By Jimmie Miller

Restaurant Struggles

Restaurants facing challenges but still open

Mar 10, 2020 | 1:04 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB– There have been a number of restaurant closures in Medicine Hat.

State and Main, Industry Pub, Heartwood Café, and IPHO Vietnamese Restaurant have all closed down.

According to Todd Lindsay, managing partner of Skinny’s Smokehouse, there is some surprising chatter going around the community that his restaurant may be next to close. He acknowledges that it can be very challenging for a business to stay open if the customers aren’t coming in.

“It’s difficult, there’s a lot of rumours going around. People calling the restaurant asking if we’re going to be closing next”. He continues to say “The restaurant business is extremely difficult. Margins are very tight. And restaurants, they do tend to go out of business quite easily. If things slow down for just a couple months, that can make a big difference.”

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Mike Waskalik, Owner of Local Pub and Eatery, is aware that his business is also rumoured to be going under. He believes that the popular “food to your door” trend can also be to blame for restaurants not being able to make a profit if they don’t get on board.

“The at home diner is just the new way people are doing it and if you’re not on SkiptheDishes, you’re not a part of the program, then you’re losing sales” he said. “So while you’re not getting that guest in your restaurant right now, they weren’t going to come in anyway. They were sitting at home on their couch wondering what they would like to order on SkiptheDishes or DoorDash.”

Businesses can be successful if they adapt with the eat-at-home culture and step up their game through promotions, said Waskalik, but he adds that the remaining restaurants are now faced with the challenge of getting customers to want to dine in.