It's Just Lunch
doesn't offer high-tech hook-ups. The matchmaking
service sets up busy, professional singles with
potential partners for lunch dates based on personal
interviews instead of the much maligned introduction
videos or online dating pools. The company, which
operates some 80 locations worldwide, charges
singles $1,500 for a 12-month membership.
Apparently, this offline dating company has grown
since 2002, since it then had only 30 locations.
It boasts more
than 500,000 dates and 10,000 marriages and
engagements since its inception in 1992. It's Just
Lunch! was founded by former chairman Andrea McGinty
after she was jilted six weeks before her wedding.
It costs $1,500 to
join. For this sum, the company guarantees 14 coffee
or lunch dates between singles in a year. The
average male, however, confides in just three.
Competitors and industry experts estimated that the
company in 2002 had revenues of about $15-$20
million, but a March 9, 2004 Wall Street Journal
article reported sales at $25 million.
According to the
Chicago Tribune (6/15/97), in an article interviewing Andrea McGinty “…It’s easy to make a
getaway for a meeting and there’s no awkward
goodnight situation,” says McGinty. The program is
based on a 90-minute personal interview between a
Lunch! Director and a potential member. Then comes
a Dutch treat date arranged at a restaurant where
the maitre d’ and the two people know only each
other’s first names and work/interests background,
supplied by Lunch!.