So we went to the new wine and cheese place Calpurina last night. Now the wife and I have been involved in the bar and restaurant business for a long time before we opened the clothing store. So we know a lot about it and it is hard to watch people you like making the same mistakes that you had seen other people make the same errors.
Now the last time I talked about this joint I told you about the little southern gay guy who became the first regular in this joint. The owners and the workers don't really know how to deal with him because they have no experience in dealing in the bar business. This guy is obviously very lonely so he comes into the joint five or six nights a week for some wine and some food and engages whoever sits at the bar in conversation. Sometimes it is fine and sometimes there is a problem. So what happens last night is the guy has a bottle of wine and he is half in the bag already. So he can't finish his wine. Now a couple come in while he is settling his check and goes to them "Hey you guys you can finish my wine." A big no-no. You want your customers to buy stuff you don't want them to drink stuff you already sold. Now the bar handled it wrong. You need to nip that in the bud. What I told them to do is to approach the guy the next time he comes in before he starts drinking. I would tell him he can't do that anymore. If he can't finish his bottle you can put his name on it and cork it and hold it for the next time he comes in which will basically be tomorrow. At no time can he give away booze. He can buy somebody a drink but not give it away.
Dealing with regulars is the hardest thing in the world.
9 comments:
out of curiosity...what portion of your revenue comes from regulars in a place like that? Is it significant? Would it mean the difference of breaking even or not if you had a core group of regulars?
I don't know...that's why I'm asking.
Well regulars are the people who spend money in the bleak days of February or the boiling hot days of July. Plus nobody wants to go to an empty place so having some people at the bar always helps. Regulars have to be about 50% of you take because your occasional drinkers don't come often enough to keep you in business. Unless you run a tourist bar or something like Stans at Yankee Stadium where there are new people every day. You need a solid core of people who come in to spend money otherwise you just need to shut the door.
Of course there are problems with that. The regulars start to think that they own the bar and want you to do things their way. The only way to combat that is to change the bartenders frequently. That cuts way down on the buy backs and the overpours. That's the only way you are going to maintain control and make some money.
50%! Whew! That's higher than I thought...Would that be true in just restaurants too? (no booze)
I worked as a cook at an Italian place in college. The owner/chef told the dishwasher and I we could have anything for dinner we wanted except fish or veal. His mother (who made the pasta) would complain: "Let him eat what he wants!", and then they'd fight. He would "win" the fight, but mama would say "Tonight...I want two veals!", like he'd ever deny her that! Then, when he wasn't looking, she'd have me eat half of hers...
I'd help her do the shopping for supplies at this great Italian grocer we had nearby. She'd load me up with sausages, peppers, onions, fresh made gnocci, just for me to take home...But I was the only person at home who liked Italian!
The place folded when people figured out how many cars got stolen from his lot, and the Detroit cops thought that was amusing...
The owner/chef was a 5'6" guy who married a 6'1" ex-Vegas showgirl actually named Nevada.
Trooper, I learn a whole hell of a lot from your posts about business.
Mostly I learn that after almost 50 years I still don't know a goddamn thing about anything.
That's totaly true in restaurants Ron. Now being a regular in a restaurant is different than a regular in a bar.
A regular in a restaurant comes once a month.
A regular in a bar comes twice a week.
Oh, and a guy who spends too much time om the internet never comes at all.
I always wanted to be a regular at Callahan's Crosstime Saloon.
I've only ever been a regular at the bar and restaurant at my athletic club. And the bistro at my favorite bookstore. Once a month you say? Hmmmm. I think I'm a regular regular.
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