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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReasons for not wanting to renew Blisters Contract Reasons for not wanting to renew Blister’s Contract: Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of Blister’s and Brady Gardner. He is one of my dearest friends and even offered me ownership if I pushed to keep Blister’s at the golf course. I declined because I felt like it was a conflict of interests, and I feel it’s not in the best interest for the golf course. I love having a restaurant here for the golfers but when we are taking away from us accommodating golfers, it’s not worth it. I think we can all agree they have some great food and a large customer base. I just feel their operation is too big for our location and it takes away from the experience we are trying to provide for our golfing customers. The reason we selected them 2 years ago was based on this being a secondary location for them. We didn’t want the smokers and additional people that came along if this was their primary location. We knew this was going to be an issue and they were selected based off not having their smokers here, which they agreed upon. Also, part of the reason was due to the low rent. For the last 2 years with them as tenants, they ran a poor effort of a restaurant. Consistently they were not here or had no food to serve. We never knew when they would be open and serving food. <Golfers were disappointed thinking they would have an option but often did not. The Teton Lakes staff sold all snack and drink related products and reimbursed Blister’s. Blister’s didn’t have the best interests of the golfer in mind. It reflected very poorly on the golf course. Now since they have been kicked out of the gas station and have moved full operations to Teton Lakes…. Everything seems great now that the golf course is closed but let’s not be blinded. The last 2 years have shown us the tenants they will be. The bigger issues will arise this spring when the golf course opens but by then we will be locked into a contract. (voted not to renew by the golf board) ISSUES: The smoker smell has filled up the clubhouse and can be smelled throughout the golf course. It sits right next to our range ball dispenser. I feel it doesn’t compliment the beautification we have done to the area. The short time they have been here the stairs have already become soiled. The building will become more and more dirty from the smoke and grime caused by such a busy <BBQ restaurant as they traffic from their smoker/storage to the kitchen. Their previous landlord has warned me about what to expect with cleanliness and plumbing issues. Pace of Play: as golfers make the turn and come in for food and snacks, play will get backed up as golfers are waiting for food. They are operating a full restaurant; the golfer doesn’t become a priority. The golfers will fall in line with their other customers. Creates many log jams with pace of play and log jams at the turn. These instances have already occurred on a very slow golf day and have been brought to my attention by the golfers. The parking will become a big issue when the golf course opens again. With the increase in golfer traffic in the last couple of years the parking lot fills daily. The added pressure with Blister’s customer parking will be overkill. Yes, we have overflow parking, but with restaurant parking it will be used more, which the players dislike. <We don’t want to leave carts down there to use as shuttle service. I would be worried about theft and additional cart damage. < Tournaments/events: Tournaments/events will bring together lots of people. With them running a full restaurant, we won’t have a place to register players, conduct scoring, or have a gathering place. The current space is limited as it is. Deck space: We will end up losing deck space to Blister’s customers. Opportunity to rent the deck space for gatherings will be nonexistent. Nothing like having a wedding reception with a BBQ smoker wafting over your sitting area. Alternative Options: I’m confident we can easily cover the rent income by doing it all ourselves without adding wear and tear(smell) to the property or creating any parking issues while also providing a better service to the golfer. Over the last 2 years, I have written approximately $14,000 a year in checks for snacks/drinks to Blisters for the merchandise we sold for them when they were not open. Running all snack and drinks sales at a keystone margin we should be able to profit $12,000 to recover that rent. This would be without adding any employees. This way we control all our space. We will be doing exactly what we have been doing for the last 2 years except keeping our profits. We could add an employee for 20hrs a week (Fri, Sat, Sun or events) at $10-14hr to make burgers, hot dogs, or sandwiches. Easy menu items to keep costs down and keep simple. Managing the efforts, we can send them home on slow days to make it more cost effective. I’m not sure of exact food costs at this time but I’m sure we can provide a product at an affordable price, limit waste and make money in the process. We will also be able to promote the deck space for receptions and events. This would be added revenue, and we wouldn’t need to worry about a restaurant interfering with or collecting some of that additional revenue. For events we can find caters, including Blister’s, or leave it up to the tournament host. I have also looked into food trucks coming in for the week and different events. The main thing is we control our space and don’t need to try and accommodate another business.