Prime KO cancels advertised evening - was this wise of them?
So, Prime KO sent around email advertisements that it wold be open on Friday evening the Shabbos of New Year's weekend. We booked dinner for New Year's weekend with some friends. We were all looking forward to it.
Late Wednesday evening they phoned, and very politely informed us that they did not have enough reservations to make it worth while to open. I accept that. But...
My question to chowhounders knowledgeable about the economics of the restaurant business is, was this good judgment on their part?
It certainly makes it less likely that the next time they announce a Friday opening I will reserve a table and arrange to meet friends there for dinner.
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So, this morning I got an email announcing that Prime KO is open for dinner this Friday evening. I called to make a reservation, and the receptionist said that they had been surprised to have several people phone for reservations since they has made no plans to open.
This really cannot be good marketing.
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They did you a favor. We went last year on New Year's Eve when it fell on Shabbat and it was terrible. simply terrible.
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re: SRG
What was terrible about it?
And, just for clarity, we were going to go on Shabbat, Dec. 30, not New Year's Eve.
We have been there before on Shabbat and had wonderful meals, better, in my opinion, than their weeknight meals. I think that it is because the food has been so good and the Shabbat atmospere so lovely that I am disappointed.
And, @ferret, you may be right. But this is Manhattan, the number of people who dine out regularly in this price range here is not small, and Shabbat is an evening when many of us have the leisure to enjoy dinner with friends in the Shabbat atmosphere that Prime KO provides.
Also, judging by previous Shabbat meals in Manhattan restaurants, many young people work very long hours and seem to find Friday restaurant meals a good way to date. I think they afford it by working 70-hour weeks.
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re: AdinaA
The market is what the market is. A theoretical population is meaningless when it's obvious that they haven't been able to keep it going. Summer is one thing; kids are away at camp and family members are on vacation so it may be practical to go out for Shabbat dinner, but it's obviously not drawing in customers. I have plenty of friends and some family on the UWS so I'm more than familiar with the demographics (I travel to NY for business a lot). It's one thing to have the money to do this, quite another to want to do it regularly.
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tamarw
Dec 29, 2011 09:53 AM
As someone who works in advertising and marketing, I actually agree that this was probably a bad idea. It definitely won't encourage those cancelled on to ever want to patronize the establishment on a Shabbos (or ever, if they're that upset).
In advertising, if you're inconvenienced, you should be issued a "makegood" - maybe 15% off the next order. That would have been an apology I think others would be happier to wrap their heads around. Did they do anything of the sort, or did they just cancel?
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re: tamarw
They just canceled. And you're right, it would have been nice to be offered some compensation. As a token acknowledgment that they caused some inconvenience.
And it was the second time. In the fall of 2010, when they had been opening regularly on Fridays and advertising that they were open on Fridays, we invited friends (fortunately not the same friends we had to cancel on this week) to meet us there on a Friday a couple of weeks ahead. They took the reservation, then called to say they weren't opening on Fridays anymore.
I gut that they didn't have enough bookings. But maybe if they kept their word on regularly scheduled open Fridays, people would get into the habit of using it as part of their Shabbos social calendar.
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re: AdinaA
It's a tough economy even aside from trying to convince observant people to eat out on a Friday night. It's a novelty that works in some instances but is likely not sustainable as a business model. Fantastic idea for visitors but that would require more of a Mid-Town location which then eliminates the neighborhood crowd. Most families like Shabbat at home so this is for singles and couples that don't otherwise have a regular family Shabbat.
I think you should look at this as a glass half full situation; it's nice that the option is there occasionally. Late cancellations are always annoying but you need to throw it in perspective. Take the money you would have spent (and likely a lot less) and get some great take-out for a nice dinner at home.
Living in Chicago, where we can't even sustain more than one "finer" Kosher dining establishment the idea of a Friday night restaurant meal would bring some people in as a novelty but would never work on an extended basis. It draws a really limited crowd.
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You're asking if it was good judgement to not want to lose money? They obviously ran the numbers and saw that their overhead wouldn't be covered. I suspect that if they were close to break-even then they would have erred on the side of goodwill, but if they needed (as an example) 50% of their expected reservations to break even but only got 20% then they made the practical call to cancel.
Still not sure why you're questioning their business call.
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re: ferret
Because it's a downward spiral. If you can count on a restaurant to be open when it advertises that it's going to be open, you can plan around it. Make dates with people you want to spend an evening with.
If they say that they'll be open, then cancel. You'll stop planning to entertain friends this way.
It's just weird to invite someone to dinner and have to call up and say, sorry, that dinner I invited you to, it's off.
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re: AdinaA
If they were doing it on a regular basis I'd agree with you 100% but a Friday night experiment on New Year's eve weekend (which is a crapshoot because most Kosher-observant people are expecting to do their celebrating Saturday night - so 2 nights in a row may not be appealing) can't really be viewed as an indicator of things to come.
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