Restaurants cook-up senior citizen campaign

Westchester County Business Journal, Mar 31, 2008 by Golden, John

Hang out the welcome sign for senior citizens and boost your business, a regional restaurant group is advising its members.

"What happens is, people don't realize that seniors go out for lots of lunches," said Richard Stytzer, president of the 200-member Westchester-Rockland chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, "The seniors are a huge business. They're a group you can tap into to get great business for your restaurant."

"A lot of that business is during the week and it's lunch time, and you can always use more business during that time," said Stytzer, vice president of Antun's of Westchester, the Elmsford catering facility started by his father, chef Ronald Stytzer.

The numbers of elderly are growing in the region. Persons 65 and older made up 13.8 percent of Westchester County's population in 2006 and 12.8 percent of the Rockland County population. And increasingly they choose to spend their retirement years in the region.

"Westchester is such a beautiful place to live that a lot of seniors are staying here," Stytzer said. "Everywhere you look, they're building new senior-citizen communities."

To reach that potential off-peak trade, the Westchester-Rockland chapter will sponsor a booth promoting healthy eating at the county's annual Salute to Seniors on April 30 in the Westchester County Center in White Plains. NYSRA members are urged to contribute menus, fliers and coupons offering senior-citizen specials from their restaurants. Stytzer said the chapter last year, serving grilled chicken wraps along with brochures listing Westchester restaurants voluntarilyeschewing trans fat oils in their cooking, received 600 senior citizens at its booth.

"I'm looking for more senior business here at Antun's myself," Stytzer said. By offering slightly reduced meal portions at lower prices, he especially hopes to draw senior-citizen tour groups to his family-owned establishment.

Relying on word of mouth from society's wise elders, "We'll also use them as an advertising tool," Stytzer said. "They'll go there andtell their grandchildren."

Though the restaurant group's current campaign focuses on the lunch crowd, senior citizens are a broader untapped market for restaurateurs, Stytzer said. "Senior citizens bring business no matter where they go," whether to a diner or an upscale eatery. "They need to eat. They need to go out. And they will market your restaurant. You be good to them, they'll bring back to you."