Dining in Merrifield

[JBag57]

Those that are conjuring up the movie theaters are indeed typical of the people I knew growing up.

I lived about a mile from Mosaic growing up (yes, sort of on the other side of the tracks), and am old enough to remember the drive-in theater that preceded the multiplex cinema (the drive-in was operating until the mid- to late 70s, at least).  Although I still like to call it Merrifield for nostalgic purposes, I have reconciled that what is there now could become a great place.  I wish I could frequent the place, but I just don't find myself over that way very often during dinner hours.  I used to go out of my way on occasion to go to Gypsy Soul (mainly for the burger, but also once or twice for the country fried steak on the brunch menu, as well as a couple of other visits).  Not doing that for Matchbox, Ted's, Cava, Taylor Gourmet, the Mexican place, the healthy eating place, and not so far for Brine (seafood is not my thing).  B Side and DGS would now be my go-to places (maybe Kapnos if there proves to be value in their offerings).

I would guess that there are very few people living within 5 miles of Mosaic that are old enough and have been around long enough to remember the movie theaters, which shut down long before Mosaic was a gleam in Edens' eye.

[ScotteeM]

Those that are conjuring up the movie theaters are indeed typical of the people I knew growing up.

I lived about a mile from Mosaic growing up (yes, sort of on the other side of the tracks), and am old enough to remember the drive-in theater that preceded the multiplex cinema (the drive-in was operating until the mid- to late 70s, at least).  Although I still like to call it Merrifield for nostalgic purposes, I have reconciled that what is there now could become a great place.  I wish I could frequent the place, but I just don't find myself over that way very often during dinner hours.  I used to go out of my way on occasion to go to Gypsy Soul (mainly for the burger, but also once or twice for the country fried steak on the brunch menu, as well as a couple of other visits).  Not doing that for Matchbox, Ted's, Cava, Taylor Gourmet, the Mexican place, the healthy eating place, and not so far for Brine (seafood is not my thing).  B Side and DGS would now be my go-to places (maybe Kapnos if there proves to be value in their offerings).

I would guess that there are very few people living within 5 miles of Mosaic that are old enough and have been around long enough to remember the movie theaters, which shut down long before Mosaic was a gleam in Edens' eye.

JBag57, I guess the movie theater has been gone about 10 years, give or take. I live about 6-7 miles away, and used to frequent that movie theater when it was in operation. I would argue that a lot of folks still remember it, and I suspect that it ceased operation when the owner of the property decided to develop it for another purpose--whether for the Mosaic District or something else.

That being said, have you tried the burger at Brine? I had it once and really loved it. Lots of smoky grill flavor and good beef flavor, too. It could be worth your while. (Disclaimer: I had it without a bun and with grilled corn on the cob instead of the fries, because . . . gluten.)

I think I do agree with you, though that most of the restaurants in Mosaic District aren't worth a special trip, except Four Sisters, which is technically perhaps just outside the border, across the street from the District proper.

I'm not completely sold on Brine, but I'm going to give it another try or two before I make up my mind. I do wish it much success, but I still question whether the area can sustain it.

[Lary]

we've tried the new "yummy kabob" (gallows & 495, in the old "photoria" building behind 7-11) a couple times and were pleased. beats the other kabob options in the immediate area. 

[DaveO]

Walking by on an early in the week night, a lot of the restaurants are operating at 25% capacity. Of course on the weekends, these same places are slammed. I really wonder how places deal with the huge fluctuations. 

Relative to a lot of posts on this topic I was thinking about this.  I actually used to (when leasing retail space) do something like this quite regularly as did others in that field (or things like this).

I walk by Ray's the Steaks quite often and peer in.  Rays is a bit unusual for a restaurant anywhere with a lot of window space.  You could assess business if that was your work, hobby, or you were a competitor, or just bored with life and had nothing more productive to do.  

I usually walk by the Clarendon Blvd side, which I think shows more of the seating than walking by the side street.  (I haven't thought about that).   I usually walk by during dinner hours, which could be the early seatings, (say around 5ish to 6ish or possibly around prime dining hours around 7ish.   I might walk by later during the potential last seating.

The following is pure guess work.  Suppose I'm there at prime hours.  I'll assume that half of the diners arrive then and 25% early and 25% at the last sitting.   (could be off on that also that could vary by day of the week)

Now if I peer in the windows along that side I'm possibly looking at about 50% or slightly more of the potential seating.  But I'm only looking at a "snapshot".  Could be prime hours, but five minutes after I leave there could be 30 or 40 reservations.

I may stroll by 3 times a week.   So if I'm peering in at prime hours I might be getting a snapshot of 60% of the seating (maybe) at the opportunity for 50% of reservations on one day or 14%.  That is about 4.2% of potential business.   If I do it 3 times/week that might be a snapshot of 12.6% of all the business.  EXCEPT.  I'm not doing it on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays.   Business could be SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than and a significant MULTIPLE of what I might see on a Monday or Tuesday.   So maybe I'm only seeing 7,8, or 9% at most...and its only a momentary snapshot.  I could be missing a ton.

So when we get these "snapshot" perspectives there is much to question.   As referenced above a place could look dead on a Tuesday and then be packed on Weekends.  Hard to make a judgement based on snapshots. I don't think they are reliable.  And I did that regularly in the past....though with more precision and more consistently...or things like that (as did others).

Now the experienced operators understand the fluctuations between early and late in the week so they have to plan accordingly.  Also they may do something like 80% of their business on 3 days around a weekend....which would throw all my above calculations off!!!  Ha ha.

If I do walk by the Clarendon Blvd side of Rays I also walk by Me Jana.  But their windows are covered.  I can't peer in.  That is to suggest that you can't get that "snapshot" at most places.

Anyway its tough for us civilians (non restaurant operators) to know what is going on.  The operators know.  We guess.

(by the way I engage in this weird behavior because its a learned habit that I never broke.   I'm basically not a snoop).

Its just difficult for us to get a feel for levels of business.   Having said all that I'd tend to believe Andelman's comments and observations more than others (and mine)  He has a store there.  Whether he is there or not every day, he knows his sales and # of transactions and has a feel for how many people are coming in and/or walking around.  Its difficult for most of us to render solid judgements

[Andelman]

Speaking from my experience (both in retail and restaurant), i think looks can be deceiving. For restaurants, I am sure that bodies in seats is probably the best way to gauge how a restaurant is doing. Weekends are key.

For retail, it is a lot different. Regarding Mosaic, the traffic is pretty slow at certain times of the day (and this holds true at most places). On the weekdays, we seems to be busiest from noon-2 PM and then 5 PM-7PM. O the weekends we see much more traffic (mainly Fri and Saturday) and we stay open a hour later on those days. However, for us at least, so much is dependent on how much people are spending. This has been our biggest issue at Mosaic, as we will see a fair amount of customers come into the shop, but I'd say only about 70% of them actually make a purchase. Of those that make a purchase, the average sales ticket at Mosaic is about half as what it is in Arlington.  At Mosaic, we get a lot of browsers, people buying single pieces, maybe something under $10, etc...At the end of the day, it can very good, just ok, or downright bad in regards to total sales. A couple of larger purchases can make a big difference in the daily sales total.

In Arlington, we are much more of a 'destination' location, so we see fewer retail customers, but they tend to spend a lot more money. Very, very rarely does someone come into the Arlington shop and not buy anything. I say our conversion rate there is well over 95%.

However, and this is going to paraphrase a PM I had with Don. We can't rely on just retail to make it. We are in the gift-giving business, not so much the "immediate consumption/food business". I sort of equate our situation to be very much like a florist. Retail is part of it, but the florist survives on events/weddings/etc.. The majority of our sales come from corporate gifts, events, caterers, weddings, online purchases,  some hotels, etc... --big orders that nobody would really know about by just walking by our retail shops. The holidays are HUGE for us (about 30% of our annual gross sales in about 4 weeks).Valentines Day is very good as well for the retail side. We are very seasonal and generally take a loss in the summer months. It becomes a big money management thing as most of our income comes in from Nov-May. We then have to make those funds last through the slow period. This time of year (as we gear up for the holidays), it is a lot of spending on packaging , raw ingredients, labor. I max out my credit cards and use a bank line of credit to make it through until the end of the year. Then I pay everything off on Dec 31st and we start the cycle over again. Needless to say, this is a stressful time for me, as we rely so much on the holidays, that if we were to lose a couple of big accounts, or there was a massive snowstorm on December 20th, we'd be screwed. (I'm looking at you, El Nino ). Anyway, probably more info then you wanted, but I just want to explain my situation and how just because we may not be busy on the retail front, doesn't mean we aren't doing okay as a business.

The thought behind the Mosaic shop was to have another brick and mortar presence in an area which is growing and may contain some of our core customers. We hope that all those folks coming in to buy (one f*cking piece of chocolate and then handing me a credit card---sorry big pet peeve of mine. ) will then come back and buy gifts throughout the year and holidays. Or they will tell the company about us which would turn into corporate business. We've gotten a little of that so far, but not as much as I had anticipated (and need). Our hope is that as Mosaic continues to grow, we will just attract more customers, which in turn SHOULD turn into more sales.

Just FYI, we are celebrating our 10-Year Anniversary this month, and starting on Monday, 10/19 until Saturday, 10/31, we are offering a 20% off promotion for al purchases over $30. This is valid in both stores and online. So come out and see us at Mosaic (or Arlington, thats where I'll most likely be)!!

ETA: I think you'd get a lot of the same sentiments from the other retailers out in Mosaic...I think it is no fault of Edens (the developer) that things have not thrived as much as everyone had hoped, but I think a lot of factors have combined to make it a challenging place to run a retail shop or restaurant.

[DaveO]

@Andelman.  Yikes.  Certainly more than I needed to know.   I only referenced you, vis a vis the description of a "snapshot" of customers, to reference that either being at Mosaic with a store, and even if you aren't there you have "proxies" there in staff, # of customers, and # of transactions that would make your observations better than the effort I described or that of anyone else, who isn't there that many hours.

Anyways, good luck with the transactions and good luck with Christmas season.   BTW:  referencing "things you don't like"    I have a pet peeve relative to your store: specifically when I've given your candies as a gift to someone in the region AND I DON'T GET A TASTE.   They are great.  People love them.  I've given them to others more than for myself.  I've too often heard back how much people love them....and I didn't get one.   Boy that pisses me off!!!!!  

tx for the heads up about the sale!!!!!

[Andelman]

Yeah, sorry. I got carried away..

Sounds like you need to get some friends that know how to share!

Next time you're in Arlington, introduce yourself. (I'll hook you up)