"Everyone loves Rachel Notley's burgers because you have to!"
Ain't no burger like a Rachel Notley burger because the Government says so!
On the bright side, Locke, you have 1086 more days of these jokes!
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How does this compare to other cities of a million people?
Really hard to find info. I can find overall numbers for Ottawa but I can't seem to find overall numbers for Calgary. Just downtown.
I'm not too sure but I've been to Nanton, AB where there was at least 5 to 8 places to eat downtown and one that converted to a nightclub after 9pm on fridays.
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Holy hell are there are a lot of optimistic articles about the Alberta restaurant industry from 2013 when you google "resturants per person Calgary". Almost erie scrolling through them.
Mr. Hamelin looked to be in tax trouble last year too by the way...
Just to stir the pot a bit, here's something a local pub/restaurant on Heritage Drive just posted on twitter.
To be fair:
1. The Trap and Gill is a terrible pub unless you want to get into a fight with a Newfy.
2. That location is doomed. It's seen countless turnover in business, long before either the economic downturn, or the increase in property taxes, or the proposed minimum wage.
Holy hell are there are a lot of optimistic articles about the Alberta restaurant industry from 2013 when you google "resturants per person Calgary". Almost erie scrolling through them.
Mr. Hamelin looked to be in tax trouble last year too by the way...
I'm a small-business owner in Calgary so I'm going to chime in here.
The relationship you have with your business is unique. It's an inanimate object, but it also kind of has a life of its own. It's not like your child or anything - I don't love my business - but I feel kind of paternal toward it. It's a different relationship than one you'd have with a company at which you're employed. If it's not doing well, I feel completely responsible and like I'm failing it.
I feel really bad for this dude. I'm sure it was series of consecutive bad months with expenses outweighing income. Alternating feelings of optimism and dread. Sleepless nights. Feeling like a failure. The blame game. Feeling mad. Having a great week and feeling hopeful. Then two bad weeks. Etc. He can't just walk away and start a new job. Winding down a business is a job unto itself. Basically, it's rotten.
The problem for Escoba Bistro, however, is this:
Escalating costs are just a fact of owning a business, but losing 45% of your business would be lethal for most small businesses. And that needs to be blamed on the economy and not anything else.
COSTS IN BUSINESS ONLY GO UP. If revenue doesn't grow, you're toast. He's going to basically have his same fixed costs from when he was bringing in 45% more revenue. I doubt he was running huge enough margins to cover a 45% drop in revenue, so these other changes are irrelevant. I know if you took away 45% of my revenue I'd be out of business in a matter of months.
The only thing you can count on in business - or life, for that matter - is change. I've been at my racket for over 10 years. In that time my rent has doubled. Taxes have gone up. I have to jump through more hoops and red tape with the City for a couple of different permits I need. I buy my raw materials in US dollars and they've all gone up. The economy is crap and I can't raise my prices. These are just realities. My margins are down. Most businesses in Calgary are running lower margins.
If you had thin margins to begin with, you will not survive. That doesn't mean our municipal government doesn't have a city to run still. That doesn't mean your landlord doesn't still need to be in the black. That doesn't mean we shouldn't build bike lanes.
The problem here is a 45% loss in business. I believe that alone - independent of all other factors - would have finished him off.
You make your one-man "dog assassin" operation sound as complex as a Walmart...
1. The Trap and Gill is a terrible pub unless you want to lose a fight with a Newfy.
2. That location is doomed. It's seen countless turnover in business, long before either the economic downturn, or the increase in property taxes, or the proposed minimum wage.
FTFY...
I agree though...Crappy location...I miss the old Studio Pub. Way more character.
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There's no point. I was looking for # of restaurants by city and stumbled on that so I posted it here.
Best bet if you want to do some research(might take 15 min) would be to use Yelp, and find a few similar size cities and search by restaurant, and bar. No, I won't do your homework for you. It's almost beer o'clock.
Best bet if you want to do some research(might take 15 min) would be to use Yelp, and find a few similar size cities and search by restaurant, and bar. No, I won't do your homework for you. It's almost beer o'clock.
But you were doing so well with research today, did you google up China's exemplary Carbon use record with your eyes closed?
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If you thought this season would have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.
1. The Trap and Gill is a terrible pub unless you want to get into a fight with a Newfy.
2. That location is doomed. It's seen countless turnover in business, long before either the economic downturn, or the increase in property taxes, or the proposed minimum wage.
You take that back! The old Trap and Gill was a fine and noble establishment.
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You can't just move locations. It's very expensive.
LOL at the people that think it would be easy, fast and free to undertake such an endeavor. Probably the same people that say "good, all these businesses are just rabble rousers and deserve to die off".
You take that back! The old Trap and Gill was a fine and noble establishment.
Nooooo!
But before it was Studio 82, and before that Rusty Cage South, and before that Studio 82 as well, and before that I can't remember. Don't know what it's like as the Trap and Gill, but before it always felt like a place which catered to the crowd that thinks Gerry Forbes is the greatest man alive, has been to 40 Motley Crue shows, and enjoys Coors Light in abundance.
So, this guy:
Basically, it was The Trop without the millionaires and trophy wives with stretched faces propping it up.
I'm not sure what my point was anymore, but I guess it's that, if you move into a location that has long been seen as a dive no one wants to be at, you're going to struggle to get customers to begin with.
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Last edited by shermanator; 06-09-2016 at 06:14 PM.
I'm a small-business owner in Calgary so I'm going to chime in here.
(...) He can't just walk away and start a new job. Winding down a business is a job unto itself. Basically, it's rotten.
(...)
The problem here is a 45% loss in business. I believe that alone - independent of all other factors - would have finished him off.
So true. If you're an entrepreneur long enough, you start to feel like you're unemployable. Your business becomes part of your idenitty. That is, unless you work very hard at making sure that doesn't happen along the way, but when you own your own business the demands usually don't allow for that luxury. So if your business goes away, a huge part of who you thought you were goes away as well. It's a very difficult thing to deal with.
But the world changes. We don't get to chose when it does. You choose how to react. Hopefully he (and the other fellow entrepreneurs facing this battle) will get some time and space to take the wisdom gained by 20 years in business and find a new niche in the world.
Most established companies can handle a drop in revenue of 20-30%, but for how long, and when do they think it's coming back? No one has a crystal ball for these questions and ultimately you have to do what's right for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
Closer to downtown? Probably would have been worse.
Just listening to the T&G interview and that one line resonates:
"There is no point in being an entrepreneur anymore."
Yikes, that's bleak. Great businesses emerge in all types of conditions. I don't think I'd ever say there is no opportunity. Where is the interview you're referring to?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Biff
If the NHL ever needs an enema, Edmonton is where they'll insert it.
Why did the Trap move locations? Would they have been as negatively affected if they were in their previous space?
Whatever the reason for moving is the location they picked couldn't be much worst, not only did they remove the somewhat central location for people who love east coast music and atmosphere they picked a place where at least 4 other bar owners failed in the last 20 years or so.
