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Brixmor gives small restaurant tenants free business counseling

May 29, 2020

Brixmor is helping independent restaurant tenants at its 400 shopping centers adapt to the post-quarantine market and create new revenue streams. “The BrixAssist Restaurant Re-emergence Program is designed to bolster independent local restaurants that do not have the substantial resources associated with a larger, national business-support operation,” said president and CEO Jim Taylor.

Part of the larger BrixAssist initiative, the program encourages peer-to-peer mentoring and sharing of best practices from different regions and different stages of reopening. Through guided discussions on four 90-minute video calls, a small group of participants help each other create 90-day plans to adapt to such new realities as increased takeout and delivery, social distancing, sanitizing, and navigating evolving consumer preferences and behaviors, says Angel Cicerone, who runs the program as founder of consulting firm Tenant Mentorship. “Small businesses are the differentiator for shopping centers, and landlords realize that these businesses need extra help right now,” she said.

The program helps participants identify and resolve business and operational deficits from before the pandemic, research new vendors, rehire employees and build brand and culture, among other steps, Cicerone says. It also focuses on maintaining customer experience. “Pre-corona thinking will not help in a post-corona world,” she said. “We do not know how we will come out on the other side. Therefore, the program focuses on the elements a sustainable business needs to thrive: acquiring new customers, creating a unique customer experience and delivery of that experience as an extension of what their original business model was all about.”

The information sharing has helped San Diego’s Crab Hut implement new ideas, says co-founder Kim Phan. One of its three locations is in Brixmor’s Village at Mira Mesa. “There is reassurance that we’re not alone,” she said. “We can learn from restaurants in other regions that have already entered phases 1, 2 and 3 of reopening. I’ve gotten something positive out of each session that I have been able to apply to our business.”

Co-founder Kim Phan said Carb Hut had not focused on takeout or curbside pickup prior to COVID-19 but now finds it a lucrative add-on

Cicerone said: “Many of the participants are doing as much if not more weekly in takeout than they were doing pre-pandemic. There is no windfall in a restaurant business. Success is incremental, so it is important and possible to adapt quickly, almost weekly, to this environment. The program was created to help focus business owners back on growth.”

BrewBurgers owner Michael Bacon appreciates the focus on growth rather than on survival. “I have revised my business model, adding delivery services and remodeling one of the locations to better accommodate takeout,” he said. “With help from this program, I am now fully focusing on this sector of the business because takeout is where the growth is in the industry, even before the crisis hit.” 

Michael Bacon, owner of BrewBurgers, is learning how to grow his business by introducing the concept to new potential customers

BrewBurgers operates two locations in Venice, Florida, one in Brixmor’s Venice Village. Bacon is focused on maintaining the vibe of a “retro, cool atmosphere where we treat everyone like family.” He says Brixmor’s program has helped him introduce it to new customers through “innovative and continued marketing.

By Brannon Boswell

Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today