| Lee's Summit wouldn't support the B:2 concept. |
The Lee's Summit restaurant opened eight months earlier in the new
Summit Fair shopping center, but it never met business projections.
"Rather than keep losing money on it," Peralta says, "we're closing
it and focusing on our primary brand, Blanc Burgers + Bottles."
When The Pitch reviewed B:2 in September,
Peralta said his company, Circle Restaurant Group, decided to create a
less expensive burger restaurant for this particular suburban expansion
because "no one there [Lee's Summit] would know what Blanc Burgers +
Bottles was."
He realizes now that he probably made a mistake. Blanc is a solid
brand. It's so solid, in fact, that Circle Restaurant Group is opening a
satellite location in Omaha later this month. And even though B:2 was a
more casual and less costly concept, it probably was still too
sophisticated for the fast-growing suburb of Lee's Summit.
"The dinner business was never there," Peralta says, adding that he's
not sure his company will ever launch another B:2 restaurant again. "In
this economy, you have to focus on what's a proven success. Our two
Blanc locations are doing great."
Update: Peralta called to clarify his statements about Lee's Summit and why his restaurant there failed.
"I never blamed Lee's Summit or its citizens for having to close B:2," he says. "We just weren't doing the business.
"I
love Lee's Summit. In fact, I used to live there. It was my idea to put
B:2 in Lee's Summit. It's a terrific, sophisticated, family-oriented
community.
"The only reason we left Lee's Summit is the lack of traffic in that particular [retail] unit. I'm sorry that people are taking this situation so personally."
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As for sophistication and Lee's Summit, I'll remind Ernesto that THE MOST sophisticated person in the nearly the history of music comes from Lee's Summit - Pat Metheny
I have to agree with rita on this one. The ambiance was a total disaster. Who wants to eat overlooking a parking lot? I didn't go back after the first visit not because of the food, but because of the ambiance made it seem like a fast food junk place.
For everyone who is so steadfastly behind this restaurant group and likes to belittle the employees and tell us how they put up the money and if we don't like it we should open our own place and ,blah blah .....after recieving my last check 1 month after it was due it was returned for lack of funds....
The atmosphere lacked.......not lacking, there wasn't any to go with the dried up burger I was served
B2 Workers, & B2 Managers I know trolled this site-where are our W2 forms. Legally, they're supposed to be postmarked by Jan 31st, but no surprise, we have yet to receive them.
I read the article today because my Sous Chef and I were talking about it. I had wanted to try B2 because two of my Chefs liked their other locations. At first I was sorry to see the restaurant close so suddenly, but after I found out how poorly B2 was Managed and designed I'm actually glad I didn't waste my time. I have lived in Lees Summit for nearly 15 years and let me just say this the people of Lees Summit are hungry for great restaurants instead of a 30 minute drive commute to another area of the city. "And even though B:2 was a more casual and less costly concept, it probably was still too sophisticated for the fast-growing suburb of Lee's Summit". Give me a break ! If you would have actually researched the area and done a little homework maybe you would have spent the time to design a restaurant where we want restaurants and are more than willing to part with our money. I really can't beleive what you did to your employees at B2 and all I can say is good luck with that Omaha sophistication.
It's pretty obvious to me now why they really fired people when they did. I won't be frequenting their other restaurants on principle, but I certainly miss all (except for a few) of my fellow ex-employees. Good times. Best of luck to you all in the future!
Thank you ..... and in response to an earlier commment I think that you and I and the others that did finish with them.... you could have told us you were closing and we would have kept working and not stole from you.....we kinda did !!!!!! I talked alot earlier and did so because I wanted to point out that the last employees were treated like SHIT ....these are tough times and losing ANY job hurts ......I never resorted to name calling and I just wanted to say WE DESERVED BETTER............
I don't know about anyone else but I loved my job at B:2. and being down to kitchen staff of only 7 people, 2 being dishwashers and working with the same people every day for months they become like a second family. We may have been a rough looking bunch but we cared about eachother and the company we worked for. Maybe that's why some of us are hurt so deeply because we let bussiness get personal when they should always be kept seperate. We knew we were closing for months and people already talked about finding new jobs after the New Year so no one should be too terribly surprised we shut down. I know for a fact our managers feel bad and were torn up about it especially David. But they had to do what was best for the business even though they knew it would suck. It hurt our feelings but we have to just move on and look for something new. No one can pretend they didn't know so they should just buck up and get over it. You can't take bussiness personally. With all the new cheaper businesses popping up we had no hope of continuing.
I have been a Blanc fan from the start, so I was very excited to see B:2 was opening close to home for me. We always had a wonderful experience with management and staff at B:2. We love Blanc and B:2 so much we had B:2 cater our wedding this past summer. I am so sad to see B:2 go; I wish it could have worked out. However, I'm so glad that Blanc is still here.... I can't live without the truffle fries!
I hate to break it to Rick and the others, but this is how it is done in the restaurant business. If they told the staff the place was closing in two weeks, they would be robbed blind. Who cares about giving away product if you are going to be out of a job in a week? Why bother getting out of bed with a hangover to go to work if you are getting fired anyway? Would anyone show up on Christmas Eve or NYE? As bad as what the owners did was, fair warning would allow the staff to do far worse. Right now Rick is bitching to those reading this thread. Does anyone really think he would show more decorum in front of guests for those final two weeks?
Ask the owners of the old Granfalloon up north what happens when you announce at the pre-shift meeting (on NYE 2008) that the restaurant will be closed in the morning.
The place was pure colon blow. I and my family were made sick by their food. Don't eat at any of those places.
Wow...Rick the bartender needs a job. Someone help this troll. It is NOT his restaurant, he is a bustout and cannot let go. He will never make it ANYWHERE he works.
All the best to Ernesto, Josh and Co. in Omaha. We love Blanc and it is LOCAL, that is why we support them.
See you at your next jog Rick, hopefully you can keep it longer than 2 weeks.
GO BLANC!
I think you have to seperate and compartmentalize the issues, not lump them all together. Everyone loves a parade, but no one wants to clean up behind the elephants.A surgeon is taught to not be emotionally connected to his patient when they are about to cut you open. why? So they can do what is NECESSARY to get in and out with the least damage possible. An owner has put out and lost untold capitol on this venture as they took the risks to create the jobs in the first place. They paid more in to the community and the employees than any one complaining in these posts. It's unfortunate that others hate your successes and can't wait to pounce at the first sign of weakness. You are the people behind the elephants. As the surgeon,I believe they had to cut the losses at a given point and it was totally a business decision to "OPERATE" on this patient. Nothing personal, but the bartenders and the cooks and the waitresses can simply find another job. No huge losses, no risk no damage. If your angry, start your own restraunt! (or stay behind the elephants).
bigrickey, if you say no reason is needed to fire somebody in Missouri then consider yourself fired and move on!
My family and I really enjoyed the food at this restaurant but we came back so frequently probably because Rick improved the experience by a factor of 10. I get why an owner doesn't tell employees. Can you imagine fielding a holiday staff who knows their jobs are gone? But if they expect 2 weeks notice from employees they should give at least 2 weeks notice to employees. I don't know any of the other players well but I do know how words can be taken out of context. I would advise ownership to do as good a job of hiring their next PR guy as they did hiring the full-time bartender at the LS location. I would also advise the bartender to let it go and find his next gig. Anger is natural but you have to be careful who is watching and reading.
THANKS PRIME TIME for noticing the name Ernesto was linked to the posting " get another job " ,it has since changed to Eric.....it is fun to watch this group self destruct maybe less attack on their part and more apologies to the people they screwed would be appropriate....it's too late but you would think they would want to do the right thing, instead of letting this continue..... I'm sure they have the pitch in omaha
Note Lauren never mentions that David was a good owner to work for, nor was he inherently good hearted. I agree about Josh and Ernesto, and also with your leaving out David. Problem, though: Unlike the other locations, Ernesto came to B2 around 10 hours the entire time it was open, and Josh was there about every two weeks, and then more when David's pet project started to fail.
I'll probably catch hell for saying this, but I'm just not that impressed with Blanc and I'm not surprised that B:2 didn't make it. I find Blanc overpriced and over-hyped for what it is. Yeah, the little shopping carts with the fries are cute, but I can get a better burger at any one of a number of places for half the price. I felt it was very condescending to open B:2 as a cut-rate version of Blanc simply because it was in LS and obviously the intended clientele felt the same way. Charles hit the nail on the head.
Perhaps I should reiterate. "I know nothing about how it was closed, what the circumstances were, I just wanted to weigh in and say that I believe they're inherently good people."
they knew they were closing , they lied to the employees to keep them working ,they threatened the employees if they talked about closing, THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF INTENTIONALLY SCREWING YOUR EMPLOYEES, THAT SHIT THAT HAPPENED WAS WELL PLANNED AND HURT PEOPLE AND THEY WANT TO COME OUT OF THIS UNSCATHED....PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THIS AND THEN CHOOSE IF THEY WANT TO FREQUENT THEIR BUSINESS
Look, I know nothing about how it was closed, what the circumstances were, I just wanted to weigh in and say that I believe they're inherently good people. While I worked for them, they always treated employees great. Ernesto was one of the best owners I ever worked for. I won't pretend to know the context of b:2 closing, but I know they would never intentionally screw over employees. Sometimes shit happens.
what's out of context about telling how they closed the place without telling their employees, or working them till the final day and then packing the store up hours after closing...this constitutes Greatness in your mind........
TRUE, All the signs of closing were there but, they steadfastly said they were going to keep going and people were threatened if they talked about it. they used customers and employees to milk everything they could out of the operation, and then literally packed up in the dark of the night...
I worked under Ernesto and Josh as a server a couple years ago, and I can say they would never be so pretentious. It seems these quotes are out of context, they're great people, and hopefully you can understand that.
THANK YOU...i'm glad it's getting noticed that they used and lied to their employees.....these people are snakes ....the restaurant was gutted by midnight of Fri.
the Creepy bartender that was working 6 days a week,that was your top sales person, that had the top per customersales average you don't need a reason to fire someone in Missouri so why would it be a problem to get rid of me. if you want to get creepy I have more stories I can tell, right Chef
Karma is exactly what I thought when I heard about this today. Employees totally knew what was happening when they kept letting people go without hiring new people. The managers would lie to your face about closing in January, and employees got written up and sternly lectured if they talked about the potential closing. Gotta do what's good for business, right?
Think you might a got the stink eye for the green pie, Josh Eans- chef and owner. Did you have trouble paying your rent/mortgage, was the bank about to repossess your car, were your children sick and hungry? We know the answers already. Your not a chef, your a capitalist. This is what you get for being greedy. How many Blanc's will you open before you give McDonald's a run for their money? Are you laughing, cause it's not a joke. You saved your own asses by knocking other people on theirs. If it is true that your management lied to the employees about closing, then I hope people get hip to your gimmick and this 'gourmet' burger trend fizzles out sooner than any of your business projections. The economy is what it is and you blatantly lie to people during the holidays about the their future. "Get another job", Ernesto? Who are you guys without your employees? You're two jerks with a hot dog cart outside Sprint Center. And seriously, no offense to the hot dog guys outside Sprint Center. Their business projections don't include using people to work through the holidays when they should be giving them the notice they need to prepare for being unemployed and/or finding another job. Lee's Summit 'sophistication'? Is anyone in the Mid-West really gonna try and argue one hick-spit over another. Bad menu? How many damn burger places do we need? Bottom line is karma. It all comes back. Always. Give Ray Croc his props, nice little twist you put on his tryst!
Pretty sure most of these comments are about Dustin, the scarred favorite. He's despicable.
I've never been to Lee's Summit, I'm not really interested in eating boutique burgers. I don't mind if other people do. But this comment thread is AWESOME. More!
you must be Rick, the creepy bartender people are talking about in this blog...if you are that good why not just find another job. I live in Lee's Summit and I stoped going to b2 because my wife complained about you and nothing was done, maybe that is why there was no night business?
p.s. it may not have been presented correctly how they closed..... Schedules for this week were made out and employees worked on Friday [ which was busy ] The ownership told us that we would also be closed Sun. to resurface the floors which were extremely slippery,Sorry to say I believed that, thinking that if they were re-doing the floors they must be putting money in the place and going to make it. I recieved my call New Years Day to say that we weren't re-opening....please give ernesto and the others your forgivness because this is a guality caring group.....RIGHT
HAVING A JOB AND EARNING MONEY IS PERSONAL TO ME ERNESTO...HAVING A JOB TAKEN AWAY WITH NO WARNING BY AN OWNER THAT SPENT LESS THAN 40 HOURS IN THAT LOCACATION IN THE 8 MONTHS AFTER IT OPENED IS BEYOND FORGIVABLE....YOU GAVE UP ON THE LOCATION AND THE CITY OF L.S. EARLY ON WHEN IT WASN'T AS BUSY AS BLANC. LEE SUMMIT IS TERRIFIC, SOPHISTICATED,AND FAMILY ORIENTED, YOU AND THE OTHER OWNERS ON THE OTHER HAND ARE SMUG, ELITIST, AND TOO GOOD IN YOUR OWN MINDS TO PUT IN THE TIME TO MAKE THE PLACE WORK. IT WASN'T TRAFFIC FLOW ,IT WAS OWNERS WHO HAD MONEY FLOWING FROM 2 LOCATIONS THAT THOUGHT THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO WORK HARD TO MAKE THINGS WORK OUT IN THE BURBS. MY SINCERE HOPES FOR YOUR CONTINUED FAILURES .........................
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