Jump to content

Closing Downtown


triadguy37

Recommended Posts

Rumor has it that Metro Gourmet will be closing February 28. Also Thia Pan and Rim will be closing also. It is my understanding that these business are being gouged by the property owners who are charing ungodly rent on these places. It is ashame how greedy these people are. One restaurant owner told me he is paying 5000 a month for his space. I am sorry, but there is nothing in downtown Greensboro worth paying this kind of rent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 11
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Rumor has it that Metro Gourmet will be closing February 28. Also Thia Pan and Rim will be closing also. It is my understanding that these business are being gouged by the property owners who are charing ungodly rent on these places. It is ashame how greedy these people are. One restaurant owner told me he is paying 5000 a month for his space. I am sorry, but there is nothing in downtown Greensboro worth paying this kind of rent.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

the good thing is that when one restaurant closes, another opens in its place. Just like when the Press closed another Wine cafe opened in its place immediately after it closed. Im sure this is common in many cities. It could be worse because im sure in places like Charlotte the rent is higher uptown.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the good thing is that when one restaurant closes, another opens in its place. Just like when the Press closed another Wine cafe opened in its place immediately after it closed. Im sure this is common in many cities. It could be worse because im sure in places like Charlotte the rent is higher uptown.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also consider another reason for the high rent. Im sure the owners of these properties pay alot of taxes on land downtown so they pass it down to the renter. The owners are typically developers like Milton Kern. Sure they make some profit from high rent but it also helps build capital for future renovations and development. But there has to be a balance. If the rent is too high, it could force many businesses to close down. As for the restaurants, downtown appears to be almost untouched by the bad economy. Clearly residential is another story but restaurants and other establishments have still been doing well. Evidence of that is the planned 5-story building on S Elm Street that will be under construction this spring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the good thing is that when one restaurant closes, another opens in its place. Just like when the Press closed another Wine cafe opened in its place immediately after it closed. Im sure this is common in many cities. It could be worse because im sure in places like Charlotte the rent is higher uptown.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe I am missing something, but $5000/month doesn't seem like high rent for a downtown restaurant. Considering that the restaurant owner will write off this rent as an expense, then they really don't have to do that much business/day to easily cover this rent. It's been my experience that restaurant owners of failing restaurants will often cite other reasons, than their ability to run a business, as reasons for said failure.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Small businesses close all the time, all over the city. It is nothing new. It is only news because these are downtown. Certainly you don't like to see anyone have to close their doors but I don't think every closing should be seen as something wrong. It is very tough running a small business--anywhere. This is normal. I have no idea what the rent is or whether that had anything to do with it but I do remember Metro Gourmet being temporarily closed before for tax problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

$5000 a month is alot of money for the type of small restaurants that are downtown. Especially after you pay your employees, there is not much profit. I never really cared for Rim, but Thia Pan and Metro were definitely good restaurants that should have made it. Infact, I think Metro has the best food of any place downtown and if you never ate there, then shame on you.....
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My comments are coming from my personal experience via my family who owned a small restaurant for years. If they are doing so little business they can't afford this rent, then I would contend they don't have much labor expense either. I would also contend that almost any property owner, rather than be faced with an empty space, will re-negotiate rent if there is a sound business decision to do so. It is never profitable to own an empty building even for a short time.

It's almost never a question on if the restaurant owner served good food or not. Instead the question is if it was the right food at the right price point for the area and service and cleanliness has to be flawless. It's unfortunate but true that many good cooks are not good business owners.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

seems like there is some unjust blame for rent amounts ... rents are an agreed upon amount in the lease. the business owner of the restaurant would/should have factored the rent into a business plan and balance sheet. how many square feet are we talking about here and what does $5K represent in per square foot? what is the going rate per square foot for rents in this retail corridor?

i own a second house which i rent out at the highest possible rent... am i to blame when the tenant can't make rent?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.