Lyons Den Re-opening
Donation protected
“This is the best thing that’s happened to Randolph since The Big Fire!” This was the comment made by one of Randolph’s distinguished seniors two years ago as I was serving him a slice of Prime Rib during the popular Sunday Brunch Buffet at the recently opened Lyons Den Restaurant & Pub in Randolph, Vermont. (I assume he was referring to the three big fires that devastated Randolph’s downtown in 1992.) Many folks during those early months of The Lyons Den simply commented “this is just what Randolph needs”.
THE LYONS DEN STORY
(Condensed version)
My wife and I retired in March 2014 and had saved a comfortable “nest egg” that would provide us a pleasant retirement consisting of 8 or 9 months at our home in Brookfield, Vermont and 3 or 4 months vacationing in Naples, Florida. (You can guess which months would be spent in Florida!)
In June of 2014 a restaurant in the neighboring town of Randolph, VT was about to close due in large part to the owner’s health (he was a friend of mine from several years ago). The historic building had fallen into disrepair and the restaurant’s reputation suffered. My son-in law, who at that time had over 30 years experience in the restaurant business, had always dreamed of someday owning and operating a restaurant of his own. His experience ranged from small restaurants to managing a large catering business and ultimately to being a chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples. My daughter had experience in the restaurant business but most recently spent 14 years as an executive assistant in the administration area of a large school district in Florida. He (Neale) and my daughter (Lisa) came up from Florida to look over the situation and the rest is history, (so far). We committed a large portion of our retirement funds and they left their positions in Florida to pursue that dream. After two months of bringing the 6,000 sq. ft. facility up to our high standards, The Lyons Den opened on October 24th, 2014.
There are always obstacles to overcome in making a dream come true. Our first one was to establish an excellent reputation for food and service in a delightful atmosphere. We invite you to check out our website at www.lyonsdenvt.com for details of what we offer: a semi-formal Dining Room; a family friendly Pub and a Banquet/Event Room. The comments and reviews that we have received over the past two and one-half years indicate that we have done very well in establishing that reputation, accounting for the steady growth of our customer base. Unfortunately it has taken much longer than expected to grow that base. Likewise it has required the balance of our “nest egg” to keep operating at the high level we insist upon. Our current steady growth projections indicate that it will take about another 10 months to reach our break-even point. During those 10 months we will need additional operating cash to assure that we meet our payroll. Unfortunately the bank turned us down for a line of credit because the numbers don’t quite meet their criteria. (If their criteria were met we probably wouldn’t need the loan!)
An unacceptable option was to reduce our service, reduce the quantity and quality of food, etc. etc. But that’s not the kind of product we want to provide to Randolph and Central Vermont. We decided to end it on a high note – while we still had our favorable reputation. On Friday, Feb. 3rd we reluctantly decided to close the restaurant. On Sunday, Feb. 5th, we announced our closing to our staff that had become like family. Two of our employees had been with us from day one. Needless to say, that was a very emotional meeting. After that meeting we released the information to our email friends (we reach well over 1,000 folks on our list) and that we would serve on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday or until we no longer had a reasonable menu selection to offer. (Our employees gladly stayed on and were amazing in getting us through those last days!) Thursday was our last day of serving our community, unless ---------------.
The response and concerns of the community during those last three days has been overwhelming! Many folks have asked what they can do to help us stay open. Two offered to write us a check for $1,000 each if it would help. They and many others said we should sign up for “GoFundMe.com”. I must admit, I knew very little about GoFundMe. So here we are. The community seems to want us and we want to continue serving the community in the manner to which they have become accustomed at The Den. To re-open our doors we will need about $80,000. This will cover outstanding obligations, start-up costs and operating capital to supplement any shortfalls over the next 10 months. We fully expect it will be “full speed ahead” from that point forward. Should we be successful in obtaining sufficient funding I expect that someday we will certainly be on the giving end of GoFundMe projects.
I’d like to leave you with an occurrence that will give you some idea of how we think and what the relationship is with our staff and the communities that we serve. A senior couple from Northfield who dined here occasionally made reservations for last Thanksgiving Eve. They said they were going to order from our regular menu and then take home two Thanksgiving turkey dinners that we were offering as a special that night. They planned on reheating the dinners for Thanksgiving Day. They called on Thanksgiving Eve and had to cancel their reservation due to health issues. Our managers looked up their address in the phone book, prepared two Thanksgiving dinners, and were about to deliver them (no charge) when two of our staff asked if they could deliver the dinners (about 40 miles round trip). Needless to say, they reported that the delivery was an emotional occasion.
We would appreciate your help in re-opening The Lyons Den, especially if you are one of those folks who feel that The Lyons Den is in fact “just what Randolph needs”. Thank you!
THE LYONS DEN STORY
(Condensed version)
My wife and I retired in March 2014 and had saved a comfortable “nest egg” that would provide us a pleasant retirement consisting of 8 or 9 months at our home in Brookfield, Vermont and 3 or 4 months vacationing in Naples, Florida. (You can guess which months would be spent in Florida!)
In June of 2014 a restaurant in the neighboring town of Randolph, VT was about to close due in large part to the owner’s health (he was a friend of mine from several years ago). The historic building had fallen into disrepair and the restaurant’s reputation suffered. My son-in law, who at that time had over 30 years experience in the restaurant business, had always dreamed of someday owning and operating a restaurant of his own. His experience ranged from small restaurants to managing a large catering business and ultimately to being a chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples. My daughter had experience in the restaurant business but most recently spent 14 years as an executive assistant in the administration area of a large school district in Florida. He (Neale) and my daughter (Lisa) came up from Florida to look over the situation and the rest is history, (so far). We committed a large portion of our retirement funds and they left their positions in Florida to pursue that dream. After two months of bringing the 6,000 sq. ft. facility up to our high standards, The Lyons Den opened on October 24th, 2014.
There are always obstacles to overcome in making a dream come true. Our first one was to establish an excellent reputation for food and service in a delightful atmosphere. We invite you to check out our website at www.lyonsdenvt.com for details of what we offer: a semi-formal Dining Room; a family friendly Pub and a Banquet/Event Room. The comments and reviews that we have received over the past two and one-half years indicate that we have done very well in establishing that reputation, accounting for the steady growth of our customer base. Unfortunately it has taken much longer than expected to grow that base. Likewise it has required the balance of our “nest egg” to keep operating at the high level we insist upon. Our current steady growth projections indicate that it will take about another 10 months to reach our break-even point. During those 10 months we will need additional operating cash to assure that we meet our payroll. Unfortunately the bank turned us down for a line of credit because the numbers don’t quite meet their criteria. (If their criteria were met we probably wouldn’t need the loan!)
An unacceptable option was to reduce our service, reduce the quantity and quality of food, etc. etc. But that’s not the kind of product we want to provide to Randolph and Central Vermont. We decided to end it on a high note – while we still had our favorable reputation. On Friday, Feb. 3rd we reluctantly decided to close the restaurant. On Sunday, Feb. 5th, we announced our closing to our staff that had become like family. Two of our employees had been with us from day one. Needless to say, that was a very emotional meeting. After that meeting we released the information to our email friends (we reach well over 1,000 folks on our list) and that we would serve on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday or until we no longer had a reasonable menu selection to offer. (Our employees gladly stayed on and were amazing in getting us through those last days!) Thursday was our last day of serving our community, unless ---------------.
The response and concerns of the community during those last three days has been overwhelming! Many folks have asked what they can do to help us stay open. Two offered to write us a check for $1,000 each if it would help. They and many others said we should sign up for “GoFundMe.com”. I must admit, I knew very little about GoFundMe. So here we are. The community seems to want us and we want to continue serving the community in the manner to which they have become accustomed at The Den. To re-open our doors we will need about $80,000. This will cover outstanding obligations, start-up costs and operating capital to supplement any shortfalls over the next 10 months. We fully expect it will be “full speed ahead” from that point forward. Should we be successful in obtaining sufficient funding I expect that someday we will certainly be on the giving end of GoFundMe projects.
I’d like to leave you with an occurrence that will give you some idea of how we think and what the relationship is with our staff and the communities that we serve. A senior couple from Northfield who dined here occasionally made reservations for last Thanksgiving Eve. They said they were going to order from our regular menu and then take home two Thanksgiving turkey dinners that we were offering as a special that night. They planned on reheating the dinners for Thanksgiving Day. They called on Thanksgiving Eve and had to cancel their reservation due to health issues. Our managers looked up their address in the phone book, prepared two Thanksgiving dinners, and were about to deliver them (no charge) when two of our staff asked if they could deliver the dinners (about 40 miles round trip). Needless to say, they reported that the delivery was an emotional occasion.
We would appreciate your help in re-opening The Lyons Den, especially if you are one of those folks who feel that The Lyons Den is in fact “just what Randolph needs”. Thank you!
Organizer
Tom Lyons
Organizer
Randolph, VT