Step Ins Restaurant Knows the Steps for Holiday Survival

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George Scopelitis set up a sign with bright orange letters reading “Holiday Menu” to greet pedestrians as they walked by Step Ins Restaurant and Lounge. The diner located in Parkchester in the Bronx offered its annual holiday specials for Thanksgiving on Thursday November 22, 2012. The full menu could be found in the dim lit restaurant provided to customers exclusively by Scopelitis.
The menu comprised of two poultry options including fried turkey, and duck seared and slow roasted with orange marmalade. Sides such as candied yams and gourmet stuffing accompanied the meat options to add balance to the menu.
Businesses such as Step Ins Restaurant are significantly affected by the holiday season seeing a short lived boost in clientele and then a sharp downward spiral. The holidays are typically the trickiest time of year for the Restaurant, but owners Christos and George Scopelitis know the steps it takes to pull through the tough times.
The Scopelitis brothers clearly understand that the economy and knowledge of their business plays a vital role in the customer flow. George Scopelitis said, “it is having a steady customer flow multiple days of the week that keeps the business afloat, not one day of mayhem and then six days of quiet.” Scopelitis further explained that the recession of 2007 and all struggles faced by the diner in the past have caused them to learn this lesson. The recession caused the restaurant to have to make a choice between raising prices while keeping food choices the same or keep price the same a lessen the food portions given to paying customers. They ultimately chose neither of the options and decided to keep prices and portion the same in order to maintain their client base. Initially the restaurant took a hit but managed to recover. This strategy worked keeping them alive during the recession and during their slow periods such as the holiday season.
Strategy can go a long way and in the case of Thanksgiving the Scopelitis brothers chose to serve a small selection in which they also limited the portion of food purchased specifically for the menu. Additionally, the general menu was adjusted from having a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu to having only two exclusive menus. The two exclusive menus were the breakfast and the holiday menus. The holiday menu was also fairly priced serving turkey and duck at $11 a plate including the sides and choice of drink. When asked about the dessert, Scopelitis stated that the dessert menu remained the same. They decided to keep it the same because it would have cost more money and would not likely have seen the return. This Thanksgiving the diner experienced a bigger holiday crowd causing the restaurant to go through their entire holiday menu by 9pm Thursday. George Scopelitis attributed this phenomenon to this year’s early start of Black Friday. He also stated that “the bigger crowd during Thanksgiving is also a small indicator of the economy trying to come back.”
Business has been largely slow but he estimates it will pick back up to a steadier pace in three weeks once Christmas is over. The key is being able to set a plan that will compensate for any potential loss in profit. Another clear example of this is when Hurricane Sandy hit, while the restaurant was not affected by damage from the storm it did however lose the business that would have normally been coming in the door due to the mass transit outage. The strategies adopted by Scopelitis have allowed for his business to be able to compensate for any down time the business experiences.
The Scopelitis brothers were able to reveal their knowledge about the restaurant business by the way they have planned for the tough business days they have encountered. George Scopelitis says, “You have to have tough skin meaning as a business owner you have to be in touch with the economic situation in the world and most importantly your customer base. Once you know what your customers want and plan a way to meet their expectations at a reasonable price, there is no doubt in the success that will follow.”