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BUSINESS
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
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Eritrean eats go downtown
Restaurateurs try out famed Portage Avenue location
By: Murray McNeill
Posted: 09/22/2014 1:00 AM | Comments: 0
phil hossack / winnipeg free press Gary Tesfatsion (left) and Eseyas Rezene
own the new Red Sea bar/restaurant, which opened in late July in the former
Chocolate Shop location on Portage Avenue.
Two novice restaurateurs are the latest to take a run at following in the
footsteps of one of the city's oldest and most successful downtown eateries.
Eseyas Rezene and Gary Tesfatsion opened their Red Sea Bar and Restaurant
about two months ago at 268 Portage Ave.
For 93 years -- from 1918 until 2011 -- the 3,500-square-foot space had
been home to the Chocolate Shop restaurant. For its first five or six
decades, it was said to have been one of downtown Portage Avenue's most
popular restaurants.
Those glory days were a distant memory by the time it closed, and that's
when cousins Kelvin and Karen Peters stepped in. They reportedly spent
between $250,000 and $300,000 to convert the tired, old space into a
modern, Mediterranean-style bistro and lounge, which was named one of the
city's best restaurants of 2012.
Unfortunately, their Arkadash Bistro and Lounge lasted less than a year,
quietly closing its doors in March 2013. And the space remained empty until
this past summer, when Rezene and Tesfatsion followed a friend's suggestion
and opened their new restaurant/bar.
The Red Sea's menu features a combination of North American favourites --
things like burgers, sandwiches and wraps -- and favourites from their home
country of Eritrea. The idea is to try to appeal to not only consumers who
prefer more traditional North American fare, but also to the city's growing
number of African immigrants, many of whom live in and around the downtown.
Rezene admitted in a recent interview customer volumes have been running
hot and cold over the first two months.
He said daytime business volumes -- they're open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to
cater to the downtown lunch crowd have been disappointing. But evenings and
weekends have been busier because of events at the nearby MTS Centre and
their decision to feature music DJs.
"But it's improving every day," he added, and they're hoping the start of
the new NHL season will give them a further boost.
Rezene said they chose the downtown for their first foray into the
restaurant/bar business because it's where they live and where they're most
comfortable.
He said they were aware of the success and longevity of the Chocolate Shop
at that location. But the main reason they chose it over several others was
it had already been renovated and modernized by the owners of Arkadash. So
they only had to make a few changes.
He said one of the things working in their favour is their low start-up
costs -- less than $50,000, including their first two months' rent. Low
start-up costs mean less debt and a better chance of succeeding.
It's worth noting Arkadash was one of a number of downtown Portage Avenue
restaurant/lounges to come and go in recent years. Others included La Bamba
Cafe & Lounge, which was located on the north side of Portage between
Donald and Smith streets; the Juss Jazz lounge on the south side of Portage
between Fort and Garry streets, the 4Play Sports bar and Entertainment Zone
on the northeast corner of Portage and Hargrave Street, and Rinkside
Restaurant and Bar, on the south side of Portage between Carleton and
Hargrave.
That's not to say there haven't been success stories. Moxie's Grill & Bar
in the MTS Centre, Marcello's Market & Deli in the Manitoba Hydro building
and the Kim Long Restaurant between Fort and Garry are three examples that
come to mind.
But Kris Mutcher, a retail-leasing specialist with the Winnipeg office of
Colliers International, said there's no question restaurants on downtown
Portage Avenue face some challenges.
One of them is the two biggest concentrations of downtown office workers
are at Portage and Main and on Broadway, and both areas have a good
selection of restaurants close by.
"So it's hard to pull them (the Portage and Main lunch crowd) three or four
blocks down the road," he said, unless they have another reason to go there
or the restaurant has something unique to offer.
While having the MTS Centre close by should be a big plus for Portage
Avenue establishments, Mutcher said the problem is people attending arena
events tend to take the overhead skywalk system instead of Portage Avenue.
Especially during the winter months. So while the restaurants and bars
connected to the skywalk system can do well on those occasions, that's not
always true for businesses that aren't in the skywalk.
A third problem is there still aren't enough people coming downtown on
nights when there isn't an event to draw them there, he said.
"So (on those nights) the dinner crowds can be light no matter where you
are in the downtown."
He said chain restaurants may have the financial wherewithal to weather
those slow periods, but that's not always the case with smaller,
independent operators. The key to their long-term viability is getting more
people living or staying downtown, and Mutcher said the completion of Glass
House condominium complex near Portage and Hargrave and the new Alt Hotel
at Portage and Donald should help.
Know of any newsworthy or interesting trends or developments in the local
office, retail or industrial real estate sectors? Let real estate reporter
Murray McNeill know at the email address below, or at 204-697-7254.
murray.mcneill_at_freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 22, 2014 B4
Received on Wed Sep 24 2014 - 11:08:13 EDT