Pinched eateries set meals within reach – Local – Myrtle Beach Online

Our theme lately seems to be following our troubling economy; its effect on our vacations and not just how to cope with it, use but also using it to our advantage whenever possible. In our effort to find ways to save you some money on your vacation (if you’re going to be lucky enough to take one!), we came across this article from the Sun News in Myrtle Beach. It’s no secret that business is tough just about everywhere……the restaurant business more so than many others (unless you’re selling Chevies!). It’s always a good idea to look for bargains, coupons, nightly specials, 2-fers and the like anytime you’re having a meal out! Why spend more than you you have to! Right now, restaurants are trying to vie for a shrinking pool of dining dollars and they’re going to go out of their way to get you into their dining rooms. Take advantage of their offers!….you’ll be saving money and doing them a favor as well…..a few dollars less revenue is better than NO revenue and you’ll be doing your part to get this economy off of life support!

Here’s some interesting news from the Sun News regarding how the local Myrtle Beach restaurants are coping with the current economic downturn.

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Specials, coupons, cuts in prices aim to attract today’s thrifty diners

By Johanna D. Wilson – jwilson@thesunnews.com

Restaurant owners are using common-sense management and marketing to survive a storm of slow business riding on the back of a broken economy. Faced with customers who have abandoned splurging and become intimate with thriftiness, restaurateurs are doing their best to draw them in. "People are spending less money," said Barbara Woolfort, who operates and owns The Breakfast Klub in Murrells Inlet with her husband, Nick Woolfort. "They are coming in here and getting water and one pancake." Restaurants Salt Creek Cafe owner Keith Wolff (left) stacks menus during the restaurant’s early-bird hour on Friday in Murrells Inlet. For the past two or three months, Nick Woolfort said, his business has been down about 30 percent. And owners have to suck it up because they know business gets bogged down in an unpredictable economic storm.

Instead of whining, many are trying plans they hope will keep them afloat. "Some run buy-one-get-one-free dinner specials, and maybe they will mix up their menus and offer special food items, and typically those items will have a deep discount," said Pauline Levesque, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association. "Business is very slow, so they need to keep up with ways to attract customers." Levesque said restaurant owners have entered a typically slow period – January and February – when they were already down 20 percent to 25 percent on the heels of 2008. Restaurants nationwide saw a 1.3 percent decline in sales in 2008, the second consecutive year of decline – the first such occurrence in the almost 40 years the National Restaurant Association has been tracking industry sales. Restaurateurs in Southern California, Miami and Chicago recently interviewed by The New York Times reported a decline in business, resulting in more customers sharing plates, buying cheaper wine, ordering less and not dining out as much.

Elsewhere in South Carolina, restaurants also are being punched by the economy. Kirkman Finlay, a Columbia City Council member who owns Doc’s Barbecue on Shop Road and Congaree Grill, called his business brutal. "I’m down 30 percent," he said. Pinch takes toll Restaurateurs seem to know more folks suffering than those well and not worrying. "This year has been a challenging year for everybody in the restaurant business," said Dino Thompson, a restaurateur since 1976 who owns Cagney’s and the Flamingo Grill with Dino Drosas. "I have noticed that more restaurants than ever before are couponing and doing half off and buy one get one free. Those things will help your cash flow for a while, but you can’t keep that up." For about two or three months now, Thompson said, business has been down about 20 percent. Thompson, whose restaurants are well-known in the area by locals and tourists, said he started a happy hour at Flamingo Grill, a move he has never before made. "I will probably do it at Cagney’s, too, when we open [Feb. 6]. We will probably run some new appetizers and entrees to stimulate interest, too."

Other restaurants owners are already knee-deep in marketing campaigns and are restructuring the way they do business: J. Edward’s, a steakhouse in Myrtle Beach, is advertising what it is calling "Economy Bailout." According to the ad, nine entrees start at $5.99, a price reduction that reflects what prices were back in 1994, with some going back to 1989. J. Edward Fleming, the owner, said he will run the early bird specials all year long. T.G.I. Friday’s is offering a free lunch entree, if you buy one, until March 31. At the River Room in Georgetown, Sally Swineford, an owner, has half-price wines by the bottle on Monday nights. "That is catching on by word of mouth," she said of the feature that started in November.

At Aspen Grille, a fine-dining restaurant in Myrtle Beach, an 8-ounce hickory-smoked prime rib that usually sells for $26 is $12.99 every Tuesday. In November, owner Joe Sutherland said his business was down by 10 percent, but in December he broke even. This month, he said that it looks as if business will be up. "We have not increased our prices at all," he said. "We have actually lowered some things and reconstructed it with other items. We have put more pressure on our suppliers. Instead of dealing with one, we will shop around for the best prices." Aspen Grille has also become a little like Burger King, allowing customers to have it their way. They can share plates without being charged extra and even bring in their own wine to drink, although there’s still a $10 corking fee. Eateries get creative Diners said they are looking for bonuses and deals when they eat out, while also making a point of dining out less. "We are definitely eating out less, and I’ll tell you what we have also started doing – we started being more thrifty," said Christina Prince of Longs, who recently dined with her family at Friendly’s and saved by ordering specials and taking advantage of a locals discount. "We had a very bad habit of eating out all the time before the economy went sour."

Jay Benson, the manager of Friendly’s on 47th Avenue North in Myrtle Beach, said coupons have worked well to draw customers to his restaurant. At Ella’s of Calabash in Calabash, N.C., owner Kurt Hardee is sticking to daily lunch specials for $5.75 and is doing work others once did for him. Hardee, the grandson of the restaurant’s founder, said he refuses to raise prices because he knows his customers will go somewhere else or stay home. Instead, he buys his own towels, mats and aprons and launders them himself, instead of using a linen service. "I was spending about $200 a month, and now I spend about $15 a month," Hardee said. He has generated additional revenue by finding a company that will pay him for used cooking oil, and he dropped the company that paid him nothing. "The last check I got was $1,000," Hardee said. His revenue is up about 10 percent, he said. Nevertheless, like other owners, he sees a change in business. "People are spending less money," Hardee said. "They are cutting out dessert or that second beer. People are looking for bargains, and you can’t blame them in this economy."

Wendy and Keith Wolff, owners of Salt Creek Cafe in Murrells Inlet, felt the industry tremble last year when food and fuel prices soared. They paid close attention, studied the forecast and decided to make bargains, happy hour and entertainment a part of their business out of the gate. "We opened knowing there is an offseason," Wendy Wolff said. "We are not taking anything for granted because of the economy." When the Wolffs saw that people wanted the less expensive lunch entrees during dinner, they made both menus available all day. Wendy Wolff doesn’t doubt that the economy eventually will turn. "This is what my husband knows how to do," she said. "We are going to make it work. We have four children. There is no other choice for us. The economy is just a bump. I think it could only get better, and with a new president, I can only be hopeful."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.