Area markets, restaurants feeling bite of recession

[thelakelander]

National chains scale back expansion; mom-and-pop delis thrive.

By Kevin Turner Story updated at 4:56 PM on Friday, Jan. 23, 2009

Dennis O’Neil and his wife, Vilma, decided to have lunch Wednesday at the Ruby Tuesday at 590 Marsh Landing Parkway in Jacksonville Beach, where they had eaten about three weeks ago.

But when they got there, they found the door locked, its building signs removed and its street sign blacked over.

“It definitely was a shock,” Dennis O’Neil said. “They always had a lot of customers. It was neat, clean and everything else.”

The Wall Street Journal reported in December that the Maryville, Tenn.-based Ruby Tuesday Inc. would close 10 percent of its company-owned restaurants, closing 40 in coming months and another 30 in years to follow.

The chain, which had 714 restaurants nationwide at the time, blamed weakening profits for the action, the newspaper reported. Sandi Stablein, director of communications for Ruby Tuesday Inc., did not return calls for comment Thursday and Friday.

Other restaurants in Jacksonville also have been forced out of business as the recession widens.

Matthew’s Market & Catering in San Marco, across Hendricks Avenue from the upscale Matthew’s Restaurant, will close today after three years, said co-owner Chad Labenz. Labenz owns the market with Matthew Medure. The business, which sells prime meats and cheeses, wines and prepared meals, was renovated early last year.

“We didn’t get much traction with this phase of the market,” Labenz said.

He said the economic downtown, a local trend away from higher-end foods and a false perception that the market’s prices were higher than those in grocery stores and fresh markets, made matters worse. The market may later re-open in a different form, he said. Matthew’s Restaurant is not affected, he said.

full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/business/2009-01-23/story/area_markets_restaurants_feeling_bite_of_recession

[thelakelander]

Interesting.  For every restaurant that closes, two or three are opening.  However, the majority of those opening are locally owned.  This should be news for those seeking to revitalize urban commercial corridors.  Think local.

[thelakelander]

It was a part of the article:

Corkey Bergamo, Northeast Florida Regional Director of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, said recent restaurant closures in Jacksonville have not been as widespread as in other Florida cities that have been hit harder by the economic recession. But there was good news inasmuch as some lower-cost restaurants here are thriving, he noted. It’s mostly the high-end restaurants that are suffering from reduced business, he said.

“Little mom-and-pop sandwich shops and delis are doing extremely well,” he said.

Bergamo estimated that for every Jacksonville-area restaurant that closes, another two or three seek to open, but the majority of them are local interests. Many restaurant chains are pulling back on expansions, he noted.

[urbanlibertarian]

Might we see the 11E Starbucks replaced by a mom and pop?