After 16 years at the corner of Maryland and Old Bonhomme, Josh Allen, owner of Companion, announced today that Companion Café in Clayton will close on October 30.
Over the last 23 years, Allen has won awards for his wholesome breads and been lauded for his marketing prowess, such as the "CollaBREADtive," a series of bread collaborations with local chefs (see below).
From CollaBREADtive II, circa 2009.
Local chefs, top row: Carolyn Downs, Bill Cardwell, Maurice Reed
Bottom row: Zoe Robinson, David Guempel, Vito Racanelli, Clara Moore, Andy White, Josh Allen
Allen told St. Louis Magazine the lease in Clayton was up for renewal and he had to decide whether it was wise to commit to another five-year term. Allen said that while it looks easy, the fast casual service model (which the breakfast and lunch operation followed), requires a lot of energy and a lot of transactions to be profitable, “and there’s no way we could do any more business at lunchtime than we did.”
Confessing that the Clayton store had never been a huge profit center anyway, ever-rising costs and ever-shrinking margins compounded the situation (which is another way of saying that a full restaurant is not always a super-profitable one). “You can only charge so much for a sandwich or a bowl of soup,” he lamented, "despite what they cost."
But Allen said the biggest factor driving the decision was the growth in Companion’s other divisions—wholesale (to restaurants, clubs, and grocery stores) and catering (off-site events, office parties, meetings, box lunches, etc.). And since the Ladue café (managed by Josh’s sister, Jodi) has been home base for the catering operation, it made no sense to close that location.
He added the other divisions were doing so well that Clayton's employees have been promised jobs either in Ladue or at the relatively new “campus” in Creve Coeur, a combination of headquarters, bakery, café, and teaching facility. "It was important that there were jobs for everybody," he said, “and there are more on top of that.”
Allen elected to take a full month to close the cafe, allowing Clayton regulars time to say proper goodbyes. “I hope they’ll remember that we can still bring their lunch to them,” he joked, pitching the box lunch program in Ladue.
The final day of service will be Sunday, October 30, at the conclusion of Wash U parents weekend, Allen said, since Companion has been popular with both students and parents.
“The closure has more to do with other timing, though,” he explained. “Sales in Clayton were as strong as ever, so it was best to make the lease decision before the situation ever became desperate," he said in leave-at-the-height-of-the-party fashion. "Sometimes to build a great company, you have to close a part of it.”
Follow George on Twitter @stlmag_dining or send him an email at gmahe@stlmag.com. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
