Cities that Sizzle

Nation's Restaurant News,  Jan, 2001  

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Thode, whose company's operations include seven Muscle Beach units in Florida, says lease prices in the Fort Myers area are "much more affordable than Miami, Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale."

But for all the enthusiasm for unbridled development in the market, several operators say that the building boom has put the squeeze on hopeful restaurateurs.

"There's not tons of room," says Vozzella of the freestanding University Grill. "All of the good locations are taken, so you've got restaurants that are selling $25 steaks in strip malls because there are no freestanding buildings."

However, restaurateur Paul Peden used several less-than-prime locations to his advantage.

Peden, owner of Fort Myers fine-dining fixture Veranda as well as the nine-unit Rib City chain, purchased two former Juicy Lucy's drive-thru locations, which he describes as "C" locations, to test out the first two units of a Rib City Express concept in the area.

"It gives us a chance to massage the concept," Peden says. "If you put it in an 'A' location and you don't do it right you can lose it real fast."

With the rampant development gradually drawing together Fort Myers and southbound cities Bonita Springs and Naples, there are the obligatory pitfalls.

Theresa Ricker, co-owner of several Hogbody's Bar and Grill and Wings N Ribs restaurants, says the high prices deterred the company from opening a Hogbody's farther south because lease costs in "the area between Fort Myers and Naples are going sky high." The company instead chose to open the unit in Charlotte Harbor, just north of Fort Myers.

University Grill's Vozzella points to restaurant growth outrunning the demand at times:

"The 'devastation' rate is a little bit higher," Vozzella says. "Sometimes I've seen two restaurants in one location in a year. They'll get through the season, but they can't get through the summer."

Labor is another challenge for restaurateurs; many dust off their "help wanted" signs during the busy winter months.

"This is the second year in a row that I haven't had a full staff," Vozzella says. "I'm the general manager and the chef, and I spend the better part of my time in the kitchen."

FORT MYERS, FLA.

(2001 estImates, except as noted; growth rates are est. 2001 vs. eat. 1999, exceptas noted; data in clude Cape Coral and Lee County, Fla.)

Population: 427,158, +3.13%

Population growth, est. 1999 vs. 1990: +23.60%

2006 population forecast: 443,485

Disposable income: $9.72 billion, +10.45%

Household income: $54,390, +8.17%

Per-capital income: $22,754, +7.12%

Eating-and-drinking place sales (1999): $443.4 million

No. of foodservice & drinking places (1997): 697

Foodservtce & drinking place payroll (1997): $109.4 million

No. of foodservice & drinking place employees (1997): 12,710

No. of residents per foodservice & drinking place (1997): 553

Hourty minimum wage: $5.15