Arena Authority wooing Oregon chain as anchor eatery

[Robin Garr]

Apparently on course to repeat its controversial policy of going outside Louisville to lure Joe's Crab Shack to the Riverfront Park, the city appears to be on track to choose another chain as anchor tenant in the downtown arena. McCormick & Schmick is a fine seafood restaurant - or at least, like upscale chains Morton's and Roy's, the original eatery that spawned the chain was a good one. But you've got to wonder whether Louisville Originals or the Kentucky Restaurant Association or any individual restaurateurs were even consulted about the possibility before authorities went straight to the Pacific Northwest to open talks.

Louisville arena authority trying to lure seafood chain
Oregon restaurant concept considered a great catch

Business First of Louisville - May 25, 2007
by John R. Karman III
Business First Staff Writer

The Louisville Arena Authority Inc. hopes to reel in McCormick & Schmick's, an upscale seafood restaurant chain based in Portland, Ore., as the anchor dining tenant for the planned riverfront venue.

Talks are ongoing with the chain, according to authority officials, and Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson met with representatives of the company during a visit to Las Vegas earlier this week for the spring convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

McCormick & Schmick's officials could not be reached for comment before Business First's press deadline.

But a report from The Leib Group LLC released during an arena authority meeting on May 21 said the chain "has expressed a strong interest in leasing the restaurant site."

Full story in Business First

Hasn't anyone told the Metro powers that be that Louisville has one of the strongest restaurant scenes in the country?

No, KRA was not consulted; not sure about the Originals. I do know McCormick & Schmick's is looking at a couple of downtown options and so is Fleming's.
Stacy

i'm not sure if anyone in our group was consulted. if i were a betting man, i would bet my house that no one was...
joe's crab shack is a prime example...
only AFTER the selection process was made public and joe's was CHOSEN, did requests for proposal go out.
i should have saved it. it was due for review two days after i got it.
more often than not, the party being recruited gets tax breaks and other incentives while the rest of us pay our full sheare.

I will say that at least McCormick & Schmick's and Flemings bear absolutely NO comparison to Joe's, other than they are all chains.

The key with the stadium may be (have no idea, just guessing) that since the city needs to draw in visitors in order to fill the place, they want an upscale eatery that said visitors are comfortable with and gives an upper-class feel.

While I also feel that there are multiple local options that I might prefer, these two aren't bad.

At least McCormick & Schmick's is a high end seafood restaurant and not another steakhouse. A really nice seafood restaurant is something that Louisville really lacking. Summit Other than Mitchell's and Z's to a degree we really don't have any nice seafood restaurants. I know some will argue for Bonefish or a few others but they certainly aren't in the same class as McCormick & Schmick's. If they do come they at least will not provide direct competition for many of our true "local" restaurants, and their name may help the arena authority attract a few people to the area. It may also help attract national events because of name recognition.

[Robin Garr]

While I also feel that there are multiple local options that I might prefer, these two aren't bad.

Understood, Andrew, and I don't think anyone can deeply disagree with that reasonable position.

My concern - and I think that of many of us - is a little more philosophical, and no, it's not knee-jerk anti-chain. It just seems to me that one of the things that makes Louisville unique - and, ultimately, marketable in the tourist and convention fields - is our high proportion of excellent locally owned restaurants at all levels of price and sophistication. The "Louisville Originals," if you will, that "Make Louisville Weird."

It seems to me that the city officials (and quasi-governmental bodies like the Arena Authority) ought to operate from the default position that we go to the local community first with requests for proposal, then look to the chains if the locals can't or won't do it.

The problem becomes apparent, it seems to me, if we compare downtown Louisville against New Orleans' French Quarter or Beale Street in Memphis. If tourists come to our town and see Joe's, McCormick's and the wall of chains in Fourth Street Live, what are they getting that they couldn't find anywhere? Do we really want to present ourselves to the outside world as Generic City?

That's the problem as I see it, and if this be chain-bashing, so be it.

I'm with Robin on this one. I've eaten very good meals at Flemings and M&S, but you can do that in many cities. If the arena area is to be the "front door" of the city (debatable) as the arena authority says, then what do we want that to look like? Let's try it another way, SAT question style:
Austin is to live music, as Louisville is to ________.

Answers such as "I can drive anywhere in 20 minutes", "reasonable cost of living", "good place to raise a family" and "quaint directions given by referencing long destroyed landmarks" are incorrect in this particular quiz.

Question for local restaurant proprietors:
Could you gear up your current product and serve many more people each night and maintain quality?

Besides the obvious problem of not looking at the locals first, I am concerned we will end up with another bait-and-swich like Joes Crab Shack. It was originally supposed to to be a Landry's, but the parent company changed it after the committment was made - you know "Gee, it's just as good". No, it's not. At least they toned the sign down compared to other locations - usually referrals to being an embarrassment to the neighborhood (which to me they are).

Wow another restaurant we dont need in an arena we dont need.

It's too bad that local leaders in places like Louisville look to outside chains to validate their claims to greatness. What's more, M&S is nothing special. When I was working near it in Houston, we put it on the banned list after only a couple of trips, rechristening the place as McCormick and S-, well, something I can't print here, but you get the picture.

They've already got a location in downtown Indy and one is opening in downtown Cincy. M&S would add nothing to downtown Louisville, unless the goal is to turn it into chain restaurant row like Illinois St. in Indianapolis.

Louisville must be a one of the very few cities that try to lure restaurants into the area on taxpayers' money. Any restauranteur/retailer who are being invited to this city would have to be enticed with financial packages , one which existing business do not enjoy but through taxes, pay for the mayor's trip to Las Vegas. When this city enjoys a favorable demograph for food establishments, what is the need for enticements tot he like of Cheesecake Factory and P F Chang's. When asked, the mayor replied was that the people asked for it! I am definitely looking for another city like Louisville to open another location.

When I approached the mayor for funding to promote "Taste of Louisville" evening at the James Beard House last year, the city was broke after six emails. Most of the funding came from individual restaurants involved, local suppliers, Brown=Forman Corp, Kentucky Beef Council and the Kentucky Proud program through the Kentucky Dept of Agriculture with one email to Mr. Richie Farmer.

This river city is also one of the few that do not promote it's water front advantage with a restaurant row. All the food dollars have flowed across the unpainted bridge.

Dollars should be spent on getting companies into the area, creating a vibrant economy and consumer money.

Dollars should be spent on getting companies into the area, creating a vibrant economy and consumer money.

I was following you until the last statement and then you lost me.

I agree that local restaurants should be showcased. But aren't restaurants also the "companies" of which you speak?

A general comment that I wanted to make - my husband sets up lunch or dinner meetings with a fair amt of frequency. He works for a multinational company; a lot of his associates fly in from California. He'll suggest nice local spots, but honestly I think they tend to be more comfortable with the high end chains. It's unfortunate and I don't get it, but it is what it is, I guess.

While I also feel that there are multiple local options that I might prefer, these two aren't bad.

Understood, Andrew, and I don't think anyone can deeply disagree with that reasonable position.

My concern - and I think that of many of us - is a little more philosophical, and no, it's not knee-jerk anti-chain. It just seems to me that one of the things that makes Louisville unique - and, ultimately, marketable in the tourist and convention fields - is our high proportion of excellent locally owned restaurants at all levels of price and sophistication. The "Louisville Originals," if you will, that "Make Louisville Weird."

It seems to me that the city officials (and quasi-governmental bodies like the Arena Authority) ought to operate from the default position that we go to the local community first with requests for proposal, then look to the chains if the locals can't or won't do it.

The problem becomes apparent, it seems to me, if we compare downtown Louisville against New Orleans' French Quarter or Beale Street in Memphis. If tourists come to our town and see Joe's, McCormick's and the wall of chains in Fourth Street Live, what are they getting that they couldn't find anywhere? Do we really want to present ourselves to the outside world as Generic City?

That's the problem as I see it, and if this be chain-bashing, so be it.

While I'm not defending the Arena Authority in any way, I do wonder if a very important element in the decision of what restaurant (or retailer, or service provider) is the capital structure of the selected provider, and the staying power if there is a desire to sign a long-term deal? In other words, if you are building a half-billion dollar arena, wouldn't you want a restaurant on site that has very deep pockets that could ride through some potentially difficult times? And by deep pockets, I think that implies national chain with many, many locations where the risk is spread.

Just a purely analytical question that doesn't take into account all the characteristics we all like about locally owned business....

I think in addition to what TP said regarding deep pockets, nationwide name recognition also comes into play. It's a lot easier trying to get a major sporting event (NCAA regional) or another event to come to a city when you can tell them about recognizable high end restaurants that is to tell them about a local restaurant. We all know how great the local places are but some one from out of town has no idea what a "Primo" or other local name restaurant is. I know it's probably not the correct thing but it is the factual thing in many cases. If Louisville truly wants to promote itself as a destination city it has to develop some brand name recognition. When people get here it to showcase its true local culture, food and people!