[jtdraig]

There seems to be an abnormally high failure rate of restaurants here in The Villages. Why is that? Could it be the high cost of renting space? Every restaurant has it's high moments and low..just read the posts. We have everything in here from high compliments to a savaging of the food, management, and anything else in the crossairs. All this said, there is a higher failure rate in here than I would have expected even in a seasonal area and in these economic times.

[Best Mom]

Count the number of empty store fronts. I have a good friend who runs a business in the Villages. She could write a book....but she is under contact to be quiet!
We have the residents, look at the number of homes in The Villages in a small area. We a a fairly big city. Many business has come....many have closed.

PR and reality are often two different things.

[inda50]

I am also wondering, we have the population, mobility is easy, the prices are fair, food is good, is it rent, unableto get employees,what????

[jadebox]

Competition!!!! The ones with consistantly good food and service will survive. Bourbon Street will be the next to go OR maybe Terra Del Sol. I like Terra but it is out of the way. There are probably many people who have no idea where it is.

[Best Mom]

In answer to inda50
Rent plus a percentage of sales!

[inda50]

Percentage of sales? didn't know that. I'm asuming the developer gets the%. But it seem to me a small percentage is better than an empy store ith on % and no rent. I have to assume he is smater than that????

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by inda50

Percentage of sales? didn't know that. I'm asuming the developer gets the%. But it seem to me a small percentage is better than an empy store ith on % and no rent. I have to assume he is smater than that????

The same landlord situation (and rent/percentage plan) occurs at shopping malls. Restaurants run on a very tight margin, and it doesn't take much for a restaurant without reserve capital to cover the leaner months to get squeezed tighter than it can afford.

[Niels]

The Villages, Florida

I don’t know what the failure rate in The Villages is but I do know that the restaurant business is a very tough business. Most restaurants in general fail in the first year of operation.

[Indy-Guy]

The Villages, Florida

We went to Giovannis in Southern Trace Plaza on Wednesday night. Got there at 5:00 and I think we got the last available table. Food and service was great. Not hard to see why they are busy and Dominics closed. Food and service is the difference of night and day. The couple that were with us said that the gal working the carry out phone was taking orders from the time we got there till we left. When we left there were about 20 people waiting for a table.

I wish they would open where Dominics was they would do great there. They are probably very happy where they are they just need more room.

Good food and service will make it more times than not.

[swrinfla]

The Villages, Florida

The story I hear time and time again is that The Developer (read that as you will) takes not only a very high rental/lease fee but also an "exorbitant" percentage of sales. So many of the eateries that I've seen shut down over the past 3-1/2 years have fallen way short in their abilities to garner customer satisfaction and repeat business.

I know that the restaurant industry is mind-bogglingly rough. Every penny spent must be recouped, and then some, or else you'll founder and drown quickly. Too many cannot cope. From all I have heard, places like Whiskey Creek never got off the ground properly, and Dominics has, for some time, had a marginal reputation among many of my acquaintances.

It's once again a matter of knowing how to run a business!

SWR

[thegreenerside]

My understanding from the leasee of two of the country club restaraunts is that they are not only paying high rent, but also have to donate $5000 per employee that has a child attending the charter school. At the time I spoke with him he had to pay The Villages $60,000 as he had 12 employees that attended the charter schools. It was strongly recommended by the lessor that the donations be made by each leasee on TV property. If you had to donate that amount of money each year then your profits could easily disappear, thus causing you to go out of business after a year or two here in TV

[gemorc]

The Villages, Florida.
It seems to me that the developer would hate to see all the empty storefronts in TV. Any visitor really looking for a new place to call home, might just wonder what is wrong in paradice.

[schwarz]

as a restaurant manager I can easily tell you why many fail. Poor management, poor service and not good value. Look at Oakwood, lines every day...why? Great food, great prices and excellent and fast service...they run lines year round. Villagers know where the value is.

[blueeagle65]

I agree that the major cause has got to be with the management. Case in point, The Dairy Queen on 466. It was always busy and the food was - well, DQ food. I, however, failed to see an adult around that was in charge - just a flock of young people seemingly not overly concerned about what was happening. You'd thaink that I would have seen an adult every once in a while in there, but if they were in the building I sure missed them. :dontknow:

[tkret]

Originally Posted by blueeagle65

I agree that the major cause has got to be with the management. Case in point, The Dairy Queen on 466. It was always busy and the food was - well, DQ food. I, however, failed to see an adult around that was in charge - just a flock of young people seemingly not overly concerned about what was happening. You'd thaink that I would have seen an adult every once in a while in there, but if they were in the building I sure missed them. :dontknow:

This has ALWAYS amazed me about places like DQ and Cold Stone. I mean how can someone, who has invested perhaps ALL of their life's savings into this venture, leave it in the hands of teenagers. I know a fellow who is an aircraft mechanic and purchased a Cold Stone. He works for the airline and as much overtime as he can while youngsters run his business (investment?). It appears that in many cases the profit margin is so low that the owner(s) often have to have another source of income that also includes health benefits for the family.