Lavar Arrington's Restaurant Goes Bankrupt

[jgalecpa]

From Today's WP:

Bankruptcies

Monday, June 15, 2009
These firms recently filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's local clerk of court offices.


Under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, a company is protected from claims by creditors while it attempts to reorganize its finances under a plan approved by the court.
F. A. M. M. LLC, doing business as The Sideline

880 G Capital Centre Blvd., Largo, Md. 20774

Type of filing: Chapter 11 reorganization

Case number: 09-20450

Date filed: June 9

Attorney: Bennie Brooks, 301-731-4160

Assets: Zero to $50,000

Liabilities: $1,000,001 to $10 million

Largest unsecured creditor: Commercial Interiors, $766,268

Assets: Zero to $50K?




Damn.

[SmootSmack]

I don't think any business has seen any real success in that area where Capital Center (USAirways Arena) used to be. I thought it had gone bankrupt a while though

Arrington seems to have turned his focus on his career management business lately though

[mredskins]

Restaurant business is probably one of the hardest business to be succesful in. Food cost kills you.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Restaurant business is probably one of the hardest business to be succesful in. Food cost kills you.

true that, but it's often because owners have to jump in w/out being able to properly outfit their place & market. In Lavar's case, the startup funds were there, even if through financing. Not trying to kick him while he's down though, his timing was just bad.

Interesting that Smoot said nothing has ever done while in that area. A friend of mine in DC was saying how much Landover sucks, which I agree with, and that nobody wants to go out there. The Bullets/Wiz left for the City, I hope the Skins do too before 2017 (not totally random, I figure that's somewhat realistic if danny wants to).

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Restaurant business is probably one of the hardest business to be succesful in. Food cost kills you.

It's actually labor and dealing with personnel issues that are the worst.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

It's actually labor and dealing with personnel issues that are the worst.

I was speaking in turning a profit but yes those are major headaches as well. You basically want to run with a 30% food cost, this is very hard to do when folks are stealing from you (how many business can their products be stolen by swallowing them? ), mistakes, spoilage, etc...

Ever wonder why there are so many Pizza places? It is probaly the easiet restaurant model to run. A pizza cost like a $1 to make and they charge like what $13 for a large. As long as you keep a close eye on your cheese it would be hard to fail becuse of food cost, so much built in profit.

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by mredskins

I was speaking in turning a profit but yes those are major headaches as well. You basically want to run with a 30% food cost, this is very hard to do when folks are stealing from you (how many business can their products be stolen by swallowing them? ), mistakes, spoilage, etc...

Ever wonder why there are so many Pizza places? It is probaly the easiet restaurant model to run. A pizza cost like a $1 to make and they charge like what $13 for a large. As long as you keep a close eye on your cheese it would be hard to fail becuse of food cost, so much built in profit.

I actually own a pizza restaurant as a side business. The food costs still run 26-28% (we do subs, pasta too). The cheese is the hardest to track and most expensive (although cheese costs are actually down over the last 6 months). Getting the cooks to consistently measure the cheese is difficult.

The actual labor costs when you figure taxes etc. runs about the same percentage as food. Making sure the employees are being productive even in slow hours is hard to do. Then you have drivers who like to stop by their buddies place between deliveries, frequent "smoke breaks", waitresses who like to talk all shift, etc. The fun never ends.

At the end of the day, even in the weakened economy we're keeping our heads above water, so we're very thankful.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

I actually own a pizza restaurant as a side business. The food costs still run 26-28% (we do subs, pasta too). The cheese is the hardest to track and most expensive (although cheese costs are actually down over the last 6 months). Getting the cooks to consistently measure the cheese is difficult.

The actual labor costs when you figure taxes etc. runs about the same percentage as food. Making sure the employees are being productive even in slow hours is hard to do. Then you have drivers who like to stop by their buddies place between deliveries, frequent "smoke breaks", waitresses who like to talk all shift, etc. The fun never ends.

At the end of the day, even in the weakened economy we're keeping our heads above water, so we're very thankful.

Good to here your business is doing OK. What's the name of your restaurant and where is it located again?

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

It's actually labor and dealing with personnel issues that are the worst.

It's really everything and in this economy and in that location,use to be you had them come in becuase of the food and made your money on the liquor.

[jgalecpa]

Restaurants always look appealing as an 'easy' way to start a business, but for all the reasons you guys started, it's the last one I would recommend to a client in most cases.

Only exceptions are the pizza style place or something like a Five guys franchise.

Couple the terrible location and the horrible economy (one you could predict, the other not so much) and it was doomed from the start.

Kind of Ironic The Daniel has Six Flags go belly up and Lavar this place go under the same week.

J-Dawg

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by jgalecpa

Restaurants always look appealing as an 'easy' way to start a business, but for all the reasons you guys started, it's the last one I would recommend to a client in most cases.

Only exceptions are the pizza style place or something like a Five guys franchise.

Couple the terrible location and the horrible economy (one you could predict, the other not so much) and it was doomed from the start.

Kind of Ironic The Daniel has Six Flags go belly up and Lavar this place go under the same week.

J-Dawg

I have a buddy whose dad owns a Five Guys, they are not easy. Ground beef is expensive and leaves very little room for error. Espically when you don't freeze our meat, if you over order you could be dumping a lot of money in the form of spoiled meat into the trash can a few days later.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Restaurant business is probably one of the hardest business to be succesful in. Food cost kills you.

Especially the cost of cheese in the last year or so. Insanely expensive. Pizzerias are getting killed.

[Zerohero]

My dad used to always tell me "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should". Just because a celebrity can open restaurant/club/bar, doesn't mean he should. Crispy Cream and Starbucks could have learned that lesson too.

[GMScud]

His location was bunk and his business model was garbage. Largest creditor owed was an interior design company to the tune of nearly $800K? He's an idiot.

[Nflnick11]

I heard somewhere that 9 out of 10 newly opened restaurants that have been open for a year close the following year...guess his is one of those 9