SC - Period cookshop at Pennsic: Finances

[Elaine Koogler]

I don't know a whole lot about most of what is enumerated in your message, Your
Grace, except from the standpoint of working as head cook for feasts.

However, so far as the tent rental is concerned, I strongly urge you to consider
not using Grim's...they have had a strangle-hold on rentals at Pennsic for so
long that they just don't care anymore.  What they put up is really poor...I
heard a real horror story about one merchant setup this year wherein no walls
were provided to close the shop up.  The merchant had to hire someone to guard
his wares overnight to keep folks out of his establishment when he wasn't there!

We got fed up with Grim's last year and this year rented a community pavilion
from Festive...and they did a wonderful job.  If you/we decide to go ahead with
this venture, let me know and I can give you the contact information.  Costs
seem to be comparable, if a bit lower, and they are still hungry enough to
provide good service...they even left us with their cell phone number in case we
had any problems!!!

Kiri

david friedman wrote:

> It occurred to me that it might be worth taking advantage of the
> expertise of this group to do a first pass on estimating the finances
> of the project. I will therefore list the categories that occur to
> me, and ask anyone who has information on the relevant costs to
> provide it, and anyone who thinks of addition categories to add them:
>
> Tent Rental: 1 large tent
>
> Cooking Equipment rental: Stoves, refrigerators, probably ovens,
> possibly a big (commercial) mixer, possibly microwaves. Are any of
> these things that people are in a position to borrow? Are there any
> that it would be worth buying?
>
> Bowls, knives, pots etc. I am assuming that the participants can
> provide most of this, although it might be worth buying a few very
> large bowls, skillets, etc.
>
> Table and chair rental? Again, participants might be able to provide
> some of this.
>
> Raw Material purchases: My guess is that we can get an adequate
> estimate by looking at local grocery store prices. One of our friends
> is a wholesale butcher (but not in the Pennsic area); I don't know if
> he has contacts that would help.
>
> Bread: We could try baking our own, which would be classy, but it
> would be a lot less trouble if we made arrangements with a local
> bakery.
>
> Consumables: Paper towels, napkins, paper cups, bowls, etc. if we use them.
>
> Bottled gas for the stoves.
>
> Any fees that must be paid to the Coopers and/or the state of Pennsylvania.
>
> Wages. I am assuming that the 2-6 people chiefly running it will work
> for fun and a share in the profits (if any), but that we may also
> have to pay some people. Could you do it with five people on site
> from (say) 10 A.M. to 10 P.M.? I'm imagining two cooks, one cook's
> helper, two people dishing stuff out, running the cash register, etc.
> Open for lunch at noon, close at 9:00 P.M., two hours before and one
> after for cleanup, advance preparation, etc. Would that be
> sufficient? Of course, we could be period and offer yesterday's
> leftovers for breakfast ...  .
>
> If that does do it, assume six cooks working for a cut of the profit,
> each taking a four hour shift each day. Hire the other three
> people--which means you are paying for thirty hours a day of labor.
> What sort of wages are people usually paid to work at Pennsic?
>
> Looking at the other end of it, assume you are getting $7 from each
> dinner customer, $5 from each lunch customer. I think that is a
> little less expensive than the current average. Judging from feast
> experience, the actual materials cost (i.e. the food) should be about
> $3 for dinner, $2 for lunch--less if you make a point of using dishes
> whose ingredients are inexpensive, or have better than normal soruces
> of supply. So you are making about $4/dinner, $3/lunch, from which
> you have to pay all the rest of the costs.
>
> How many dinners and lunches per day could an establishment of that
> size produce? How many could it sell, judging by the experience of
> the other cookshops? Do we have anyone on the list who has worked for
> any of them, and has a reasonable estimate of how much business they
> do?
>
> Speaking as a customer, my rough guess for the Mediterranean place
> when I have been there is two customers a minute. If we assume three
> hours of serving lunch and four of serving dinner, with that rate
> maintained throughout (I suspect that is too optimistic), that would
> be 360 lunches and 480 dinners per day, for a revenue net of food
> costs of 1080+1920=$3000/day. From that you have to pay wages,
> rental, etc.
>
> Looking at the other side ...  . A 10 gallon pot of something gloppy
> should feed about 150 people at 1 cup per. So if half the people are
> eating gloppy things, and each burner produces two potfulls during
> the day (including the time it is keeping the stuff hot), you need
> two big burners. Add burners for frying etc., and I am guessing that
> about 6-8 burners would do it.
>
> I've done feasts but never run a restaurant, so obviously this is
> very much a first pass--probably omitting some important costs and
> misestimating others. Comments?
> --
> David/Cariadoc
> http://www.daviddfriedman.com/
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