The things they don't teach in business school

Nation's Restaurant News, April 17, 1995 by Jack Hayes

The 300-day struggle of Tampa, Fla., restaurateurs Michael and Mitchell Freibaum, graduates respectively of Buffalo State College and Johnson & Wales University, is prompting me to name this column "the things they don't teach in business school."

It seems that even with their respective degrees in hospitality management and culinary arts the Freibaums were not prepared to compete with the "street preachers," whose lunch hour sermons outside their restaurant have been hurting sales for nearly a year.

In fact, it was March 23, 1994, when the Freibaums launched their sidewalk lunch concept, Cecelia's Bistro, in the 500 block of downtown Tampa's Franklin Street Mall.

The restaurant got off to an explosive start, but less than a month after its debut a public evangelist showed up and began preaching within a few feet of Cecelia's sidewalk dining area, causing a 30-percent plunge in lunch sales.

Acting about as rashly as any young business owner might in such a situation, 30-year-old Michael Freibaum challenged the preacher to find another sidewalk pulpit.

Thus challenged, the preacher stood his ground. And as Freibaum tells it, the volume of the sermons grew noticeably louder.

Complaining to the authorities, Freibaum then had the evangelist charged for not possessing a permit -- an offense that amounted to a violation of one of the city's ordinances.

In the subsequent trial, which was heard in Florida's 13th Circuit Court, the Tampa ordinance was found unconstitutional in that it abridged the defendant preacher's First Amendment rights.

That judgment is now under appeal by the state attorney's office. As a result of the trial, however, the city's news media got drawn to the Franklin Street standoff. And at least three new "preachers" became involved in the encounter.

Subsequently, the Freibaums have waged complaints of disorderly conduct, and there have been 21 arrests involving one or more of the sidewalk evangelists.

The Freibaums have been state witnesses in 15 of those cases. In at least three ongoing actions, including the Circuit Court appeal, the defendants are being represented by two private law firms and the Atlanta-based American Center for Law & Justice.

"This isn't about freedom of speech, declares Michael Freibaum, who claims that some of the preachers are attempting to run him out of business. "I've gotten bomb threats."

At one point the Franklin Street incident became so volatile that local network talk show hostess Kathy Fountain invited Freibaum and the preachers to settle the issue on daytime Tampa television. But that meeting failed to heal wounded feelings on either side although Michael Freibaum claims he appealed to the preachers for a "compromise."

About six weeks ago some of the new preachers held a ceremony on Franklin Street, designating the block in front of Cecelia's as holy ground.

Franklin Street Mall is a retail promenade. It was created about 20 years ago when the city of Tampa closed an eight-block section of the north-south thoroughfare to automobile traffic.

Cecelia's Bistro operates between Madison and Twiggs, roughly in the middle of the pedestrian forum.

Some of Freibaum's retail neighbors admit that their business is also hurt by the preachers. In fact, a coffee shop operator next door closed.

The only other restaurateur on the same side of Franklin Street's 500 block is Anthony Rossi, who operates the Italian Pavillion. Rossi, a seven-year veteran of the downtown mall, reports his lunch traffic is down 10 percent to 15 percent overall. But he's not protesting aloud.

"I've tried to ignore them," says Rossi, who has not filed charges or gotten any of the preachers arrested even though he considers their sermons offensive.

Rossi said the original evangelist made appearances on Franklin Street before the Freibaums opened Cecelia's, but he did not stay for long.

"I think Michael may have provoked the situation," he says.

"I did fuel their fire," Michael Freibaum acknowledges. "I gave them a lot of publicity."

Meanwhile, the Freibaums installed a stereo system with outdoor speakers, which they turn on when the evangelists begin to preach.

In addition, there are live musicians performing on certain days.

Beyond that, Michael and his brother are paving more attention to the other details

"It's a very difficult position to be in," laments Sharon Graham, who is administrator for the Franklin Street Mall. "I like to think of myself as a darned good civil servant. But I have to confess I'm challenged by this one."