My esteemed colleague and Deal Diva, Stephanie Hayes, wrote this great story last week about how everything's shrinking.

She had a lot of good examples, but I just got a couple more. Krispy Kreme is debuting tiny doughnuts (hey, KKs gotta do something to boost their flagging sales trend), and Cheesecake Factory has unveiled small plates with correspondingly small prices. A box of 20 KK mini doughnuts is priced at $6.99. The CF small plates and snacks menu includes 16 dishes priced from $3.95 to $6.50 (beets with goat cheese, onion rings, shrimp scampi crostini, ahi tartare, stuffed mushrooms or pizzettes).

In summary: Size matters. And price. More evidence: Chili’s Grill & Bar just introduced 10 menu items under $7 and a "Bites" line of mini sandwiches. Burger King has those mini burgers, Quizno's has those skinny torpedo sandwiches, and Chipotle is rolling out a line of smaller, lower-priced items.

[photo still from Buena Vista Pictures]