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.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Where have you been?

Well, no, I'm not asking that about you. I'm hoping you are asking that about me! I've been busy, and there's much to tell; however, the sun is peeking out after 8 days of clouds. So I put on my sunscreen, donned my hat and bathing suit, grabbed a book and raft, and I'm headed to the pool. I'll be back later to bring you up to speed on the latest developments. See you then, so check back!
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