Leo's Chicken closed?

There's plenty of fresh chickens running wild everywhere all over the islands.

thats true too. There is no chicken shortage here

I think LindaJ is referring to the particular location...a busy intersection, available parking, good visibility from roadways, yet business after business closes.

There's also plenty of foot traffic from the neighboring housing community. It's just baffling why business after business keeps failing there.

I think LindaJ is referring to the particular location...a busy intersection, available parking, good visibility from roadways, yet business after business closes.

It is a very good location, but another factor to consider is rent. I have no clue what the rent is there, but if he didn't negotiate well then it makes it even harder to survive when hard times hit. I can think of more than one scenario where restaurant owners are still surviving these lean times because they have understanding landlords. Conversely, I can think of more situations where the combination of gross receipts tax, high rents, WAPA, and poor revenues was just too much to bear.

Im sure it was a combination of things. Island running out of things they should have just been making themselves like sauce, the poor customer service people seem to find endearing, that keeps people moving from the states employed and im sure wapa will be blamed along with the bs that there are no jobs or money here.

I liked the owners enthusiasm and style but I didn't really care for the product. I'm not surprised it failed. Chicken wings are something I want at a bar over beers and Chicken tenders are something I feed to my kids. That combined with a few experiences where it took forever to get my food made me not want to go back frequently. The hush puppies will be missed. IMO this concept would've been a miss regardless of where they put it, at least to my taste.

Jamison, I'm curious why you say wapa/no jobs/no money here is BS? I don't think it's BS to say there isn't much money here. There isn't much money, that's a fact. In 2012 the per-capita income in the poorest of US states was Mississippi at $33,073 ( http://bber.unm.edu/econ/us-pci.htm). In the 2010 census the VI was listed as having a per capita income of $13,139 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Virgin_Islands#Demographics). Our energy costs are 5X what they'd be on the continent.

I don't say these things because I like it, as a long time resident it's tough to live with these facts. But they are facts that one must deal with when considering a business here. If people actually ran the numbers before jumping we'd probably have far less "failed" businesses and hopefully still enough strong ones that know how to survive in a high cost, low revenue environment.

Sean

Sean, I mostly mean because those factors were in play before leos famous was even thought about. Also, there are plenty of jobs here right now. There have been ads on this board, still are in fact. Computer companies have had no luck finding employees, as a restaurant guy, I turn down offers or am asked if I can find somebody to work afairly often. It might be slower on the east end, but most of the places out west are still turning numbers. I think a lot of people here just dont want to hold jobs, moreso than other stateside places. Next thread down has somebody looking for employees and somebody complaining about starting at 38k with guaranteed raises.

where is the job that starts at 38k. i know someone who might need a job

The border patrol thread on the same page S this thread. 31 to 38k with annual raises.

thanks jamison, i found it.

seeing that McDonalds, KFC, and Wendy's have existed for a long time in STX. I'm still surprised that Church's Chicken failed at that location.

Not sure Churchs failed. I think there was something hinky with the owner.

There's also plenty of foot traffic from the neighboring housing community.

Yea, I mean who wouldn't consider that a huge perk!?

Why wouldn't it be? Moneys money.

Not sure Churchs failed. I think there was something hinky with the owner.

I know the owner, that's not true. He tried to make it work in 2 locations and both were no go's. He's a good guy who worked very, very hard to have success but ultimately couldn't make it work. Being successful in our environment of high costs, shortage of good labor, and a very small and impoverished market is tough. I admire anyone who tries to create a business that caters to residents although I have to say, I don't think I'd do so myself.

Sean

There's also plenty of foot traffic from the neighboring housing community.

Yea, I mean who wouldn't consider that a huge perk!?

:S I don't get your sarcastic response.

Sean, we always wondered because he always seemed to be busy and then, one day it was just closed. Almost as if he locked the door and walked away. Sorry for the assumption.

Seriously...if you had a stack of money to open a fast food chicken restaurant that would rely on fairly heavy traffic and needed a low cost environment to operate in a competitive market, would you really open it on St. Croix. Why not just burn the money.

Seriously...if you had a stack of money to open a fast food chicken restaurant that would rely on fairly heavy traffic and needed a low cost environment to operate in a competitive market, would you really open it on St. Croix. Why not just burn the money.

there are plenty of restaurants doing well on stx. Some have been around a while. Some are even growing. Lori at BWT has built a great business started with fried chicken. She works her ass off and has earned it, but she is doing it.

its possible to do. I think I could open a successful restaurant here. Some places dont study the terrain and force square pegs into round holes, some people take the time to figure out that wapa is robbing us, hovensa is gone and our unemployment is absurd, not that that matters.

Just from the threads here, I would guess if the owner was making his own sauces, in the restaurant all the time and paying attention to the little things that drain a restaurant empty, Leos might still be selling the same "fresh" chicken that everyone else buys from merchants or whoever.

most restaurants fail, doesn't matter where you are and its usually for the same reasons.

Sean, we always wondered because he always seemed to be busy and then, one day it was just closed. Almost as if he locked the door and walked away. Sorry for the assumption.

As a "former" successful business owner/operator on STX (and on a few other surrounding islands) …. i will suggest that "maybe" a few of these businesses didn't fail, but the owners simply got fed-up with the headaches that the VI environment brings to a business owner.

A fast food place without a drive-thru reduces greatly its chances of success...

I'm sorry they didn't survive, I'm hopeful for anyone who tries to make an effort here. It's not easy, and they know it, but they still try. I admire them for trying, and at least they tried.