etc:: May 11, 2005

East Lansing eateries battle the summer blues

By AMY OPREAN

As the spring semester came to a close last week and MSU students said their

Lawrence Cosentino/City Pulse Owner Paul O’Connor and manager Laurel Bell take the air outside Flats Grille in East Lansing.

goodbyes to one another, many restaurant owners on Grand River Avenue were saying goodbye to huge chunks of their customer base, and possibly their businesses.

East Lansing summers have been known to bring sudden ends to many restaurants, but there are some survivors. Scattered along Grand River are those that have found their place within the city, despite seasonal changes.

Paul O’Connor, owner of Flats Grille, says hands-on management is what has kept his restaurant open for seven years.

“We’ve got great food, good service and a fun atmosphere,” he says. “But most importantly, I’m a working owner. No one can take care of a business on a day-to-day basis like the owner.”

While O’Connor says Flats’ business has gotten better with every year, the fluctuations of student numbers have taken a toll, even on food chains.

“It’s very hard to run a restaurant in a city like East Lansing,” says Lisa Merrit, crew leader at Sparty’s coffee houses and former manager of the Burger King at Stoddard Avenue and Grand River. “We rocked during the school year, and then in the summer we’d go down to nothing. We could survive only because of the money we made during the school year, and because we’re part of a huge chain.”

Merrit says when she goes to Grand River on her lunch breaks she looks for a place where she can get something small, quick and cheap. But she says she’s noticed students going for a little extra novelty, even if it means paying more.

“I’m surprised Cosi is still open,” she says. “The food isn’t that expensive, but it isn’t the cheapest. The atmosphere is nice though. There are windows all around so it feels very open and they have unique food, like those square bagels, ‘squagels.’”

“What makes me want to go into a restaurant, honestly, is when I look through the window, I picture myself eating there and see myself have a good time,” says telecommunications sophomore Jeff Rosenfeld.

Carl Borchgrevink, an associate professor in the MSU School of Hospitality Business, agrees that novelty can sometimes trump price and menu. He also pointed out that many businesses still fall through despite their fun atmosphere.

“Sometimes managers aren’t controlling their costs very well,” he says. “I walk into restaurants and ask what their food or beverage cost is, and they say they don’t really know. And if they don’t know, then they don’t know if they’re making the amount of profit they should be making.”

Borchgrevink says that other times, managers just miss the market, and do not assess who their customers are or what their customers want.

Knowing his market is what has kept The Peanut Barrel Restaurant open for 30 years, according to general manager Eric Ericskusa.

Even before opening the patio in 1983, Ericskusa says the Peanut Barrel had become a place for East Lansing locals more than college students.

“All the other places cater to students, and that makes sense,” he says. “But this is a town like any other, with secretaries, plumbers and contractors too.”

Their older crowd is what Ericskusa says makes the Peanut Barrel do better than other restaurants on Grand River in the summer, when the number of college students dramatically declines. Add in the open patio, which is packed as soon as spring shows up, and you’ll see why summer is actually their busiest time, Ericskusa says, a huge accomplishment in any college town.

After 30 years, the Peanut Barrel’s reputation alone does most of its advertising. “One time,” Ericskusa says, I heard a story about a policeman who stopped someone on Grand River from out of town and was giving them a ticket, and he asked, ‘I’ve never been in this town, where’s a good place to get a burger?’ And the policeman told him to come here.”

The Parlour On Campus has only been open for a little over a year, but general manager Mike Galka hopes to find a long-term niche in the city the same way the Peanut Barrel has.

Galka said the Parlor’s bigger scoops of ice cream beat their neighborly competition every day, and the fun, festive atmosphere the Parlor has come to be known for will keep business coming more than any gimmick will.

“I personally don’t believe in specials,” he says. “This place runs on pure attitude.”

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