When Zane Tankel, chairman and CEO of Harrison-based Apple-Metro Inc., was developing his first fine casual dining establishment in New Rochelle, he sought the help of his employees.
Zanaro”™s, the chosen name, was conjured from a companywide contest among some 3,000 Applebees staffers in the tri-state region, and is now a mainstay at City Center in downtown White Plains.
“It stands for Zane and Roy,” said an unabashedly honest Zane Tankel of his and cofounder Roy Raeburn”™s mark on the restaurant. “We needed an Italian name and Zanaro”™s sounded Italian.”
Having cofounded the New York Metropolitan Area franchisee for Applebees Neighborhood Grill & Bar in 1993, Tankel has seen his share of ups and downs in the restaurant business.
When he was approached by Louis Cappelli of Cappelli Enterprises Inc. in Valhalla to develop a fine dining location at New Roc City, he saw it as a great opportunity.
“That was really my outlet for not having to be a franchisee, to be able to flourish and to be creative,” he said. “But, it didn”™t get off the ground and never happened.”
Outwardly, Tankel may have met his match in that moment of deflation some seven years ago, but it didn”™t stop him from picking up the pieces and trying his luck about a year later at the landmark Home Savings Bank, which now serves as Zanaro”™s current home at the corner of Main and Mamaroneck in White Plains.
“I think we”™re very fortunate that we”™re part of a much bigger company,” he said. “Everybody wondered how a chain like Applebees can have a three-star restaurant. The Applebees side of it gives us the opportunity to be able to afford it.”
Now at 32 units strong, some $140 million in annual sales, a Chevys Fresh Mex in downtown Manhattan and Zanaro”™s on his watch, Tankel is one-part surveyor of the economic climate and another part iconic figure of his franchise.
His company maintains the 42nd Street location in midtown Manhattan, which is the highest volume unit in the entire Applebee”™s system.
And, he”™s developing.
Next on Tankel”™s list is a Fordham Road location in the Bronx, which is the Applebees chain”™s 2,000th restaurant. The scheduled opening date is Aug. 10.
A Bronx Terminal Market location is scheduled to open Aug. 31; Harlem in October. An Atlantic Terminal location in Brooklyn will follow and leases are in the works for Flushing and Jamaica, Queens.
“We are also in negotiations for another Applebees in Westchester,” Tankel said. “It”™s a restaurant in existence now and could happen within the year.”
The city was undisclosed. Apple-Metro operates an Applebees at the Cross County Shopping Center in Yonkers and “its sales are up.”
Though Tankel said he is always open to new opportunities in the lower Hudson Valley region, finding a good site at a reasonable rent presents a challenge.
“You can find a good site, but they want an arm and a leg,” he said. “You can get bad sites that are inexpensive, but that don”™t do it. People may think, ”˜I”™ll make a great product and people will come to my site.”™ That”™s like saying, ”˜I have a great voice, I”™m going to be the next ”˜American Idol.”™”
At a time when several big restaurants have shuttered in what he termed an “economic tsunami,” Tankel said. “I can speak for our philosophy, which is only the strong survive. And, I think you”™ll see more (restaurants) closing ”¦ I knew early on that nothing works exactly as it”™s timed or planned and Obama”™s economic policy dealt with the economy turning at a faster rate than it was actually turning.”
He said Zanaro”™s could pick up some business if more restaurants close, but said it will “probably not be enough to make us really busy.”
Tankel then predicted a change in the retail landscape after noting how drops in discretionary income have adversely affected the casual dining segment.
“You”™re going to see retailers closing some of their stores and you won”™t have as many locations,” he said. “You”™re going to see inventory shrinking ”¦ Inventory is money.”
And so, too, is dedication. He knows each staff member by name and they, in turn, know his name. He pays attention.
“You can”™t fake caring,” he said. “It doesn”™t cost anything to extend a greeting to customers.” He asked of the hostess on duty: “Did she greet you? I hope so.”
