It feels like a death in the family.
The Pitted Olive, one of the city’s most unique independent restaurants, closed its doors with no notice on Saturday night. Owners Mike and Melissa Holmes (one of the nicest and most talented husband and wife teams in the business) cited the domino-punch of a bad economy, decreasing traffic and, with winter fast approaching, no end in sight.
What's more, this closing dispels my theory that “reasonably priced neighborhood places survive economic downturns,” proven especially true during the Highway 40 closure. Common sense and history indicate that medium to low-priced restaurants with strong neighborhood followings can survive such vagaries, as people tend to hunker down closer to home. It always appeared that the Olive had good neighborhood support.
In addition, many such restaurants are owned and managed by the same person (or in this case, couple) and many own the building they do business in, eliminating rent-jacking by greedy landlords as a reason to pull the plug. Indeed, the Holmes’ own their building.
Most followers of the local food scene agree…on the surface, this one makes no sense.
To add to the confusion, the business was broken into early Sunday morning in an apparent smash and grab. A fire extinguisher was used to smash the front window and a laptop and the cash register were taken. Asked if it could have been a disgruntled employee, Holmes said no...that a similar break-in occurred up the street the week before. He was thankful his place was not torched or “I’d be answering a lot more questions right now.”
But the reality is this…Holmes’ business was down 15% from last year and he was facing 2 very slow months in an uncertain economy. He decided to face the reality (as opposed to the majority of restaurateurs who don’t or won’t). His options are to “reopen somewhere else or even back here when the economy improves.”
Note to the savvy investor: lasso this duo and find a new location…there are plenty available and more every week. The coin has 2 sides. – George Mahe
