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JASON CROSBY
BUY LOCAL—LIKE YOU MEAN IT
Ive noticed many Athenians making the
effort to buy locally in recent weeks and
months, and as a local business owner, I can't
say enough how much I appreciate it. I'm
sad to say, though, that since this recession
began, I have seen a sharp increase in the
number of people who are hurting my business
by trying to save a few pennies. I'd like to tell
you some things you may not know about the
restaurant business, from the perspective of
an owner.
First, a restaurant is a business of pennies.
The profit margin during good times is small,
and nearly nonexistent in bad times. In most
local restaurants, the owner pays his bills
or not based on a penny or two out of every
dollar. You might know that already, but did
you also know that most
of the profit from a meal
comes from your drink
and dessert? It costs a
lot of money to put good
food on a plate, and
very little to make tea or
refill a fountain machine.
Unfortunately, when customers feel the pinch,
the first place they skimp is on drinks. A foun
tain drink may be only a buck-fifty to you, a
single customer, but to me, an owner, it's a
buck-fifty times 50 a day times seven days a
week. Since the recession began, I have seen
a drop of around $400 a week profit just from
customers ordering water instead of a soft
drink!
Yes, I mean I've taken a pay cut of $400
a week. No, I wasn't making much more than
that before. Restaurants can, and do, live or
die on this kind of thing.
If you're drinking water for your health,
please ask for bottled water. If you're trying
to save money, please think again. It's only
an extra couple of dollars to you, but it can
be the difference in an owner having take-
home pay or not. (Oh, and if you're going to
ask for water and lots of lemon to make your
own lemonade, you're not going to make many
friends. That's bad form.) Consider graboing
a dessert to go if you're full after your meal,
or take home half of your meal and save room
for dessert. You'll be stretching your money
into two meals and helping the owner out
tremendously.
If you want to help restaurant employees
through the tough times, here's how. Tip 20
percent every time. It's as simple as that. For
people who haven't worked in the restaurant
business before, it may seem like tipping is
an option, or that it's a reward for extra-good
service. It's neither. If restaurants paid their
employees a living wage, you'd see price
increases of at least 25 percent on all menus.
You, the customer, pay the employee's bills.
Please realize that just as you are scrimping
to make ends meet, so is everyone at the res
taurant. I've had to cut labor to account for
fewer customers and less income. My servers
are working less—sometimes half what they
worked this time last year. In other words,
they have fewer chances to make a good tip.
Oprah is wrong about
it being okay to tip 10
percent. Eighteen to 20
percent tip is industry
standard now. Servers
make next to nothing
without tips, but they
have to report at least
minimum wage. (Some restaurants pay mini
mum wage, but trust me: it's not enough to
live on.) In an hour with no tips, the server
is paying to be at work. Additionally, most
restaurants do a tip pool. Tips are split among
the servers, hostesses, dishwasher and kitchen
staff. Every employee is depending on every
customer to leave tips. When you stiff the
server, you're stiffing everyone in the building.
Even on to-go orders, at
least half the employees
contributed to making
your food. Your tip is the
difference between them
paying their bills or not.
Finally, I want to
encourage you to help
your local restaurants
in the way that is prob
ably most'important. If
the service or food is
particularly good, tell
everyone you know. If
something—anything at
all—is wrong, tell the
manager or owner. We
work very hard to make
sure everything is as
pleasant as possible, but
we simply can't be every
where at once. We're
running on smaller staffs
now because we have
to. Please don't take it
personally if your server
is harried and busy and
can't see to your every desire instantly. She's
one of the lucky ones who at least gets to
come to work. Be nice.
Strengthening your commitment to buy
ing local is a great idea, and I hope everyone
starts doing it, but please try to remember
that it's not just about spending money. It's
about genuinely helping both local owners
and employees.
Thanks again to everyone who supports
local businesses. I hope together we can see
this thing through until better fortune comes
our way.
Bill Hamby
Bill Hamby is the owner/operator of Five Star Day
Eastside.
In most local restaoiants,
the owner pays his bills
or not based on a penny
or two out of every dollar.
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JUNE 10,2009 ■ FLAGPOLE.COM 9