Re: restaurant closures

[TEX <tex@kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu>]

Holy Concrete Information Batman!

Thanks for the reply Craig.  Hope you don't mind me passing this along to
the list, for those that may not have read these.. like me.

           Clint "Tex" Payton
       email: tex@kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu

On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, Craig Staszkow wrote:

> Hi Tex,
>
> Here's snippets from Murf Raquet's recent Biz Bits columns in the
> Daily News. Hope this helps.
>
> Craig
>
>
>
> Dec. 22, 2001
> BIZ BITS: Moscow's Pizza Pipeline to close
> By Murf Raquet, Daily News business editor
> The Moscow pizza scene will be short one outlet beginning Jan. 1. The
> Spokane-based Pizza Pipeline is closing its Main Street store, citing
> a market fragmentation in Moscow as the reason for the move.
> "The restaurant business has grown in the market and population
> hasn't," said Scott Sloan, marketing director for the pizza chain.
> "Too many businesses to share the same dollar Š everyone wants a
> slice of the pie but nobody is really making a lot of money."
> The company, which has 25 restaurants in the region, will concentrate
> its efforts at the Pullman Pizza Pipeline at 630 E. Main St. The
> Pullman location, with an inside dinning area, has more than double
> the business of the take-out-only Moscow store.
> The Pullman store is used for training purposes to help new
> franchisees prepare to open new stores, Sloan said.
> The decision to close the Moscow store was a business one.
> "We weren't losing the market share," he said. "It's not worth
> fighting the fight with increased business costs Š didn't want to
> affect product."
> Regular priced take-out pizzas will be 50 percent off at the Moscow
> and Pullman locations through the end of the year.
> The closure still leaves plenty of pizza choices in Moscow. By my
> count there are eight. I wonder which one will be next?
>
>
> Jan. 5, 2002
> BIZ BITS: Bonanza's last ride in Moscow
> By Murf Raquet, Daily News business editor
> It was a rude awakening this week for some customers of the Bonanza
> Family Restaurant. Hungry diners were greeted with a sign that read:
> "Bonanza would like to thank it(s) customers of the last 15 years.
> Our lease has expired. Thank you for the business."
> The Palouse Mall restaurant, a fixture for many in the area, had some
> financial trouble in 2001. The restaurant's owners were sued by the
> mall's ownership in October for more than $12,000. At that time the
> owners, who could not be contacted by presstime, were two months in
> arrears on rent.
> "It's very unfortunate Š  at one time it was a good establishment,"
> said Jim Bendickson, the mall's real estate manager.
> And then there are the loyal customers.
> "We don't know where to go now, said a senior citizen who didn't want
> her name used. "I'm on a rigid diet and I could pick what I wanted
> (from the buffet)."
> She is like many seniors on a fixed income who eat an inexpensive
> hearty meal during the day and skip a large evening meal.
> "I was looking forward to the meal. Š  What do we do?" she said.
> "Besides, my husband likes the ice cream."
> While it may not be the same cuisine she is used to at Bonanza, a new
> restaurant is scheduled to open in February at the mall.
> Super China Buffet will occupy 4,800 square feet of the former
> Tater's Restaurant and an adjoining space. The restaurant also will
> have a Mongolian barbecue grill and feature Italian and American
> cuisine
> The restaurant is a franchise with regional stores including ones in
> Spokane and Coeur d'Alene.
> This will be the second restaurant at the mall to feature an oriental
> cuisine. The Royal Shop is the other.
> Bendickson says the two can coexist at the mall and not compete for customers.
> "(The Royal Shop) offers more of a Thai cuisine and caters more to
> the general food-court people," he said. "This new tenant will offer
> more of a sit-down style."
> Bendickson said he is optimistic about filling some empty spaces at
> the mall now that the issue of tree and shrub removal at the mall has
> been resolved with the city.
> Some prospective tenants were reluctant to sign a lease while the
> mall's landscaping obligations were up in the air for about a year,
> he said
> "Everyone benefits if the mall is full. When we lose a tenant, more
> often then not, they go to Lewiston," he said. "Moscow then loses out
> on employment and tax benefits."
> Bendickson indicated the Bonanza space may soon have a new tenant. He
> would not divulge the name because a lease was not signed.
>
>
> *****
> Jan. 12, 2002
> BIZ BITS: More choice for pizza lovers; Little Caesars coming to
> Pullman, Moscow
> By Murf Raquet, Daily News staff writer
> Restaurateur Lewis Reed will try his hand at running a pizza
> franchise, eventually operating four stores in the Quad Cities. The
> first of his Little Caesars Pizza outlets is scheduled to open in
> March at 423 Stadium Way in Pullman next to Supercuts.
> Reed has enjoyed restaurant success in the area. He opened Basilio's
> Italian Cafe in Pullman more than five years ago and Basilio's
> Italian Ristorante three years ago in Moscow
> "I've wanted to have pizza for long time," Reed said "I think (Little
> Caesars) is a quality pizza at affordable prices."
> Little Caesars offers two pizzas for the price of one and features
> pizza by the slice for lunch, sub sandwiches and salads. Carry out,
> home delivery and seasonal outdoor seating also will be offered.
> Another plus, as Reed sees it, is ample parking at the store's
> location near Washington State University.
> Little Caesars is a Detroit-based chain with 1,300 stores nationwide.
> Reed will open a Little Caesars in Lewiston on 21st Street by July 1.
> One will be opened in Moscow after a suitable location is found. A
> Clarkston store will round out the four.
> He isn't letting his other restaurants suffer in the mean time.
> Reed plans to offer more upscale dishes at the Moscow Basilio's to
> counter the closing of Bonanza at the Palouse Mall and the Lone Jack
> Steak Company in Potlatch.
> "That way we'll have appeal in each market," he said.
> I asked him if business was good.
> "I'm still in a good mood," he said. "Pullman and Moscow have been
> real good Š we support the community and they support us."
>
> THERE'S MORE ROOM
> The area will gain 76 hotel rooms, including six suites, this summer
> when a Hampton Inn opens in the Warbonnet Plaza at Moscow's west end.
> The inn will be located between Applebee's and Sears.
> The three-story inn also will feature an indoor pool, spa, exercise
> facility, a board room and meeting space for up to 130 people.
> "We've worked for more than two years on the site," said Dave Heald,
> one of four principals in Moscow Inn-Vestments LLC which is
> developing the project. "We saw opportunities in the market beyond
> football weekends that commanded a national quality product."
> The company owns four other hotel properties in the Northwest.
> Heald's company, D. Heald and Associates of Vancouver, Wash., will
> manage the 42,000-square-foot facility.
> "Moscow hasn't seen a new lodging product in 20 years," Heald said.
> "We talked to the University of Idaho and designed our product with
> their patronage in mind."
> In this area, lodging is an iffy business. There are times, such as
> during home football games, mom's and dad's weekends and the Hampton
> Jazz Festival, that no-vacancy signs are burning bright. Other times
> are a little leaner.
> Heals is shooting for a 68 percent occupancy rate within two years.
> He believes there's "enough to go around."
> The general contractor and partner on the project is James Talcott
> Construction of Great Falls, Mont.
>
>
> --
> Craig Staszkow
> Design/Special Sections Editor
> Moscow-Pullman Daily News
> (208) 882-5561 ext. 252
> www.dnews.com
>