Ducie Street Warehouse’s Post

Follow the link below to view the article. ‘THE RIGHT FIT’ The Main Cup owners to retire, selling restaurant to Hootch and Banter owners

Carson Raising Cane's: Achieving High Pricing for a QSR Restaurant Read the full article below..

Long post, but hear me out folks: Recently, I was contacted by a local tv station inquiring about a handful of restaurant closures - mostly chains and a few locally owned. I provided some insights to provide full context and assure their viewers that the Lafayette economy - and our retail sector - remains strong. I’d like to ensure the full context of my remarks make it to the public since tv segments are comprised of only short sound bites. 1) For starters, Lafayette has experienced record breaking sales tax collections - reaching $7.7 billion cumulative by NOV 2023, on track to reach or exceed 2022’s record breaking $8.2 billion total. 2) The restaurant sector is especially tough terrain because of tight margins - and it’s even harder at a time when supply costs are high, labor costs are up, and labor supply is also tight! Also, national chains are constantly scanning their portfolios to eliminate underperforming stores, older facilities. 3) Lafayette has a very high number of restaurants per capita and a healthy number of LOCAL restaurants (https://lnkd.in/gbi5Ss-N) - a GOOD thing for the consumer, but it makes competition pretty fierce. 4) The collective impact of restaurants in Lafayette is solid - thousands of jobs and on average 40-cents on the dollar remains here in the local economy. 5) For these reasons LEDA invests in programs like Shop Local campaigns to encourage people to shop and dine at local establishments! 6) But, we are grateful for investments from retailers and restaurants both locally owned and nationally owned chains! We have a robust balance of local and nationally owned chain eateries and we LIKE IT that way! 7) While some outlets like to talk about closures, we keep those in mind and on the radar to make certain it isn’t the start of a trend; however, we also choose to look at the glass half full. Below are some of the eateries that have recently decided to open or expand in Lafayette, LA: Five Mile Eatery 🔺 Parc de Oaks 🔺 Ton’s Downtown 🔺 Parish Biscuit Co. 🔺 Rocket87 🔺 BJ’s Pizza (a welcomed comeback) 🔺 Soul Haus 🔺 Gather 🔺 Scooter’s Coffee 🔺 Southern Classic Kitchen 🔺 Chimes 🔺 Superior Grill 🔺 Super Chix 🔺 Small Sliders 🔺 Lucia Bakehouse 🔺The Toasted Yolk 🔺 Let’s keep the momentum going Lafayette! 💪 😋 🍽️ 🎉 #ShopLocal Lafayette Economic Development Authority (LEDA) Lafayette Travel

WINGSTOP UK (Lemon Pepper Holdings Ltd) has said it sees potential to grow to more than 300 sites here in time. The brand currently operates 43 sites nationwide, including 12 delivery kitchens. Wingstop’s recent openings include sites in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Leeds, and it is on track to open 15 sites this year, including further restaurants in London, in Clapham, Croydon and its largest site yet, at Westfield Stratford City. The brand, which launched here in 2018, recently secured a former Burger King site in the Midsummer Place scheme in Milton Keynes. Lemon Pepper Holdings co-founder Herman Sahota told City AM: “In assessing the UK market, we’ve identified a significant opportunity for expansion, driven by the fact that chicken is more widely consumed compared to other cuisines. Based on thorough research and an understanding of our competitive landscape, we’re confident in our capability to open at least 100 sites in the next five years, with a total market potential to exceed 300 locations.” Like many businesses, they have not been immune to inflationary pressures, but fellow co-founder Tom G. said they have only raised prices twice and remain in good financial health. He said: “Our financial trajectory for January to December 2024 is set to reach the nine-figure mark in revenue. Despite our aggressive expansion strategy, the business remains healthily profitable at the group level, a testament to the effectiveness of our operational efficiencies and the strength of our business model.” Last November, Michael Skipworth, president and chief executive of Wingstop, said the brand’s debut UK restaurant (in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue) was hitting record sales volumes, and that the UK was a “playbook for its future restaurant development”. 👉 Find out the latest hospitality news first by signing up to the Propel email newsletter for free, here: https://lnkd.in/g_vS_S7

Maybe you’re a regular at The Detroit Pizza Bar or perhaps you only recently learned about Marcus and Akunna’s restaurant from their feature in a New York Times article (https://lnkd.in/gjpW4kPY), but do you know the story of how the Detroit Pizza Bar came to be? Watch this video to learn how Marcus and Akunna established one of the first Black-owned pizzerias in #Detroit 🍕 and how Michigan Saves supported their vision of a #sustainable and energy efficient business.🌱⚡️ #smallbusiness #sustainablebusiness #greenbank #greenfinancing #epa #detroitbusiness #hospitality #blackowned #cityofdetroit

This could apply to any region of the country, as the cost to run a business, especially in this sector, is so high. Then coupled with the fact of having to attract new employees and holding on to employees already trained at an older restaurant.

They say startup businesses are too risky to finance, even more so for the restaurant industry, and construction financing is supposed to be on extremely aggressive terms…but I beg to differ. We’re a 45-year old nonprofit community based financial intuition. Main Street Launch offers loans up to $350,000 to startup and existing businesses that can’t qualify for more conventional sources of financing (e.g. banks, equity-backed firms, rich friends, family, or fools, etc). Our loans are fully amortized up to 10-years with competitive rates that can be used for a wide variety of business purposes… Berkeley is now home to “one swanky pizza lounge.” three.one four (aka 3.14 aka pie aka pizza) took over the historic Lalime space in the Gilman District. If you’re in the neighborhood, go support a small business while indulging on what’s anticipated to be one of the best pizzas in the bay, and tell ‘em I sent you. Do you know any other entrepreneurs looking to start or expand their small business but having issues accessing capital?? I’m here and have been for 14 years helping these exact kinds of businesses…pass on the good word.

Let's celebrate Austin's local businesses! 🎉 Tag your favorite local spot in the comments below and show them some love. Whether it's your favorite cafe, a trendy boutique, or a family-owned restaurant, we want to hear about the places you support! #CapitolCreditUnion #CCU #CreditUnion #CapitolCreditCommunity #CreditUnionsCare #CCUforYOU #ATX #AustinTX #Austin360 #TexasCreditUnion #Kasasa

Old School Burger Joint: Hamburger Hamlet was the bomb- old school Rat Pack / Celeb feel, aspiring entertainers on work staff making it more fun, great place for the fam, or a date. Sunset and Westwood were my go to's. New School Burger Joint: Shake Shack, the fastest growing fast casual burger joint, decent burger, ok modern vibe, no wait staff, and now in some locations no counter staff, only kiosks. So no human interaction. So you go there to eat. That's it. Now, from a profitability standpoint, Hamburger Hamlet is long gone, while $SHAK is publicly traded on the NYSE trading over $100 per share. Times change, there is no going back to the past, we can only move forward. We know the restaurant industry is moving toward automation and all the reasons why. And we see it in every industry. But before we get rid of everything, and evolve into a non contact species, there are those of us who still want to live and enjoy life, interact and more. Which is why, at least in these next years, it is my opinion that businesses that can integrate optimal technology with true, real human interaction, will thrive. At the least, it's how I want to live my life. Stony Hill Advisors, Inc. is about face to face, boots on the ground, human interaction. And yes we are using, developing, partnering with, and looking to acquire any tech we can to help us be better for both our own use and our clients.

One mid-size [relatively speaking] regional #restaurant concept collector buys another. Kind of an odd one, to me ... the buyer has a half-dozen concepts; the seller as well — and total there are about 50 locations in like 2-4 states. Is this a thing? I sorta get it, like the operator could lease three spaces [or more] in one strip mall [several of these are at Rehobeth] and make money, staffing, visits by execs, or even management of them easier ... But either that, or they have big plans, or they're throwing five kinds of pasta at the wall to see what sticks, or they're really stupid. One other possible yes vote — regionalism is strong in restaurants; recall that meme showing the most popular burgers in different parts of the U.S. — they showed a dozen brands or so. One more: Atlas, buying from #Maryland, nabs an entire state. #Acquisition is #Delaware. Atlas also [separately] entering #Pennsylvania, #Texas, #Florida. So if you get an entire state, that beats signing a franchise operator that takes 10 years to get to 16 units. Well, hmm ... there's more positives and head-scratching. Maybe not so bad after all. Atlas Restaurant Group [buyer] Big Fish Restaurant Group [buyee] Restaurant Business Online [source] Monarque, Ouzo Bay, The Choptank, The Ruxton, Order of the Ace, Big Fish Grill, Salt Air, Torbert Street Social, Sazio Coastal Italian Seafood Kitchen, and Crab House. [concepts]