SEQUIM — Applebee’s is not the first national chain restaurant to open on the North Olympic Peninsula.
But it’s the first one that noticeably affected Tarcisio’s, an Italian eatery in Sequim, says owner Randy Wellman.
“Applebee’s I definitely felt,” he says of the restaurant’s April 25 opening.
Not surprising since the company and its franchisees run almost 1,700 restaurants in the United States and 12 other countries and bills itself as “the largest casual dining concept in America,” according to the company’s Web site.
“This was definitely a blow,” Wellman says.
“I’m speaking for other restaurants in Sequim too, because I know the other owners in town. We all felt it.”
It turned out to be just a short dip, he said, and Tarcisio’s business has returned to pre-Applebee’s levels.
The Overland Park, Kan.-based company, however, is probably not going to be the last big competitor to come to the Peninsula, and that could have major repercussions for the restaurant industry in the area.
Taco Time, next to Applebee’s, held its official opening Saturday, although it was already open for business.
A new Jack in the Box will open soon in front of Wal-Mart on West Washington Street, and a shopping center now under construction will have Quizno’s as a tenant.
“That’s three restaurants in four months, and Quizno’s is right around the corner,” Wellman says.
“That’s quite a bang.”
While rumors of other chain restaurants coming to Sequim remain unsubstantiated, there is still room for new buildings at the west end of Sequim, but the town might not be large enough for every existing restaurant to remain viable.
According to the Clallam County Environmental Health Department, there are 125 eating establishments in Sequim, including schools, festival vendors and convenience stores.
“It can be devastating,” says Gene Vosberg, president and chief executive officer of the Washington Restaurant Association, about the effect of chain restaurants on locally owned operations.
“If they’re marginal, they’re probably dead meat.
“That’s a tough way to say that, but any marginal restaurant that has competition that wasn’t there before — you can’t be marginal in a competitive market.”
Vosberg says the situation is not hopeless, however, provided a restaurant’s operators do three things:
* Know what they’re doing.
* Know who they’re doing it for.
* And do it really, really well.
