American Flatbread

OSimpson · Feb 7, 2011

Here is my update. Recently American Flatbread was added a NEW host location for Loudoun Flavor;

New Host Site: We are making deliveries now to Broadlands at a location you need to get to know. The American Flatbread Company serves up local
organic ingredients on their menu along with micro brews and local wine. Their space is huge and fantastic for private parties, cooking classes (like make your own pizza pie classes for kids) and private meetings. Owner Janice Vasko has her eye on flavorful food, your health and also your budget. Pick up your Loudoun Flavor order there this week and learn more…..or maybe stay for some wood-fire baked pizza. Shop now until Wed at 6 pm and the market will deliver to the site of your choosing on Friday, Feb 11.

Loudoun Flavor Market is the first Virtual Farmer's Market affiliate of the Fresh Fare Market. Like other Fresh Fare Markets in other counties, Loudoun Flavor will offer Loudoun County’s most convenient, high quality fresh farmer’s market. We will strengthen our local farm & town economy and improve our quality of life. Loudoun Flavor and Fresh Fare Market will provide a virtual marketplace with physical pick up points where residents can obtain excellent farmed and handmade products, education, resources, opportunities and assistance towards this mission. We will strive for a sense of community within our membership and in conjunction with our sponsors and affiliates. The results will be meaningful to life in Loudoun. Areas positively impacted will include human health, history and land preservation, air/soil/water quality, farm animal health, related industries and small businesses (including agriculture, tourism, local retail, healthcare, education) and employment rate.

I decided to help Janice with anything I can do to help her to increase her business. Her food is good and it's local; that's enough reason to support her in anyway we can. I can eat her PE bread everyday. As a neighbor what else can we do but support her. All businesses are "struggling" in their own way. AF has no active plans to move or close. It's all about technicality.

GotTwins? said: ↑

And I'll take another crack at this. I agree with some of it, but not all.
- Linux is right - not having the lunch crowd is a huge part of it. Look no further than Clyde's - it's not a great location for them because there is no lunch crowd. But to Redon1's point, they knew that going in and built the Taj Mahal anyway, so some of that is on them. A lot of restaurants anticipated more offices going up and the market collapsed.
- But without exception, no independent, sit down restaurant locally does consistently well from Sunday - Thursday (with the limited exception for sporting events). No one can survive long term when 75% of their business is on Friday and Saturday night. It is the nature of the beast in Ashburn that we eat dinner at home on weekdays; great for families, bad for business.
- Supply vs. demand - Too many restaurants opened around the same time expecting the housing boom to continue and offices to open. Didn't happen that way. Too many restaurants are still fighting for too few patrons.
- Redon1 is correct that some landlords don't adjust the rent accordingly when businesses fail. On the other hand, some do, and businesses still fail. I'm am insider, I know. Rent is but a small portion of a business' overall success. Business owners will charge the most money for their product that the market will bear based on competition, product cost, image, etc. Rent is a very minor component to what a business will charge for their product. Likewise, every landlord will charge the most rent that they can get based on what the market will bear. That's everywhere; not just in "Cashburn". So one can't make the argument that a business will gouge customers for exorbitant rent in Ashburn, but not in other places. It's the same everywhere. Where landlords differ is in their philosophy about how to handle tenants that fall behind in rent; i.e., evict vs. hold their hand.

There are too many restaurants failing to simply point the finger at one reason, or at the easiest target, greedy landlords. It's market forces at work, plain and simple. Simply serving the best food, or having the best service or atmosphere, won't work in this environment when there is too little demand and too many choices. You need all of the above, plus reasonable prices, to sustain an indepedent restaurant. And keep in mind, also, that Forum posters are a small minority of the general public; you all are probably more interested in a more upscale product, or more finicky about service, food and atomosphere. The numbers bear out that the majority of the public is perfectly fine with cheaper dining options at chain restaurants, such as Red Robin, Clyde's, Bonefish, Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, Chili's, and so on, and so on.
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American Flatbread

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