In one year, Stadium Village gained four fast food restaurants: McDonald’s, Taco Bell and a Dairy Queen/Orange Julius. All are in the same building.
Despite nearby competition from Arby’s/Sbarro and Stub and Herb’s and with a new Burger King on its way, the new establishments are doing pretty well, though they maintain business could be better.
“We’ve not been as busy as we hoped to be,” said Dan Nelson, assistant manager of Dairy Queen/Orange Julius and a University student.
Nelson attributes the lack of clientele to sparse sidewalk traffic. Many students tend not to venture that far down Washington Avenue toward the fast food restaurants, Nelson said. In fact, most of their customers are hospital employees working two blocks away.
Taco Bell isn’t any better off since it lacks visibility as well as student traffic. Instead of a prominent Washington Avenue storefront, the store is tucked around the corner facing a quieter Oak Street. Store managers are hopeful, but failure, even for such a large restaurant chain, is a possibility. Proof of it is just a glance away.
Just across the street from the four fast food hopefuls stare the dark windows of the defunct Tortilla Ria. Its doors have been locked for months and the interior is gray with thick dust. And not far away lurks yet another testament to the uncertainty of businesses in the area: the empty husk of what was once Bayou Coffee, a casualty of poor sales and visibility.
Despite the less-than-encouraging business environment, none of the new restaurant managers are ready to throw in the towel — far from it.
“It’s a new business,” said Mike Wolfel, a field consultant for International Dairy Queen who manages the store. “You can’t give a fair shake to a new business in under a year.”
Though Wolfel said sales are 20 percent less than he’d like, he is confident business will pick up when the new neighbors move in.
Fairview University Medical Center will transfer about 150 people into new offices on the third floor of the “bank building” housing the restaurants. And with the arrival of the University Gateway center just blocks away, managers look forward to a bigger lunchtime rush.
Until then, the stores will focus on coupons and increased advertisement to lure in prospects. The residence halls are a big market, and sports venues are key, although the lack of alcohol makes it difficult to compete.
McDonald’s manager Linda Holmes is the only one to report satisfactory sales. But McDonald’s was the first of the new stores in the area, and Holmes said it’s taken her store that long to build up a strong customer following.
“I just have a good, steady clientele,” Holmes said. “Summers I lose a lot of my clients, but it’s pretty good.” She’s not worried about increasing competition from the soon to arrive Burger King.
With new food choices nearby, Holmes said people are actually more apt to come into the area and, in the long run, people’s interest in the area should improve as the Stadium Village business community continues its development.