Taking The Heat, Staying In The Kitchen
Despite opening a new restaurant in the spring and a batch of recent promotions, the owner of three of the most high-profile restaurants in the region says it's getting harder for restaurants in Worcester to grow.
Diners in Worcester have more choices than ever, and restaurants "have a finite number of seats," said Robb Ahlquist, who with his wife Madeleine runs the Worcester Restaurant Group, owner of the Sole Proprietor on Highland Street and 111 Chop House and VIA Italian Table on Shrewsbury Street.
He said his restaurants are still fully booked between 6:30 and 9 p.m., but with so many choices, diners would rather go someplace else than wait for an early table at 5:30 or 6 p.m. Diners are also less willing to wait for a late table between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Ahlquist said.
According to Bruce Potter, membership director at the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, the industry may have hit a temporary saturation point. "Boston has been pretty slow for a while," he said.
However, "the national trend is still increasing. It depends on the area," Potter said. Unfortunately for the Ahlquists and other restaurateurs who would limit any new openings to Central Massachusetts, or even Worcester, those areas of growth are California and Las Vegas, Potter said.
Summer Sizzle
According to Restaurant Startup & Growth magazine, Ahlquist might be on to something. The magazine tracks the number of new business licenses issued to restaurants by the state. According to its statistics, this summer was busy for restaurant openings, with 60, 67 and 72 licenses issued in June, July and August respectively.
While those numbers are down from March and April, which saw 89 and 81 business licenses issued to restaurants in Massachusetts, they're still above July and August of 2006, which saw 61 and 46 licenses issued to restaurants.
Perhaps this summer's growth spurt came at an inopportune time. Lately, Ahlquist has noticed the effects of declining disposable income on Worcester's restaurant scene.
"Our business has been strong, but the underlying economy hasn't been that strong," said Ahlquist. "With the cost of gas, groceries and housing, people are being pinched, and disposable income isn't as free-flowing as it used to be."
Among Worcester restaurants in general, "there's been a sense of softness," Ahlquist said. "We'll see what happens in the fall."
Efficiency Efforts
Fall is typically very busy for restaurants. "People are basically around," Ahlquist said. Colleges have parents' weekends, and during those weekends, Ahlquist said all three of his restaurants are booked. But sporadic business is a nightmare for restaurants, which rely on consistency, and dining rooms that are consistently booked, for success.
So, Ahlquist has turned to increasing efficiency and booking large parties.
"We're taking more large parties, more large functions," Ahlquist said. "Bookings this fall are beyond what we've ever done." The work on efficiency will be overseen by the company's new CFO, Kevin Hunt.
Ahlquist said the CFO position is a new one for the group. "We needed somebody to coordinate all the financial work, including all the purchasing," he said.
Hunt has worked for Ahlquist since 1990, and before being made CFO, was the general manager at VIA and manager at the Sole Proprietor.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments