For nearly two years, the restaurant has been leased and run by Rick Pauls of Killarney. He said he asked to get out of the lease at the end of September, as things were not working. As the proprietor/operator of the Blarney Stone in Killarney, he said it was difficult to run the two restaurants in small communities at the same time.
“For a business like that to be profitable,” Pauls explained, “in a small community, you have to be an owner/operator. The benefits of having two locations didn’t outweigh the cost factor.”
Although he also has a management team in Killarney, it is hard to make enough profit when you are not directly running the business yourself. Pauls said he needed to get to the $840,000 a year from the business and could not make it to the $700,000 level. He wanted to spend more time in Boissevain, but between his different business interests and his responsibility as mayor of Killarney, he was not able to make as much of a commitment to Border Town as he wanted. He will be continuing with the Blarney Stone and another term as mayor, and recognizes the restaurant business is a challenging one from many angles.
“I’ve seen a lot of the changes in the restaurant industry. I have been involved since 1992. The margins are the toughest and slimmest. There are tough margins and staffing is always a challenge.”
Hoerl has been involved in the industry for a long time as well. He began his apprenticeship in his homeland of Austria before coming to Canada in 2007. He has worked in kitchens in Boissevain, Killarney and up north since. He said one of the benefits of Boissevain is that the people are nice and there is a good customer base.
Hoerl said Suzie, who currently works in Brandon, will be coming half-days for at least a while and he will be there more or less all the time, becoming the owner/operator that is required. He expects to keep the Border Town name.
Chicken Delight will be gone, and they are not planning to be a franchise. A family restaurant, they will be coming up with their own recipes, particularly for the popular pizza. Hoerl said they are planning special meals like roasts, stir fry’s, fish fry’s for evenings, and also want to add some native Austrian cuisine, like schnitzel, to the menu.
“Nothing too fancy,” he said. “Meat and potatoes, good food. Keep it to basics.”
They take over the restaurant on October 1. Hoerl said some work needs to be done to lighten it up and such, so they are thinking of having it re-open under the new management by middle of October. Although located in Killarney right now, he said they would definitely look at moving to Boissevain.
“We’re going to see what happens,” he stated. “It is a good restaurant and I hope it goes good.”
“I wish them all the luck with it,” Pauls said.
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff