Commonwealth Times takes a look at restaurant woes around VCU

“Monroe Park Campus is heaven, or hell, for independent restaurants”

February 3, 2015; 12:29 PM • by Richard Hayes

Hector Miranda-Castro wrote Monroe Park Campus is heaven, or hell, for independent restaurants, which takes a long hard look at the businesses that have failed and those that have prospered around the Monroe Park Campus.

Interestingly it’s not just the standard, small businesses can’t compete with chains that is the fall back for most of these type stories. While competition from chains is mentioned as a primary reason it’s far from the only reason.

In one part Hector talks with successful businesses to see what worked.

“A (corporate chain) is not going to be able to compare with somebody, or the sole proprietor of a store, where the owner is more ambitious because it is their livelihood — their salary is directly related to their performance in the store,” Tamm [owner of Christian’s Pizza] said.

Red Eye Cookie Co. and Alchemy Coffee are two other newly established and successful small businesses in the area. Both owners said they make a conscious effort to connect with the VCU and surrounding Richmond community, which they cite as one of the main reasons for their success.