A unique Hamilton not-for-profit restaurant, which uses a “pay it forward” program asking patrons to give a little more for their meal to do a good deed, is learning all about survival, according to one staffer.
Rob Miller, a front of house manager with 541 Eatery and Exchange, told Global News that sales have dropped to their lowest level since the business opened in 2014.
“We’re learning on how to keep this thing afloat,” said Miller.
“If we want to have it a place where people come through the doors and say, well, what’s happening here, then you know, A, B and C is what we need to do. And that comes down to a lot more fundraising and kind of the support of pledging.
541’s pay it forward business model is based on customers buying food and buttons with the latter becoming the currency for someone else to purchase food.
“We want to be a place that offers good food at an affordable rate and a place that people can exchange,” Miller said, “so that people would come into the restaurant and be able to give something to someone who maybe they would never rub shoulders with on a daily basis.”
Now entering its sixth year at 541 Barton St. East, the eatery has seen a decline in patronage which has directly affected sales.
This, despite keeping one of its major overhead costs low, with 75 per cent of staff being volunteers.
“These are folks that donate or dedicate four hours of their week to us and kind of build teams in which they serve at the front of house,” said Miller.
“They’re in the back chopping vegetables and doing dishes for us and making the space what it is really.”
Miller says it’s been challenging trying to figure out balancing promotion and re-invention to keep the concept going.
“We’re still trying to figure that out,” said Miller.
A shining light for the restaurant in recent times has been the help it’s been getting from an unlikely source — other eateries, which have run promotions to contribute to 541’s pay-it-forward concept.
Local coffee shops The Cannon on Ottawa Street and Democracy on Locke Street are just some that have run button buying promotions for pay-it-forward meals at 541.
It’s that kind of promotion help Miller says could be key in turning thigs around.
“I think I can answer that confidently and saying our relationship with other restaurants is a different thing than competition,” Miller said.
“I would ask and encourage folks to come and check us out. Come through the doors, come sit down at a table, come enjoy some food. Offer hospitality and receive it.”
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