My sister, Donna, said, "The Wendy's guy said, 'If you build it, they will come'." Susan (you remember Be Sue from Conshohocken?) said, "No, I think that came from the movie 'Field of Dreams'." My other sister, Deborah, just shouted, "BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!" All I remember is my Aunt Nonnie saying, "If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door."
On that note, Ralph and I met with Filippo yesterday afternoon, as planned. What a great space! I can really envision Ralph's Italian Market in the style of a 'Mini Mazzaro's'! There are three or four display cases, lots of shelves, an oven, wine racks, booths, chairs, and some other things. Marvelous high ceilings with ceiling fans and really great hanging light fixtures. Very spacious walk-in and freezer.
Just picture the warm display case filled with specialty pizzas, calzones, and stromboli. The cold display case filled with sausages, prosciutto, wheels of parmigiano cheese, and other fresh meats and cheeses. There will be tiramisu, cannoli, espresso. The wine rack will be stocked with the best wine you can imagine. The beer cooler will have several imported beers, not just Peroni! Then there will be shelves of specialty pastas, oils, vinegar, olives, and our sauces. Everything will have it's own area. Products will be easy to locate, but you will definitely be distracted and tempted as you move from one place to another.
Filippo was optimistic. He joyfully showed us around and explained how he had the same vision years ago that I have now when he bought the market from Joe when the place was known as The Meat Cleaver. Subsequent owners had their own visions. Little by little it became more of a sandwich shop/pizzeria than an Italian market.
So, I hope to change all that. I hope to attract all the foodies from everywhere! In the meantime, I'm formulating in my head the letter I will write to Filippo. That's the step that's going to make or break this plan. He and I need to come to an agreement on terms of rent and such. Utilities don't sound high. Just have to get everything else into an affordable range. He leaves for Italy next week, so the letter should be in the mail by Saturday. Wish me luck!
August 22, 2010
Our Italian restaurant, Carmella's Casa Italiana, has great food and service, but is failing miserably due to soft sales in a weak economy. I'm Carrie, the owner, and I work with my son, Ralph, who is a cook, and my sister, Deborah, who is the main server. Tim, a friend, is the other cook.
We tried offering breakfast about a year ago, but that didn't work. OMG! We had the best breakfast pizza!
Then, we started making our own bread and have since revamped all the sauce and dough recipes. Everything was already outstanding, but there is no pick-up in sales.
So, I decided to either sell the business or just close the doors and walk away. I tried advertising it as an asset only sale. I also advertised it with an additional fee for including the intangibles. The intangibles would be the recipes, website, customer data base, etc. Couldn't find any serious buyers.
We started telling our customers we were leaving. They begged us to stay on a little longer. Didn't seem like an option because it always felt like I was throwing good money after bad. Plus I was advised by brokers-in-the-know to get out if I couldn't triple the sales. That tripling of sales seemed awfully far-fetched......So guess we are leaving.
I encouraged my staff and other family members to come up with ideas to reinvent the business. Afterall, these are hard-workers and dedicated workers, and really, nobody wants to lose a job, especially since there are so few jobs. Ideas slowly trickled in.
Then last night it came to me! Why not phase out the restaurant part of the business, apply for different licensing, and then reinvent ourselves as an Italian Market. Ralph's Italian Market. Ralph's Italian Market at Carmella's Casa Italiana.
So, that's where we are now. Ralph is enthusiastic. Deborah is cautiously optimistic. I am ecstatic. Later this week Ralph and I are going out to visit Italian markets in Clearwater and Lakewood Ranch. Apparently, there are no Italian markets in Bradenton. We hope to capture the north Sarasota and north and west Bradenton individuals who like to buy and cook quality food/products at affordable prices. Of course, as our reputation expands, we want to capture everyone.
I'll keep you posted! Stay tuned as we move on to our next adventure, at the same location:
5408 26th Street West
Bradenton, Florida 34207.
We tried offering breakfast about a year ago, but that didn't work. OMG! We had the best breakfast pizza!
Then, we started making our own bread and have since revamped all the sauce and dough recipes. Everything was already outstanding, but there is no pick-up in sales.
So, I decided to either sell the business or just close the doors and walk away. I tried advertising it as an asset only sale. I also advertised it with an additional fee for including the intangibles. The intangibles would be the recipes, website, customer data base, etc. Couldn't find any serious buyers.
We started telling our customers we were leaving. They begged us to stay on a little longer. Didn't seem like an option because it always felt like I was throwing good money after bad. Plus I was advised by brokers-in-the-know to get out if I couldn't triple the sales. That tripling of sales seemed awfully far-fetched......So guess we are leaving.
I encouraged my staff and other family members to come up with ideas to reinvent the business. Afterall, these are hard-workers and dedicated workers, and really, nobody wants to lose a job, especially since there are so few jobs. Ideas slowly trickled in.
Then last night it came to me! Why not phase out the restaurant part of the business, apply for different licensing, and then reinvent ourselves as an Italian Market. Ralph's Italian Market. Ralph's Italian Market at Carmella's Casa Italiana.
So, that's where we are now. Ralph is enthusiastic. Deborah is cautiously optimistic. I am ecstatic. Later this week Ralph and I are going out to visit Italian markets in Clearwater and Lakewood Ranch. Apparently, there are no Italian markets in Bradenton. We hope to capture the north Sarasota and north and west Bradenton individuals who like to buy and cook quality food/products at affordable prices. Of course, as our reputation expands, we want to capture everyone.
I'll keep you posted! Stay tuned as we move on to our next adventure, at the same location:
5408 26th Street West
Bradenton, Florida 34207.
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