa 1989-1990) was closed shortly thereafter due to selling raw chicken - it was 10 years before another opened.