New restaurants hopeful

Entrepreneur Magazine has cited Chapel Hill as an emerging player in the global economy. That’s why it named the town one of the top 10 places in the country to be an entrepreneur in this month’s issue.

Chapel Hill officials said they have been taking steps to improve startup conditions.

Adam Klein, the vice president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, said the town has improved its process for developing buildings.

But for restaurant owners who opened businesses in July, the traditional summer lull and economic difficulties have led to a rough start.

Ross Moll, the co-owner and manager of R&R Grill, and Kelly Bruney, owner of Butternut Squash, said that business has been unpredictable since they opened their doors.

“It’s peaks and troughs,” said Bruney, whose vegetarian restaurant is located at University Square. “Some Friday nights we’re completely full, some Friday nights we’re at a quarter of capacity. There’s no trend.”

Moll and Bruney both started with spaces easily convertible for what they wanted. They said what helped them the most when starting up was the community.

“The people are so welcoming,” Bruney said. “The local business owners really support each other.”

On opening day, other University Square business owners came in to eat, she said.

Moll, whose bar and grill is in the Bank of America building on Franklin Street, said he relies on word-of-mouth marketing, but that’s been hard to depend on during the summer.

“It’s slow,” he said. “There’s no students here, there’s no parents visiting, there’s no friends visiting. A big portion of the Chapel Hill population is missing.”

Moll said he and his father, a co-owner, went into the summer opening knowing what they were getting into.

“Financially, we worked out best-case and worst-case scenarios,” he said. “We’re probably not near where our best-case scenario is. We put enough aside to prepare for that.”

Both Moll and Bruney are optimistic about the school beginning again.

“We’re doing rain dances for you,” Bruney said, referring to the return of students.

Students, in conjunction with a growing population, create profit potential in the local economy, Klein said.

That is what some business owners say they are waiting for.

“You’re in an area that has a lot of capital flowing into it,” Klein said.

“That’s a great place for entrepreneurs to be.”


Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.