State’s Liquor License Laws Overhauled
For the first time in nearly a century. Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation (S-4265/A-5912) into law today that is expected to boost the number of available liquor licenses statewide and ease restrictions on breweries and distilleries, marking the first substantive overhaul of New Jersey’s liquor license laws since the aftermath of Prohibition. “For the first time in nearly a century, New Jersey has shown the fortitude to tackle an age-old problem that has stifled economic growth and hampered the dreams of countless small business owners,” said Murphy. “We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy lift – nothing that has been entrenched for nearly a century ever is. Together with our partners in the Legislature, we are laying new ground rules to help our breweries and distilleries flourish at the same time creating new opportunities for smaller and more diverse mom-and-pop establishments to set up shop or expand in New Jersey and help transform our downtowns. Under the new law, license holders will no longer be able to indefinitely retain a retail consumption license without using it. If a license has remained inactive for two consecutive license terms – a total of two years – the license holder will now be required to either use the license or sell it. If neither option is exercised, the license can be transferred from one municipality to a contiguous municipality. Additionally, the law establishes a new class of retail consumption liquor license that will potentially create upwards of 100 new licenses throughout the state. Specifically, the law will allow municipalities to issue: Up to two new licenses for food and beverage establishments in shopping malls with a minimum of 750,000 square feet; and up to four new licenses for establishments in shopping malls with a minimum of 1.5 million square feet. The new law also permanently eases the existing restrictions that have stifled breweries, distilleries, cideries, and meaderies, hampering their ability to compete against burgeoning industries in neighboring states.
Succession Strategies for Restaurant Owners
Safeguarding your legacy. Earlier this year a successful Popeyes franchisee with nineteen units unexpectedly passed away. The operator was relatively young and had no clear line of succession. Within weeks, his corporation declared bankruptcy, leaving 500 employees wondering if they would keep a job and putting $30 million dollars of sale volume at risk for the brand. Within a matter of months, ten of the nineteen units were permanently closed. This story is a painful reminder why succession planning is critical. The loss of volume for the franchise, the forfeiture of jobs for the community, and the closed restaurant locations could have been avoided with a thoughtful succession plan. Outside of the sudden and permanent loss of an owner, there are countless scenarios that could bring any business to its knees. Despite this, restaurant owners and franchise brands routinely shy away from discussions around exit strategies or succession planning. That’s a mistake since operational instability and risk to the unit can occur under multiple scenarios including divorce, partnership splits, childcare or elder care, drug use, health issues, or even imprisonment. Mark Twain famously wrote, “A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” For restaurant owners, we’ll take creative license with the quote to say, “A man who owns a restaurant should be prepared to exit at any time.” Here are tips on how to make that happen. A succession plan begins with operations. If you are in a hurricane zone, you have a readiness plan ready to go in case of an evacuation. Employ the same thinking for succession planning. Those in the restaurant business must have a written plan detailing who takes over the operations if an owner is no longer in the role. Sole operators should identify a clear chain of command with trained team members to step into required roles.
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Alert
MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ RESTAURANT AND BAR FOR SALE
Photo used to depict “Restaurant/Bar” only. Not actual representation.
Monmouth County Restaurant/Bar; “Go-To” restaurant at the NJ Shore; WATERFRONT – WATER VIEW 11,400 square foot free standing facility in mint condition; 3 bars seat 70 +split level dining for 160; outdoor seating for 120; well-maintained fully equipped high-end kitchen; valuable Class “C” liquor license; business only open 10 months a year – 5 days a week – no lunch; plenty of opportunity to increase sales; significant loyal customer following, in addition to an influx of summer trade; fashioned for the seasoned restaurant operator; financing available to qualified.
For detailed information contact Richard Santore, 732-531-4200.
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You Can’t Run a Successful Restaurant Without Persistence
Keep going even when you feel like you can’t. This coming May, it will be four years since I started my coaching business. Over the course of that time, I wanted to quit probably 20 times. As a restaurateur, you probably know what I’m talking about. It’s really hard to start something from scratch. And then when you are disciplined enough to get it going, you have to keep your head above water and keep going even when you feel like you can’t. I’m going to share a little of my story and struggles of getting a business off the ground and then being persistent until momentum kicked in. Then, I will share some thoughts to encourage you to keep going with your restaurant/business. COVID-19 hit me hard. I had a phenomenal career up until then. I had run some of the highest grossing restaurants as well as a celebrity chef restaurant. I was currently the Director of Restaurants for a restaurant group in Nashville. I had a 1-year-old son, and my wife was now a stay-at-home mom. Life was pretty awesome. Then, in March 2020, my position was eliminated. Worse yet, Nashville shut down hard. Restaurants were closed for a while and then, when they re-opened, they were only allowed to operate at less than 50 percent capacity and the mayor didn’t allow sidewalk and parking lot seating. He also raised property taxes by 26 percent, making it very difficult for landlords to cut breaks on their restaurant tenants leases. So, now what? I was the solo provider with bills, a mortgage, and a new son. My story isn’t anything special. I know many people went through the same thing or worse. But it still sucked. I began to think of alternatives.
5 Legal Trends to Watch in the Restaurant Industry
Adapting to rapidly changing background screening laws and regulations in 2024. Running background checks for quick-service restaurant employees has never been straightforward, and 2024 will be no exception. Fast-food employers nationwide will continue to face an ever-changing landscape of laws and regulations that will require both vigilance and foresight to navigate with confidence. Proceeding without attentiveness and care is likely to result in complications for even the most compliant of yesteryear’s policies; it is now, as always, in every restaurant’s best interest to remain thoroughly informed about the latest developments in background-check legislation. While monitoring such developments is an ongoing task, the five trends listed below are indications of where employers ought to be looking as they approach the threshold of 2024. These are areas that show signs of significant change in the coming months, and which are likely to have noteworthy impacts on the background screening process. Keeping a close eye on these trends will not only safeguard fast-food employers from being blindsided, but will provide them with direction as they plan and adapt their background-check policies for the year to come.
Restaurants Can Score Big for the Super Bowl
Now is the time to get your plays in order. Themed Menus for the Win: Want to show support for this year’s best teams? Provide special menu options from the cities the contenders hail from – a Philly Cheesesteak if the Eagles make it or a Cuban for Miami. Even offering team-themed cocktails will entice viewers to watch the game at your establishment. Play The Field: Some Super Bowl viewers prefer to watch the game in the comfort of their own homes, but that doesn’t mean you should lose out on sales. Dive into Super Bowl-specific catering menus and other deals to reach those not leaving the house. All Things Buffalo: Not only does a contender for this year’s Super Bowl come from Buffalo, but a top game day eat was created there – Buffalo wings. Each year, it is estimated that about 1 billion chicken wings are eaten on Super Bowl Sunday, so operators must keep a large supply of wings on hand for those hungry football fans. Is inflation still driving wing prices? What else should operators keep in mind to maximize profit for the popular item? The price of many staple items is continuing to increase throughout the beginning of this year. Chicken, especially, has reached a high price point, so operators will need to spend extra time managing their budget to be able to order ample amounts of chicken to serve the highly-coveted chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday. Catering and parties will become increasingly popular in 2024 as people continue to gather for in-person events, so consider offering Super Bowl catering menus for parties at home. If your establishment has a private room or separate space, you might want to allow a private party or two.
Are We Entering a World of Surge Dining?
Dynamic pricing is more likely to lower costs for customers. How much is an Uber? Depends on when you’re riding. How about flights? Depends on when you book. Highway tolls? Depends, sometimes, on how many people are on the road. Electric bill? Depends on the season, even the minute. We treat these as givens — sometimes annoying givens — of the modern economy. But what about the price of a burger? Are we ready to see moving price tags at restaurants? This is called dynamic pricing, and the restaurant industry, until recently, hadn’t quite cracked it. “If you think restaurants — menus, things are printed, people are used to coming into a restaurant, receiving a menu, it’s sort of fixed,” said Timothy Webb, an assistant professor at the University of Delaware’s hospitality and sport business management program. Industries that can change prices in real time have the technology to do that. Restaurants and their customers were not as digitally inclined where food was concerned — until the pandemic. “After the pandemic drove the industry towards more digitization, then it became much more easy to change prices based on a variety of factors multiple times,” said Ashwin Kamlani, CEO of Juicer, which sells a service that allows restaurants to rapidly change their prices on their digital menus, whether that be online ordering or a drive-through. Its clients include Salad Box and Carrot Express. Basically, with digitization restaurants have unlocked new capitalism powers. Powers like… surge dining?
Labor Cost is the Elephant in the Room for Restaurant Chains in 2024
Fast food companies will have to balance the challenge of rising wages. While food inflation is moderating and consumers are loosening their belts again, one persistent problem — labor costs — has followed the restaurant industry into 2024. The federal minimum wage has remained $7.25 an hour for over 14 years, but more than 30 states have a higher minimum, with Washington, D.C., at the top with $17 an hour. On Jan. 1, 22 states again raised their minimum wages, while Oregon, Nevada, and Florida are set to increase theirs later this year. And California is facing a looming wage jump as a result of the FAST Act, a law approved by Governor Gavin Newsom last September. Beginning April 1, 2024, food chains that have at least 60 locations nationwide will be required to raise their minimum wage for restaurant employees to $20 per hour. This comes as the job market for the leisure and hospitality industry still hasn’t bounced back to pre-COVID levels. In December 2023, the industry added roughly 40,000 jobs, but total employment is down 163,000 jobs compared with February 2020. As a result, the cost to dine out is outpacing grocery inflation. Citi analyst Jon Tower said this could be a headwind for restaurants as the cost of groceries beat restaurant meals for the 10th month in a row.
Did You Know?
1 in 10 restaurants in the US serve Mexican cuisine. Food is deeply ingrained in cultural identity and is one way to learn about a community’s heritage, familial customs, and values. In the U.S., Mexican food is one of the most popular cuisines, with 1 in 10 restaurants serving Mexican, according to recent findings from the Pew Research Center. This trend reflects an expanding Mexican American population, with 37.2 million people or 11.2% of the U.S. population tracing their ancestry back to Mexico. In the 2010s, the U.S. Hispanic population grew by 23%, a rate that outpaced the nation’s overall population growth of 7%, according to the Census Bureau. Of the Hispanic population living in the U.S., nearly 60% identify as Mexican American.
Employee Tip
Become the best manager you can for your staff and restaurant. It doesn’t matter if you have been in the restaurant industry for a decade or are just starting out, running a successful restaurant can be a stressful task. Management takes on multiple jobs throughout the restaurant including hiring, marketing, maintaining the budget, operations and keeping customers and staff happy. When working in a restaurant, management must utilize a variety of skills to run a successful business. Throughout my decades of working with restaurant and small business owners, these are four areas I always speak with clients about so they can be successful in their roles.