Give it some deli!
When is a storeroom not a storeroom? For James Lowe, the answer is: when it's adding £20,000 to £25,000 a year to his takings. This is exactly what he hopes to generate from the small premises adjoining his 70-seat restaurant, Villa Italia, in York. In short, he plans to turn it into a deli.
"We were thinking of ideas to use the space to generate extra pennies," explains Lowe, "and, living in York, the only place for deli-type food is Sainsbury's."
He's been formulating plans for the derelict storeroom for a long time, but first had to persuade his landlord that a deli would be a potential money-spinner for an otherwise dead space. It has taken a while, but eventually his landlord has come around to the idea. Whether or not he was swayed by the prospect of extra rent, however, is a moot point - it's a tiny 187sq ft, so Lowe reckons he will pay only £4,000 a year.
In fact, while Lowe may be making bullish noises about the deli turning over as much as £25,000 extra a year, he admits he doesn't really expect to make more than £15,000 in year one. That's not too much of a problem, however, because, besides being a revenue-spinner, he expects the deli to complement the restaurant and that each will market the other to new customers.
The deli will open at 9.30am and stay open until 7.30pm to catch workers on their way home, and it will sell all the traditional Italian oils, marinated fish, pasta and cheeses that Lowe already buys in for the restaurant, as well as the breads that are made in Villa Italia's kitchens.
And it tickles Lowe that Villa Italia will become, literally, a one-stop shop for his regulars. He says: "Customers across the road come into the restaurant about three or four times a week and say that if we sold milk we'd be even better."
The aim is to get the deli open by March, although, having lost £3,000 of business during York's floods in November, a cynical Lowe adds that he won't be surprised if the project hits unforeseen problems.
He's certainly got his work cut out. In a bid to keep costs down, Lowe is keen to do all the refurbishment himself, bar the electrics. Fortunately, the storeroom is in more need of being cleared and redecorated, and the windows cleaned, than anything more complicated, and Lowe is budgeting on about £1,000 for the fit-out and £2,000-£2,500 for the counters and other equipment.
Quiet months
The argument for doing the work himself is partly financial and partly because Lowe has more time on his hands, as everyone knows that January and February are usually quiet - or, in his words, perenially "horrible".
But, although several restaurants in York shut over at least part of December or January - for instance, Melton's - Lowe won't consider it.
"We don't shut because we need money and because, although we have a quiet time, we still have our regular customers," he says. "It would send a negative message to people if they plan to come out and we have a ‘closed' sign on the door."
Lowe is, however, resigned to the fact that he will most likely not reach his turnover target of £265,000 by the financial year-end in April. November's floods, which spanned two-and-a-half weeks, saw sales of just £15,000 against the expected £22,000 and, while it is the first month that he has made a loss this year, it has made a big impact.
Even so, during January he has seen a steady 20 covers at lunch. Until recently this was the norm, but in the second half of 2000 he had bumped this up to about 40. The evidence indicates that business generally is on the right track. One day recently, he took £700, whereas the same day a year ago he took a grand total of £42.
Certainly, things are starting to click into place at Villa Italia. This was proved in December when the front and back of house teams pulled together to get through the Christmas rush. In the mornings, the three full-time front of house staff would take turns prepping in the kitchen, and at the end of service, "when the place looks like a bomb's hit it", the back of house boys got a few brushes out and helped to clear up. Most Saturday nights, all the hard work has culminated in a team beer.
This shows how Lowe has used communication to improve staff morale. To avoid confusion and resentment among them in the busy Christmas period, he put up a notice to show everyone how heavily booked, or not, each day would be. And he briefed everyone on which menus were being served, and so on.
Similarly, Lowe has started to communicate more with his customers. Over Christmas 1999, he lost bookings because he failed to respond to enquiries by faxing off menus and chasing people up. This time around, he set up a database and religiously followed up each booking enquiry a week later. The difference was 2,066 covers served in December 2000 against 1,651 in 1999 (see Caterer, 11 January 2001).
"There was a routine," he says, "and this rubbed off on the front of house staff and kitchen staff, who became better organised. Communication has vastly improved the business - for customers as well as staff."
Lowe also feels he has learned the value of getting his own act together. "If I'm not organised," he says, "I can't expect anything else to be. It's very simple. If it comes to the night and I haven't thought about it, then it's too late."
Next visit: 8 March
