Central Arkansas Restaurant Industry Flat in 2010 So Far

If the restaurant industry’s vital signs are considered an indicator of an area’s overall economic health, central Arkansas’ condition could be described as stable but not satisfactory.

Restaurant receipts in Little Rock for the first six months of 2010 totaled almost $208.7 million – almost identical to the same period last year. Those figures come from the hotel-motel-restaurant tax records from the city’s Advertising & Promotion Commission. The tax applies to food, but not alcoholic beverages.

In North Little Rock, HMR records show the city’s restaurants brought in about $84.3 million from January to June, an increase of 2.9 percent from the same period last year.

An apples-to-apples comparison for Conway is not possible, because in 2009, alcohol sales there were mistakenly included in the total HMR figures. In 2010, the HMR tax has not been applied to alcohol sales, although they are subject to state tax.

Philip Tappan, who owns The Purple Cow Restaurant and chairs the Little Rock A&P Commission, said the industry seems to be recovering, but it’s happening very slowly.

“While certain price categories maybe are more severely affected, like white-tablecloth dining, we at the A&P Commission have been generally very pleased that our sales haven’t fallen harder or dipped lower than they have,” Tappan said.

So far, this year is shaping up to be similar to last year, said Capi Peck, one of the owners of Trio’s and Capi’s and also a member of the A&P Commission.

Options

Revenue from January to June at Acadia in Hillcrest was $212,667, up nearly 33 percent from the same time last year. That’s because in March, Acadia began serving lunch.

“At times like this, you have to be a little bit more creative at gaining revenue and retaining customers,” said general manager Gregory Robinson.

The addition of lunch at the restaurant has also created new dinner customers, he said, and he’s optimistic about the rest of the year.

“I believe it will be improved. While there still is apprehension about the economy, I’m already booking parties in November and December. So that is a good sign for it being September,” he said.

It’s not just individual restaurants that have to come up with new options and ideas to stay in business. The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau’s “Savor the City” campaign is designed to get more people to dine out, Peck said.

Participating restaurants put together prix fixe lunch and dinner menus of two or three courses and offer them at lower prices than the individual courses would on their own.

“You don’t have to give anything away,” Peck said. “It’s not a coupon-driven thing or a discount-driven thing.”

The CVB has gotten positive feedback from restaurateurs about “Savor the City,” and plans to run it quarterly, Peck said. The current promotion ends Sept. 30.

And there are some other bright spots in the central Arkansas restaurant industry. Boulevard Bread will open a new baking facility with a small storefront early next year. Tappan plans to open a new Purple Cow location in either North Little Rock or Conway in 2011. And Zaza Fine Salad & Wood-Oven Pizza Co., whose revenue from January through June was up by 33 percent at $743,195, will open a Conway location in October.