Most people are singing the woes of the sad — depressing, even — financial times they are experiencing. But in the some parts of theTriangle the recession experience hasn’t been all bad. The Downtown Raleigh restaurant scene is an example where success still exists among failure.
In the last few months, several old standbys have closed their doors. Enoteca Vin, a tapas and wine bar, and Joe’s Place, the old lunchtime favorite, shut down at the end of January. And just this week, Fayetteville Street Tavern and, ironically, the Hard Times Cafe closed. But among all the closings are just as many, if not more, openings.
So what prompts a business person to put his or her neck on the line during a recession? The restaurant business is a notoriously tough one to get into, with nearly two in every three restaurants failing in their first year, according to an Ohio State University study completed in 2003.
The restaurants profiled below are hoping to buck the trend, and the economy on top of that. Here’s what the owners and managers are saying about opening a business in the midst of a recession.
Metro Cafe International and Lounge
Metro Cafe International and Lounge, a modern lounge with sleek sofas and vibrant decor sits on quaint, cobblestone-paved Blake Street in Downtown Raleigh. The watering hole is brand now — its grand opening was March 30–and cofounders Arpan Makam and Rupesh Prajapati look with optimism on their new business venture amidst the recession.
Makam, the 24-year-old owner/manager and alumnus, and Prajapati, a senior in philosophy of law and the marketing director of Metro Cafe and Lounge, were excited to talk about their new business.
Both Makam and Prajapati, or “Pesh,” are optimistic despite the economy.
“We felt like alcohol was somewhat recession-proof,” Makam said. “We figured we could jumpstart the coffee business. The opportunity was great and the price was right, so we thought we could make it.”
The cafe and lounge is the first venture for Makam Hospitality ADB, LOC, the two men’s company.
Both said that the cafe would have a slow start and slowly make its way up with the increase of traffic over the summer.
“As the summer approaches and traffic starts to increase, we will expect to see a jump and growth in our business,” Prajapati said.
Makam said the entrepreneur’s expectations were reasonable.
“Since it’s our first time doing coffee we expect a slow growth,” he said.
Makam and Prajapati have employed a few different business tactics to bring in customers.
According to Makam, booking events and throwing parties are the biggest strategies to drawing crowds of people.
“We throw parties, we don’t just have an open bar, you know what I mean?” Makam said.
According to Makam and Prajapati, Metro caters to the needs of the customers by providing daily drink specials in order to keep parties booked fairly regularly and to keep things fresh.
“One strategy we use is on weekdays we design a special we can sell those nights,” Makam said.
The cafe menu features international coffees and snacks. Prices range from one dollar to $3.50.
“Coffee is a mature market now. Let’s be a little different and say it’s from specific regions in the world,” Makam said.
“We actually get our beans from farmers from specific regions from around the world,” Prajapati added.
Prajapati said the menu was only rudimentary and was going to increase during the summer to include more frozen items.
The nighttime lounge also hosts a variety of events like latin night, hip-hop night and salsa nights and has a “recession” drink menu with nine drinks priced at five dollars each.
Prajapati, who is still a student himself, said new graduates shouldn’t be down about the economy.
“Keep your options open,” he said.
The Busy Bee
Despite the down economy, some locals, like David Meeker, Chris Powers, and Woody Lockwood, are making the hard decision to open businesses downtown in hopes of capitalizing on efforts to revitalize downtown Raleigh.
This week, Meeker, Powers, and Lockwood opened The Busy Bee Café on Wilmington Street, and so far things are going fairly well.
“It’s only our second day, and business has been great,” Powers said. “I think we have a lot of support from downtown businesses and people who live and work downtown.”
Although knowledgeable of the economic woes faced by many, Powers says that the chance to open the café was one that could not be abandoned. In fact, the economy did not really come into the equation.
“We simply had everything that we needed,” Powers said. “The building became available and it was the right space. Everything just kind of lined up perfectly. We couldn’t pass it up.”
Though the shape of the economy often plays a huge part in entrepreneurial ventures, the current state of the economy never posed too much of a threat for Powers and his partners.
“The economic crisis started after we already had this project in mind,” Powers said. “I think we were sort of recession proof in the beginning. In the fact that the recession continued and we began to see some bright spots pushing through.”
At least one thing that The Busy Bee has going for them, however, is the restaurant’s affordability. Powers mentions that The Busy Bee is not a destination restaurant with ridiculously high prices. Instead, he insists that the café is a place “where people come to three or four times a week for a good sandwich or salad.”
While Powers realizes that there may be many struggles ahead, he is certain that The Busy Bee will continue to thrive for reasons like this.
“We’re in a price point where people could eat at six months ago, and that will just get better” Powers said. “What we were trying to do is provide a place where people can come in and get great food and not worry about how much they’re spending.”
Boylan Bridge Brewpub
When local restaurants and bars were closing in the area last year, Andrew Leager, owner of the Boylan Bridge Brewpub, remained optimistic that his vision would be a success. And it has.
Just one month ago, the Boylan Bridge Brewpub opened for business, and according to manager MC Palermo, things could not be going much better. In fact, this past weekend was the pub’s busiest yet, according to Palermo.
In traditional business practices, there are many keys to organizing, planning, and running a successful business. Throw in the element of a less-than-stable economy, and it becomes a drastically different story. To Palermo, however, the key to succeeding in these economic times is quite simple: pricing.
“We sell food and beer at a reasonable price,” Palermo said.
In addition, while the economy may be slipping, it seems that people are still excited about the sense of newness that the pub has brought to downtown Raleigh and are anxious to get out and experience it, according to Palermo.
Palermo also thinks that the revitalization of downtown Raleigh and the increase in people living in the area will only continue help the business.
“The more developing that goes on downtown, the more people will come around for a beer,” Palermo said. “So, I’m definitely supportive of all the growth.”
Because of the growth Palermo mentioned, city officials have been making numerous decisions to assist local businesses like the Boylan Bridge Brewpub. One example of this would be the creation of the R-Line, downtown Raleigh’s free circulator buses that help people get around downtown, which Palermo believes has been a big help as well.
“I really love that the R-Line is running, and we can have a way for people to get around without having to drive, especially late at night and weekends,” Palermo said. “I think that’s been very helpful, and that’s a great thing that [the City of] Raleigh does.”
However, at one point, it seemed as if “The Bridge,” as it has been dubbed by many locals, might never see the light of day.
“We have private investors here, and they each put in their money,” Palermo said. “Of course, it was difficult to get started because of the economy, but now that we’re open everything is going rather well. It seems like we can’t keep up.”
However, in the end it seems that despite the many uncertainties, there are still things that are for sure. One of those things is the fact that “people are drinking beer” as Palermo puts it–especially when it is affordable.
