Restaurant Failure Rates

When starting out any new small-business venture, one is required to focus on the positives, address the negatives in a cool and level-headed manner, and forge ahead. However, we bar and restaurant entrepreneurs have a daunting statistic breathing down our neck, and every person we talk to addresses it: "Don't 90% of restaurants fail in their first year?" Until recently, I believed a variation of that number, though not quite as high, and simply continued on, knowing our product to be superior. Now I can happily report something else:

It's not true.

A bit of business reading lead me to a 5-year old article by BloombergBusinessweek tearing down that statistic. The simple facts are this, according to Ohio State's Hospitality Management Program's research, 25% of restaurants fail within a year. And 60% within three years. Which may seem high, until you realize that a 60% failure rate over three years is average, across all industries, for small businesses.

Let me write it again, for myself: bars and restaurants fail on a rate similar to any other small business. It feels good to know, and while there are thousands of moving parts involved in opening a bar (or any small business), this one positive thought can make things feel a little less daunting from time to time.

Identity Thoughts.

We at the Club have a very specific view on identity and creating a space that is welcoming and unique without being over the top. And in our research and travels it's always wonderful to see other ventures that take the same approach to their design, layout and interiors.

We feel that if we consider every detail of our identity, down to drink names, fonts and art on the walls, even if you don't necessarily agree with our tastes, our making a strong and informed choice on each aspect will show in the concept as a whole.

That's a convoluted way to say we do our best to think of everything and those choices will subtly influence your feelings about us and the Club, hopefully for the positive.

Here are two recent examples we've found of well-thought out identity. The one on the left comes from The Grill Room, a steakhouse-like restaurant in Portland, Maine. The one on the right from the Vergennes Laundry, a small-town coffee shop and French bakery in Vergennes, VT.

Caledonia Spirits.

One of the great joys of opening a bar like this is being able to meet all of the personalities behind some of our local spirits, and the folks at Caledonia Spirits in Hardwick, Vermont are no exception.

Todd Hardie has been around bees his whole life, managing hives and making value-added products from their honey, ranging from chewing gum to prostate oil, but he seems to have found his home at Caledonia. He will wax poetic about the names of his products, the farmers and all of the talented people that work there, but the true gem is their gin.

As you would expect from a distillery in Hardwick, an extremely localvore town, Todd and his team source nearly every thing, down to the flanges on the still, from nearby. The gin is made from neutral grain spirits, infused with juniper and other botanicals, and then spiked with a small amount of honey to add a hint of sweetness and body–nothing too over the top, but enough to make it a delight to drink on its own and plenty of body to stand out in a cocktail.

Though not yet carried in Maine, we hope to work with Todd and Caledonia in the near future to get them here and carry them at the Club.

Sweetgrass Distillery.

We had the great pleasure of visiting Keith and Constance Bodine at Sweetgrass Winery & Distillery. They were kind enough to take time away from their farm (and escaped sheep) to talk to us about the vast line of wines and spirits.

The couple settled in Union, Maine (the "wine capital of Maine," they say, with two total wineries) after Keith spent a career building stills and distilling programs for other people. They bought a working farm and support the farmers around them, producing on a small scale multiple products.

The stand out to us was the Cold River Gin, a clean, American-style gin and one of the better microdistilled gins we've tasted. Look for it at the Club and elsewhere in Maine.

Bastille Day.

We're not Fracophiles by any stretch. We love Maine and all things New England, but there are enough French around us (to the north), that we indulged this year to celebrate Bastille Day and took the chance to eat and drink the way we hope to facilitate at the Club: small, delicious plates, paired with some wine or a cocktail.

Take a look.