Donna and Maries Take out

[LexiGirl75]

Originally Posted by trailtoy

*cough*Lorenzo's*cough*

One of the guys that work there, if not the owner himself, has mental problems. He drives the big black SUV with the sign for Lorenzo's on the back. I have seen him many of times try to run over people, small children and animals.

Doesn't surprise me that they would burn someone just based on that guy's awful attitude. I have also seen him argue and give chase to someone all the way from Great Mills Rd to Pegg Rd where I basically lost them.

[Tigerlily]

Originally Posted by trailtoy

*cough*Lorenzo's*cough*

That's the one. Same one who also bailed on his pizzeria in the Park. On a side note I saw Donna Marie and her SO at Mattie's the other day meeting with what I would presume to be the owners. So maybe it will end up there.

[kom526]

Originally Posted by Tonio

It seems like St. Mary's has a high rate of business turnover in many more locations than Charles or Calvert. Ones that come to mind are the former Northridge (now Donovan's), the old Perkins (now Petruzzi's), the former Roy Rogers in San Souci (now a Thai restaurant), and the old Southridge (is it now Deano's?).

What do you think causes so much turnover? I suspect many of the tenants have pie-in-the-sky ambitions for starting businesses, but know little about managing costs or retaining customers. My theory is that successful restaurants need two managers--one responsible for the food and ambiance, and another to promote good customer service and prudent fiscal management. Not many people have the skills in both areas.

The corporation that owned the Perkins franchise wanted Chuck (? owner) to ante up over $100,000 to redecorate to be more in line with a Applebee's/Ruby Tuesday type place. The same guy also owned Border Willy's in Laurel Glen. Southridge is now Dew South, back in the day it was Carl & Lila's. (anyone else remember that?)

I think the time demands of owning any business is enough to cause people to throw in the towel.

[Tonio]

Originally Posted by tipsymcgee

some are successful yet the people underestimate the amount of time it takes to run your own business, especially in the restaurant/bar venue.

True. That was part of my point about creative skills versus business skills, which might stem from the left-brain/right-brain dichotomy. People with the business skills probably know intuitively about the massive time commitment needed for running these operations.

Also, it seemed like neither Lorenzo's nor Donna Marie's had good help. With the latter, I tried them a couple of times and both times the orders were incorrect. Also, once they had a "back in 5 minutes" sign on the door. They claimed to be partly a convenience store, but they didn't carry milk and bread.

Originally Posted by kom526

The corporation that owned the Perkins franchise wanted Chuck (? owner) to ante up over $100,000 to redecorate to be more in line with a Applebee's/Ruby Tuesday type place. The same guy also owned Border Willy's in Laurel Glen.

I met Chuck once, but I can't remember his last name. (For a while, I thought Chuckster on the Forums was him.) Is he still involved in restauranting?

I always classified Perkins as a "family" restaurant like Friendly's or Bob Evans or IHOP. The menu didn't have much spicy food, they had a bakery, and they didn't serve alcohol. I couldn't have imagined it as an Applebee's/Ruby Tuesday/Damon's place. Those chains cater more to adults, with bar sections, antique bricabrac on the walls, and spicier dishes. Was the entire Perkins chain going through a drastic image makeover?

[MysticalMom (Premo)]

While the people at Donna Maries were nice enough..the store got dirtier and dirtier.