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Highlands Today

Poor Economy Taking Toll On Local Restaurants

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Farmer's Market Buffet closed Sept. 16 after only 4 months of business.

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By BILL ROGERS

Highlands Today

Published: September 28, 2008

SEBRING - Don Clifford, vice president of real estate development for Farmer's Market Buffet LLC, summed up the reason for the restaurant's abrupt closing in two words "pure economics."

The buffet at the corner of New Life Way and U.S. 27 in Sebring was only open about four months before closing its doors earlier this month.

Clifford said discretionary spending is down everywhere, but he added the company was "very disappointed" in the Sebring restaurant's sales.

"We had to make a decision and couldn't go along any further," he said.

The company spent $300,000 remodeling the building, according to Clifford.

There is interest in the site. Farmer's Market was leasing the property from a Real Estate Investment Trust and can sublease it, Clifford said.

He described the location as a "great site."

It is indeed a difficult time for both the chains as well as mom and pop eateries.

"It's the worst time for restaurants in 30 years," said Nick Vojnovic, past chairman of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and president of Beef 'O' Brady's.

Vojnovic said there are 260 Beef 'O' Brady's locations around the country and two-thirds of them are down in sales. The chain has 136 stores in Florida.

Vojnovic said Beefs is doing well in small towns like Lake Placid, Clewiston and Okeechobee.

The situation for restaurants will begin looking better once the housing market stabilizes and gas prices go down, he said. It might be a year - or perhaps a little longer- before that happens.

In the meantime, Vojnovic tells owners of his restaurants to "run a tight ship and watch every penny."

Another Sebring restaurant, Tropical Chicken and Bakery on Lakeview Drive, closed shortly after Farmer's Market.

The building was being sublet and rent payments were not being paid to the owner, according to Chip Boring, broker/owner of RE/MAX Realty Plus in Sebring. The property is on the market again - for sale or lease.

Boring said the problem with many people who open a restaurant is they don't have enough capital.

"If they are undercapitalized the odds are well against them," Boring said.

To anyone interested in owning a restaurant, Vojnovic's advice: "sit tight and wait a while."

According to the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, there were 3,762 new food establishments in the state from July 2007 to July of this year.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation does not track closures of restaurants, noting that establishments do not have to notify the department when that happens.

Regarding another closure, Starbucks in Lakeshore Mall will be closing on Sept. 30, according to Jenny Cheek, the mall's general manager.

Earlier this year, Starbucks announced that it was closing nearly 600 locations in the United States.

Cheek said there are prospects to fill the space the gourmet coffee shop occupies.

Bill Rogers may be reached at 386-5825 or wrogers@highlandstoday.com

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