Stiff competition redirecting course of some downtown eateries
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By JEAN ORTIZ/Lincoln Journal Star
If he had to do it all over again, he wouldn’t.
Ryan Bird has no regrets about opening a sandwich shop along O Street, but if put back at square one, he would make one critical change: not locate downtown.
In the months leading up to his August opening of Roost, whose specialty is diced chicken sandwiches, he believed his concept was different enough to stand up to the competition.
Now, with nearly eight months of business operations under his “wing,” he’s learned a lesson: Unique or not, downtown competition is stiff. Maybe too stiff.
“It’s so hard to pull them to a new establishment,” he said of his customer base of working professionals and college students.
Bird responded by giving away sandwiches. He changed some ingredients. He’s added hot sandwiches to the mix. And now he plans to rearrange his shop a bit to make it more user-friendly.
Getting creative has become much more the norm these days downtown, where casual eateries are going toe-to-toe to one-up their competition. Now, speed of service and price point are just the start of considerations.
The downtown scene has seen the recent departure of a handful of businesses, including newcomers Erbert & Gerbert’s and Taco Bueno. Both were open less than a year.
Taco Bueno, which continues to operate at two other locations in Lincoln, closed its O street shop near Centennial Mall recently because of “low volume sales,” said Scott Jordan, director of operations for the local franchise.
“I’m not sure if it was competition or if restaurants need to have beer in order to survive,” he said.
He is hunting for a new location elsewhere in the city and hasn’t abandoned his original plan to expand to five stores locally.
And for the others who’ve departed the downtown scene, it’s unclear how much of their defeat was due to a saturated market or if it came down to missteps in management.
Calls to the corporate offices of Erbert & Gerbert’s and The Pita Pit, another departure, were not returned.
Terry Uland, president of the Downtown Lincoln Association, said he has no way of knowing either. One thing he can say, however, is that downtown is a very dynamic environment.
“At any point, you’ll have a lot of people coming and going,” he said.
From Ali Baba Gyros to Yiayia’s Pizza with nearly three dozen other casual choices between — not even counting the more traditional sit-down restaurants — downtown’s 28,000 employees have their pick.
Downtown has more variety than ever, said Drew Stange, president of NAI FMA Realty and a member of the Downtown Lincoln Association board since 2001.
But Stange doesn’t think business turnover is any worse than it’s been in the past, nor does he think the pressure to compete is any more intense than it was five or 10 years ago.
He will admit downtown workers are a tight-knit bunch who take to habits that can be hard to break.
The market has room for newcomers, but they best find a way to offer something new and get that message across to customers, he said.
“You’ve got to find your niche,” Stange said.
When Kevin Shinn opened Bread & Cup in the Haymarket in August with the help of his wife Karen, he didn’t wait until then to start introducing his concept to the community.
He launched a Web site and a blog, detailing the arduous task of going all in on a business. His first entry was dated Dec. 14, 2006.
“For me, as a writer, it seemed like a really easy way to start telling our story,” he said.
It’s helped, as has their location off the beaten path at Eighth and S streets, he said. Business dropped off a bit during the cold winter months, he admits, but that is beginning to change.
“We have become a destination, not just an option,” he said. “They’re not just coming to an epicenter and saying, ’Where should we go? There are 15 choices and let’s pick one.’”
Dan Novascone’s sub shop sits in the heart of that epicenter, or at least close to it. Since taking over the Planet Sub franchise at 1332 P St. it’s been a challenge, he said.
The franchise was under a different owner previously and in Novascone’s opinion, was poorly managed. His job was to rebuild its reputation.
“I just needed to get people back in to try us again,” he said.
He’s logged many hours meeting with businesses, offering free sandwiches and discounts. Putting in that face time will remain a constant in keeping his business running smoothly, he said.
If he had his druthers, he’d move over to O Street to better position himself to attract office workers and potentially draw in a larger evening crowd. Planet Sub now does the majority of its business at lunch, he said.
Branding is important, and part of the reason Novascone plans to open a second Planet Sub in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Union. He plans to move employees between the two stores and sees them well-positioned to support each other.
Back at Roost, expansion is on Bird’s mind as well. He remains committed to his site, 1451 O St. He’s taken some bumps and bruises, but is confident now in his business plan.
“I’m ready to go big with it now,” he said, noting his big picture plan to eventually expand into south Lincoln.
Stange, meanwhile, believes the vacant storefronts left behind or the stories of the entrepreneurs who tried and failed quicly downtown won’t discourage others from trying.
In the case of regional or national retailers, they’ll do their research and have their own model of what determines success, he said.
Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.
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