Restaurateurs take on economic slump challenge

5/2/08Between 4 and 5 p.m. at Skyline, a restaurant on Quincy's Marina Bay boardwalk, Fred Snyderman won't be found walking around his restaurant fraternizing with customers or in his office checking the books. He's in the back room with the wait staff personally going over the customer service education that he holds as prime.

His hands-on strategy is an adaptive reaction to the nation's waning economy that has left local business owners a leaner and more competitive market.

"We are trying to grab a bigger piece of the available pie. We think that the pie has gotten smaller and has lesser value," he said. It's what he calls a "double-whammy." Not only are fewer customers coming through the door, but they are spending less when they do come in.

Yet Snyderman refuses to cut costs and believes the answer to staying fiscally afloat is attracting customers by other means, he said. He is combating the dwindling economy with his own "double-whammy" of a better quality restaurant atmosphere and a more educated restaurant staff.

To improve the quality of patrons' experience, Snyderman will be hosting a Sunday brunch with live entertainment. Sunday was never one of their better days, he said, but now it is because they are providing a better value without having to lower their price.

The second hit of his 1-2 punch is thorough staff education on the products the restaurant is selling and good customer service practices, he said.

"If [my staff] is more knowledgeable they'll do a better job. And maybe instead of having one glass of wine, if we suggest the right glass of wine, the customer will have two," he said.

Down the boardwalk at the Waterclub, bar manager Will O'Connell is mindful of the economic hard times.

He has instituted a bevy of business strategies to adapt his model to the strained client base. Among them is an increase in alcohol sponsorship--four times as many as last year--in which alcohol reps come in and supply free samples of their product to the Waterclub consumers, he said. He has started selling cheap bottles of wine that people can take down to their boats on the marina. And he is making sure to procure repeat customers.

"Whenever you have people come in [for functions] you want them praise the place when they leave. So if you have to, on any repeat customer, waive the room charge, waive employee charges because that forces them to come back in," he said. "Two years ago we wouldn't have done this."

O'Connell is also including a Red Sox menu--food prices are reduced from the first to the last pitch of every game--, he has increased the live music acts, and he's never given out so many beers in his life, he said.

In the marina itself, Captain Mike of Marina Bay's charter boat service, Boston Belle, is just "doing what [he does]" and hasn't really taken a hit yet, he said.

"But my business is streamlined because I do everything myself," he said.

Boston Belle is one third the price of competing charter services who have been taking hits, he said. The big boat companies have many more expenses to account for and thus have to charge their clients more to compensate, he said.

So far Mike has been able to run his business unfettered by the economy, but "if diesel hits $5/gal, I might have to include a surcharge," he said.

The Captain has been in business for 11 years and believes his good word-of-mouth throughout a primarily local clientele is the backbone for his success even in such scant times, he said.

Word-of-mouth is a common lifeline for other nearby businesses as well.

Tony's Clam Shoppe owner Roy Kandalaft said he knows they have good quality of product, good service, and is banking on his 44-year reputation. "We're known for our fried clams and we depend on our repeat customers to come back every spring after waiting all winter for us to open," he said.

But though he is part of a legacy that has run the business since 1964, Kandalaft is feeling the purse strings tighten on both sides of business.

"It has been very difficult to meet your expenses as an owner. Today we bought canola oil and it was over double the price as what we paid a year ago," he said. "The profits are very, very minimal."

Still, competing with rising food costs and lower customer numbers, Kandalaft said he would never sully the good name of his well reputed business.

"If we wanted to cut down on the quality of our clams and fish, which is very easy to do, we would have a better profit, but quality-wise people would not be happy," he said. "They care about how good it is and then they come back.