This time, it has stabbed at the heart of an industry in the Cleveland and Bradley County community that is most vulnerable — small business, and specifically the restaurant industry.
As announced on the front page of last Thursday’s edition of your Cleveland Daily Banner, Oliver’s — an upscale, four-year-old restaurant specializing in “Italian Food with an American Flair” — has closed its doors. Granted, the North Keith Street hot spot for casual dining had struggled in its early years, but one of the disappointed owners reported it was gradually building the business volume necessary to satisfy its investment group.
Then the U.S., and global, economies tanked.
And the vicious domino effect, also called the trickle-down, began. Like the age-old chicken-and-egg saga, it is difficult to understand which came first.
Business (store owners’) sales slowed.
Factory orders dropped.
Layoffs began.
Unemployed workers reduced their weekly expenses.
Discretionary spending stopped.
Eating out became the average family’s first cost curtailment.
The food and dining industry took the hit.
Restaurants began to close.
Popular dine-ins like Oliver’s have paid the ultimate price. It is particularly sad because chief manager Bill Emendorfer reported the restaurant, after a lot of hard work, had turned the sales volume corner ... at least, until the recession. Since then, sales have tumbled and times have been especially tough this summer.
The story takes an even sadder note with the knowledge that Oliver’s had a loyal customer base with plenty of repeat customers. Sadly, the base wasn’t broad enough to cover the cost of empty tables. Too, the operation’s chief manager — a longtime professional in the dining industry — advised he had never been affiliated with a restaurant with such high patron reviews.
One can easily understand the disappointment in his voice when Emendorfer told us, “Oliver’s had the highest guest satisfaction of any restaurant I’ve ever been associated with. I get these comments all the time. It’s crazy.”
Yes, it is crazy.
And, it is frustrating ... especially with the knowledge that some economists now believe the three-year recession actually ended last summer. According to an Associated Press article published in last Friday’s edition, an independent panel of academics that dates the start and end of recessions hasn’t declared when this one ended.
Ironic, isn’t it ... that some believe times are getting better, yet we continue to see high unemployment rates, home foreclosures and business closings, especially the smaller businesses.
We do not pretend to have the answer, nor will we hazard a guess as to when an up-tick in spending might be evident. But this we do know. Small- to mid-sized businesses like Oliver’s have done what they can to hang on. In the local restaurant’s case, the local investor group that owned it could not find a silver lining on which to hang a hope for better times ahead ... at least, not in the short term.
We cling to a faith — blind or not — that days will get better. But, as we have pondered before, how long can our businesses hold out ... on what thread of hope should they cling?
It is a difficult question ...
... Plagued by a most unpredictable answer.
