The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Blue Moon Closing Marks End Of An Era; What Does Closing Mean For CVille Area?

Episode Date: October 16, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Blue Moon Closing Marks End Of An Era What Does Closing Mean For CVille Area? Read Viewer And Listener Comments On Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Wednesday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's great to kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's great to connect with you guys through the I Love Seville Network, a show today that is in a studio that broadcasts roughly 22 hours a week of content. This particular show, our flagship show, Monday through Friday, 1230 to 130, where we talk topics that matter to Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Central Virginia. And today's show is going to be centered on the closing, the announced closing of Blue Moon Diner.

Since 2006, Blue Moon Diner, when it reopened, under the guidance of Rice and Laura, has been institutional in the, not just food and beverage, but institutional in the community and the stories that are birthed from our community. Whether it's brunch on a weekend with your family, your spouse, your partner, your friends. Whether it's a shift change and someone enjoying a meal following a shift, whether it's live music, claw, the what, Charlottesville Derby, dames, it's just been part of the fabric that is Charlottesville. You see students dining there. You see OG Charlottesville dining there, New Guard Charlottesville dining there, professors, faculty, elected officials. And within the last 24 hours, they have published on their Blue Moon Facebook page

a post that has gone absolutely viral, and it speaks to the popularity of the brand Blue Moon Diner. So on today's program, we want to pay tribute to what is an institutional brand and ask the question, what does this mean, the closing of something so iconic to the category, and what does it mean to central Virginia, Charlottesville, and Alamaro County? We'll thank Charlottesville Business Brokers for being a part of the show.

We broker a lot of business transactions. We're in the process of working three as we speak. Online at charlottesvillebusinessbrokers.com. If you're looking to buy or sell a business, let us know. Charlottesville Business Brokers. We'll also highlight Johnny Rinalis and Mejicali Restaurant. Partners of the program, Johnny Rinalis and Mejicali on West Main Street.

50 parking spots on site. I mean, Mejicali is doing it right. It's a street art museum. It's a cocktail bar. It's a music venue. It's Latin fusion with its cuisine. Heck, it's got a playground on site for kids to enjoy. Yeah, no doubt.

The old world beer spot. If you haven't had Mexicali, you're missing one of the best restaurants out there. Yeah. Seriously, guys. And they recently added some new items to their specials menu. New items on the specials menu. Yeah. They all look amazing.

Is that Judah Wickhauer on camera or the voice of God? This is the voice of God. Let's go to Judah Wickhauer on camera, the Elmer's glue of the network. You know what? The coffee is so good at Blue Moon, Don. Everything is good. What's your go-to dish? Anything.

Brunch. I personally love the huevos blu muños. That's my go-to. I don't know if I've ever tried anything else. I've had that. That's fantastic. Yeah, no doubt. That's fantastic.

So where do you want to begin with this? First, I want to say this. Quitting when you're ahead is not the same as quitting. Right. So all the folks, I understand the reaction of being gut punched and devastated. And that's because folks are loyal and have an affinity for the brand,

love the experience, love the food, love the cheers, nature of Blue Moon Diner. Everyone knows your name. It's comfortable. Yeah. But quitting while you're ahead is not the same as quitting. Right. Especially after 18 successful years. When an athlete retires from sports at the top of their game, that is very different than retiring from sports when your body is broken down and you cannot perform at the level that we've grown accustomed to seeing an athlete perform at. There's a big difference. And Rice and Laura at Blue Moon Diner are quitting while they are ahead

instead of quitting because they were forced to do so. We've seen many restaurants hang around in this Charlottesville, greater Charlottesville area that perhaps had no business remaining open, staying open. That's not the case for Blue Moon Diner. Right. So I want to first say congratulations on an incredible 18 plus year run. I want to say thank you to Laura and Rice for creating a diner that I've had memories with our kids, my wife, my in-laws, my parents, a place where I've enjoyed as a single man, as an engaged man, as a married man, as a father. I mean, 18 years, that is a flip book.

That's a generation. That is a generation right there. And me personally, I have gone and enjoyed Blue Moon Diner as someone who was fresh out of college at UVA, someone that is 24 all the way to someone that is 42. And there are very few businesses, let alone restaurants, that can say they've had an 18-year run of success. Yeah. So let's first do the right thing and say, wow.

Congratulations. Congratulations. And thank you. And thank you for years of good service and good food and just a great place to go and enjoy company. Good afternoon, Kevin Yancey and Bill McChesney. Good afternoon to the viewers and listeners that are watching the program.

Roger Voisinet, we love you, Roger V. Good afternoon to everyone watching the program. Thank you. Well said, Judah. Thank you for creating this diner. And I also want to highlight this. I don't know if they created it. They reopened it.

Yeah. They reopened it. Yeah. Right. I also thank you for being good stewards of the community. Yeah. I also want to say this. I also want to say this, that quitting while your head is not the same as quitting, and

quitting to go do something else that's a following of passion is commendable. And that's what they're doing here. Now, a very natural question is, what does this mean for Charlottesville? What does this mean for the industry? What does this mean for restaurants? I've had multiple people send me DMs or text messages and say, hey, across the street, Mel's closed. That was iconic. Is this something that you can tie to West Main, to Midtown? And I immediately said, absolutely not. You have Continental Divide in Midtown. You have Maya Restaurant in Midtown. Smyrna.

You have Smyrna. You have Mejikale in Midtown. But I initially started with Maya. I initially started with Continental Divide. You could throw Public in there. Because these are becoming icons. Now you've got Black Cow Chop House. Black Cow Chop House is another one. You make a very legitimate argument that the stretch of restaurants in Midtown on West Main Street are the pinnacle of food and beverage in the city of Charlottesville. You make that same argument for the downtown mall.

The eight block set is the downtown mall. But I would challenge any viewer and listener watching this talk show to find me eight blocks that can match this level of artisans, what's the word, artisanry? Craftsmanship, culinary craftsmanship? Yeah. You go. Orzo.

Orzo Kitchen and Wine Bar, iconic. Thank you for bringing that up. Orzo Kitchen and Wine Bar is an icon. Yeah. Peter Castiglione's Maya Restaurant, an icon. No doubt. There's few restaurateurs that also own the real estate their restaurant is housed in.

Peter Castiglione owns Maya Restaurant, the real estate and the business. Continental Divide, Icon, those are three right there on West Main Street that have been around over a generation. You got what Johnny and River are doing at Mexicali.

Daniel Kaufman at Public. Public's become an icon. Viewer and listeners, some of you guys know this. We're an advertising agency. One of our businesses, we help businesses build their brands. Prior to it being Public Fish and Oyster, Daniel Kaufman's, it was...

Do you remember, Judah, what was in there? I mean, you better. We built the brand. Yeah, yeah. What was it? The Red Spot? Is that what it's called? We literally did the logo and built the website. Yeah, it was a giant... One meatball place. Oh, yeah.

The logo was a giant red spot. It was a meatball. It was a giant red circle. It's symbolic of a meatball. Prior to it being Daniel Kaufman's Public Fish and Oyster, a husband and wife who had tremendous success working for Paul Manning and PBM, the husband, they retired, he retired from his time with Mr. Manning, and used the many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many dollars that he owned while working

under Paul Manning in Gordonsville to follow a passion of his own and to create a clone of the meatball shop in Manhattan. And he dubbed it One Meatball Place. And he worked with Alan Kajine, the developer, and the late, great Gabe Sil Silverman to build that restaurant, the current restaurant that is Public Fish and Oyster. Yeah. And at one meatball place, hell, this was when the business was still on South Street, when we were still above South Street Brewery.

This was before we were in the professional center with Bill Nitchman. So Judah, this was 12 years ago. 12 years ago, Richard comes into the office and says, I want you to help us create a meatball shop in Midtown. Alan Kajine's got me a good deal here and I want to build essentially a clone of this restaurant in Manhattan

and we're going to call it One Meatball Place. And he had a passion for starting a restaurant but once he got into the nuts and bolts he realized a passion for starting a restaurant, but once he got into the nuts and bolts, he realized a passion for food is very different than operating a restaurant. You can have a passion for food. You can even have a passion for communicating and talking with people

and trying to make people happy through the food you serve and make, but that is very different than operating a restaurant. And operating and running a restaurant is a grind. It is a grind. You are constantly putting out fires. You are constantly having a turnstile of labor. You look at the restaurant owners in this market that are successful.

Who's the most prolific restaurant owner right now in the greater Charlottesville area? Dino's getting up there. Dino's up there. Client, Dino. He's got Dino's wood-fired pizza, rotisserie chicken. He's got Muthru. He's got Basta Pasta.

He's got points of sale in Pro Renata. He's expanding his empire literally as he speaks, as I speak right now. I'll let him break that news when he's prepared to do that on the talk show. His empire is expanding dramatically. I'll leave it at that. He's up there. Kid Ashy.

Our client, Kid Ashy, we represented her, helped her purchase Krobi's, Southside, Charlottesville. Now it's Tangerine Kitchen. Yeah, I just had someone talking to me about that over the weekend. Tangerine Kitchen? What did they say? They were talking about, oh, hey, there's a new place where Krobi's used to be. And I was like, oh, yeah. I know Kid Ashy.

She's I don't think they knew that that was owned by the same person that owns you know, like Monsoon. Pineapples, coconuts, maple pine. Yeah. The new spot that's opening in the old, in Keith Woodard's coffee shop over there.

What was that coffee shop called over there? Over where? Right down the mall. Oh, you're talking about Millie's? Yeah. She's opening a little cafe of her own there. Nice. You're probably talking the most prolific restaurant owner locally. Johnny Ornelas' family is certainly on that list with the Guadalajaras they have. Yeah.

The Mexicalis they have. Their point of sale on Zion's Crossroads. Mm-hmm. But the folks But these folks that we've mentioned, Kit and her empire, Dino and his empire, the Ornelas family and their empire, they've solved a riddle. And that riddle is labor. And that labor riddle they solved is labor that's tied to either the family tree

or a native country. That's how those three groups have had success. And when we helped Meg and Richard Zakin open one meatball place at 513 West Main Street, you saw a passion for food. You saw a businessman that was well-funded. But you did not see an understanding of the grind that was owning a restaurant,

running a restaurant. And that's why it lasted about 13 months before Daniel Kaufman purchased the assets, took over the lease, and he gets it. Kaufman gets it. Interestingly, his bottle shop for sale across the street. He had three businesses all clustered, Blackout Shop House, Public, and the bottle shop. Bottle shop's for sale.

My point with Blue Moon Diner is they've gone 18 years of, in a lot of ways, running the restaurants themselves. Oh, yeah. Front of the house and back of the house. I don't think I've ever seen, I don't think I've ever been in there and not seen one or the other of them. Neither have I. Okay. I've never not been in there and not seen one or the other of them. Neither have I. I've never not been in there and not seen one or the other in the restaurant. So what does it say for the industry as a whole? You're starting to see the closings mount up locally.

And we predicted this was going to happen. We said this was going to happen in the beginning of the year. We're in the process of brokering two deals that shouldn't be closing in the next 30 days that are in this space. What does it say for the industry? I mean, we all know it's getting harder. We all know that the margins are razor thin to begin with, and with inflation still above our government's target number of 2%, you know, those margins get thinner and thinner. This is what it says to me it says to me that if the model

is super heavy on labor it's going to be challenging to sustain and one thing Blue Moon did that surprised all of us remember when they had the order from your phone, QR code, ordering, digital menu, integrated earlier this year. It might have been

even late last year. But that was a reflection of the times and labor being challenging. One of the businesses that we sold, help broker, Moe's with our client, Derek Bond, on Ivy Road. I've always admired the Moe's model. Yeah, no servers. You have one person working a bar and a register in a pickup window where customers pick up their food from the window and often bust the tables themselves. Yeah.

It's really good food, priced fairly, served quickly with daily specials that rotate in a simple menu. Yeah. And they do very good business. A business that is capable of handling the University of Virginia's catering requests for its various departments. A business that's got some bar business that caters to the sports fan, that caters to the lunch crew,

the dinner crew, and the takeout crew. Yeah. I admire that model. Now, what's going to be in that location next? Is that a good location to run a restaurant? That's a question for the viewer. That's a question for you. Is that a good location to run a restaurant, Blue Moon Diner?

Yeah, I would think so. I mean, it's done well. It's obviously... Is it a good location to run a restaurant? I'm sincerely asking that question. It reopened in 2006 under Laura and Rice's leadership. Since 2006 until now, has that location improved as a location to run a restaurant? Has it stayed flat as a location to run a restaurant? Has it decreased in viability as a location to run a restaurant? Has it stayed flat as a location to run a restaurant?

Has it decreased in viability as a location to run a restaurant? I'm asking you that question sincerely. I want to have that conversation. I'm not really sure. I think that... You're a smart guy. With the recent rebuilding of that building, it's still a great place to have a restaurant. Okay.

I'll throw a deep throw. I was going to say the same thing there. What about parking? Parking is always an issue on West Main. It's never not going to be an issue on West Main. I'll ask you this question very straightforwardly. How long have you been in this community? I've been here since 2000, 24 years.

How long have you been here? Full time, 2002. You've been here 22 years? Yeah. You were here before it reopened in 2006? Yeah. Has that location improved or slipped as a spot to run a restaurant?

I think they used to have more parking, but I think overall it's improved. You say overall it's improved? I think so. I'll make the argument that it has not improved. How so? You make an argument based around an apartment building being built around it and the Blue Moon Diner being the flagship

of the apartment building. You can make a convincing argument that that apartment building is some of the most expensive for rent apartments in the entire Central Virginia region, which it is. Heirloom Development, an out-of-market developer, he built that project. He owns University Tire next door. He's eventually going to develop University Tire. He just sold his position next to the Omni Hotel, the Liberty Stable Artful Lodger building.

He was going to build multifamily there, apartments there. He straight up told Sean Tubbs in an article published in the CVO Weekly that the new zoning ordinance and the inclusionary zoning requirements do not allow an apartment building to pencil out mathematically, financially at this location. I'm not doing that. I'm going to pivot to a hotel. And then when he sees the headwinds of building a hotel, whether it's labor, whether it's cost of goods, cost of materials, the political climate, he chooses to sell his position to, I believe, a Warrington company, cost of materials, the political climate, he chooses to sell his position to, I believe, a Warrington company, Warrington, Virginia company, that is now going to put a boutique hotel in the shadows of the Omni. He's still got a position in it, albeit a

minority position in the hotel. He's got the ownership of that building and the diner itself owns the real estate. And the real estate he's renting out on West Main Street is the creme de la creme when it comes to price point, price per square foot, what it costs to rent each month. And Judah's argument is a good one. You have a diner built around an apartment building, and that diner built around an apartment building has built-in customer

base if they can afford these monthly rents then they can afford a plate of what's your dish of choice huevos blue Munoz then they can afford a dish of huevos blue Munoz you've also got other successful restaurants all around it. Morisco, El Barco is also a good place and that means that the people know the area and know it as a good place to get food and as we've said I think one of the biggest problems is just the parking. I like the hog wall or hash myself. The three eggs scrambled with bacon, sausage, ham, home fries, bell and jalapeno peppers. I would say it's slipped as a viable spot to run a restaurant for this reason. I think the customer base in our community is a customer base that is not reflective of the commitment to loyalty

that once existed when it reopened in 2006. I remember, I've been here 24 years, I remember fresh out of college, fresh out of UVA, when we were living in Belmont on Little Graves, a commitment, even as 24, 25, 26, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27-year-olds, we were so committed to spending and shopping and supporting local.

So committed to it. Even if it meant us spending more, and us, we were broke then. We were broke jokes then. But we were so committed to shopping local that we would never consider a big box. I don't think that same commitment, loyalty, exists today. Not to the same veracity.

Interesting. And I think that veracity, that loyalty, has slipped because of the transient nature that Charlottesville has become. Transient may not be the right word. Nomadic, new plants, transplants, hybrid, remote. We're going to look at COVID and see COVID changing the world in so many ways that we don't even understand yet. One of the ways it's drastically changed Charlottesville and Alamaro County is it's given the ability for so many people to work hybrid or remote. I have friends that work in DC, Manhattan, and Charlotte, but they don't have to be in the office,

but four or five times a month. And these are friends that are choosing to live in Charlottesville and Alamaro and just hop a plane for work at times they have to go there because they like the quality of life here more. That has brought a person or a family or a set of couples, people in general, to the area that are new and fresh, that do not have that same commitment to loyalty, to local that we once had in Charlottesville in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, pre-COVID. But do you really think those people are any more or less likely to be loyal? I mean, not everybody that has lived in Charlottesville their whole life is going to necessarily be loyal to a particular shop.

And I would think that people moving into our area are just as likely to either be a proponent of shopping local or not be a proponent. I don't know that. I don't know that. I don't know that. I would think the longer that you're invested in the community, the more committed you are to supporting the community. If you are new to the community and are a transplant to the community,

that commitment to said community is not as strong because you're fresh to it. I think we have a first-time commenter watching the community. That commitment to said community is not as strong because you're fresh to it. I think we have a first-time commenter watching the program. Laura Brooke Crandall. Is this your first comment you've made on the show, Laura? If that's the case, I appreciate you watching and listening to the show. She says that I think even though parking is an issue, it's an up-and-coming spot. She highlights Feast, the gourmet grocery store. Aaron King,

I hope you're watching the program. Every time Feast comes to mind, I mention front of the program, Aaron King. She highlights the new hotels and the loyalty of locals and the increased tourism and traffic around there. It was interesting. In the goodbye post, in the goodbye post, Laura with Blue Moon Diner, did she reference the ABC store and the bus station and the train station? Let's see. Maybe that was in the Daily Progress article that I read today about this. It could have been in the article in the Daily Progress.

She highlights that it's, in a lot of ways, Blue Moon Diner, the gateway to Charlottesville. I think it was in the Daily Progress article that was in there today. And she highlights the train station, the bus station, and the ABC store. And because of its proximity to the train station, the bus station, and the ABC store,

it's in a lot of ways the gateway to Charlottesville for folks arriving to Seville. Interesting. I found that fresh and an interesting take, like you said. Yeah. So I'm going to ask you this question, viewers and listeners.

The next iteration of Restaurant at That Spot, would it be a Blue Moon Diner? Do we think there's any chance they'll sell it to a... It's closed on November 27th. There's no indication... Yeah. There's no indication that they're interested

in brokering a deal for the business. She says the closing date's November 27th. Yeah. It's a good question. I asked the question and I made the prediction and the prediction was proven correct.

Mel's Cafe, when Melvin Walker passed away, when he died, I said, this can never be Mel's again. Can never be Mel's again because there's only

one Mel Walker. And it ended up being what? What's the new restaurant being called? It's like Delicious or something like that? Yeah. There's a banner up? Do we think it will be... You got the stream offline there, Judah?

Yeah, there's something going on with... I don't know if it's the internet or what. Waiting for it to come back on. Okay, mine's moving and shaking right here. It's attempting to reconnect. We're attempting to reconnect, viewers and listeners. All I can do now is wait on OBS. Okay, I think we're live now.

I'm not seeing it on my end. Viewers and listeners, do you see us reconnecting? I'm seeing reconnection. Well, that's good. Attempting to reconnect come on reconnection successful we're reconnecting I think we're back on

you got me let's see if switchboard I want it to be continue with this blue moon brand I would like to see it continue to be continue with this Blue Moon brand. I would like to see it continue. Oh, yeah. I would love that.

I don't know why anybody would try something else there. I mean, obviously, if they can't get the name, then maybe that's all you can do. But I would certainly love to see it continue. And I mean, obviously anybody that takes it over would love to have the brand recognition. Time will tell. For that level

of financial commitment to continue at that monthly rent and to get into a space that's so competitive, my question is, is that the best spot to pursue a food and beverage dream when there's a lot of other vacant storefronts

where this could be done? That's a question I have. And I also think to Laura's point with the new hotels and the other fantastic restaurants there, a rising tide is good for all ships. Yeah.

But the parking piece is always going to be something that people are going to question. No doubt. I mean, that's West Main. I don't know if there's anything to be done about it. Some of those places have decent parking. Marisco, Salbarco has a good parking lot to the side and behind. But there's just a lack. It's always going to have an effect on the restaurants

and on that street. And we'll close with this. There's more in the pipe that are coming. Brands of note that are deciding whether to close or not to close. A lot of those idle loans are coming due. Those low interest loans that restaurant owners took during COVID.

A lot of those are now. Requiring repayment. And it's happening at the same time. That Judah highlighted. That. The world is just expensive. Unless people are going out. Yeah. At the same time.

That the labor is asking for more money. Because it needs more money. To be able to afford. To live in an expensive area. Yeah. 100%. We'll follow those trends. Short show for today. it needs more money to be able to afford to live in an expensive area. Yeah, 100%. We'll follow those trends.

Short show for today. 115 meeting here in the studio on, interestingly, a business brokerage deal in the food and beverage category. That's the I Love Seville show on Wednesday. Thank you for joining us. So long, everybody. Thank you.