In January, I wrote about the recent demise of the Clock Tower
Restaurant that was located in the Old City Hall building at the
corner of Fifth and Monterey in Gilroy, asking readers to email me
with their ideas on why the restaurant failed.
In January, I wrote about the recent demise of the Clock Tower Restaurant that was located in the Old City Hall building at the corner of Fifth and Monterey in Gilroy, asking readers to email me with their ideas on why the restaurant failed. I received a number of replies, and I’m including some of those readers’ comments here, to paint as it were the “anatomy of a restaurant failure”.
A native resident of Gilroy replied that while she had dined at the restaurant several times and thought the food was excellent and the atmosphere inside was classy, the fact is that the downtown area needs to be cleaned up and given a different atmosphere in order for, as she implied, any business to really succeed there. She added “At one time downtown Gilroy was a thriving area, people walking in and out of the stores or just window shopping. Those days are long gone.” Conclusion: a messy downtown just does not encourage a proper atmosphere for high-traffic business for a high-class restaurant.
Another reader who recently moved to Gilroy said that she and her husband first experienced the restaurant last Thanksgiving Day. When arriving at the restaurant 15 minutes early anticipating a crowd, they discovered there would be no problem getting seated. She said the food was very good and the service was excellent, since there were only two other tables being served. She adds “I was thinking that this [small patronage] was not good for business and expected something [busier for that day].”
There was frustration when she wanted to take home two turkey dinners for her in-laws and found that the restaurant “had the worst time trying to find [containers] to do that, so we didn’t get soup or salad or rolls”. She questioned: “What kind of a restaurant doesn’t have take-out containers?”
Some additional thoughts were that “the over-all menu and prices seemed a bit [high]; there should have been food and prices to bring in the younger set … not a hamburger place, but somewhere in between, both inside and outside.” Her summary was that “Gilroy doesn’t need a Fairmont-type restaurant, but a very nice one that will satisfy both the younger people and the older set, in the same place.” Conclusion: prices were simply too high for most folks.
Another reader wrote saying “I think oddly enough that the ambiance and formality was the problem. My husband never thought of going there for anything but a special occasion because he said it was “ritzy.” We never left the restaurant without spending a lot of money. On our last visit in on a Tuesday night in November with the idea that we would eat light and keep the dinner bill down, once we had the menus in our hands our salivary glands took over and the wallet was toast – again.” Conclusion: Insufficient number of repeat customers.
But out of all the opinions expressed, one has some real merit, and is something that the city should consider. The reader wrote: “The Old City Hall Building is the best old business building in the downtown area. Why doesn’t the city use it to their benefit and turn it into what it was, and make a museum out of it, with the old fire house with a [fire] truck and some beds and clothes, jail, etc. and gift shop?”
Let’s face it, the last three businesses that have occupied the building have failed. While the building might be a good place to house tenants that deal in professional services such as attorneys or CPAs, I personally like this writer’s idea about turning it into something that would benefit the city, especially in the public relations area.
So Gilroy city councilmen, what about the idea of turning the Old City Hall Building into a new “Gilroy Visitor’s Center” that would house a visitor’s information center, the Gilroy museum (move it from it’s current hidden-away location), the Chamber of Commerce, and even a gift shop that would highlight Gilroy’s garlic heritage. By placing all of these separate entities into a “one stop” location in a building that has one of the richest history heritages in Gilroy, the city just might finally have a winning combination for this great old building – one that, this time, won’t fail.
