ABSTRACT
Bon Appetit Cafe and Deli is a restaurant located in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. The restaurant provides lunchtime food service to various diverse clienteles in downtown Winston-Salem. Winston-Salem has undergone much revitalization over the last five years, spurred by funding provided by the city government for small businesses, as well as local and regional real estate developers seeking to convert old underutilized warehouse space into luxury condominiums for occupants seeking an upscale urban setting. The restaurant is located on the corner of Fourth Street and Liberty Street, an area of downtown that has not as of yet experienced economic revitalization. There are various lower end businesses along the Liberty Street Corridor, including a pawn shop, small neighborhood grocer, tattoo parlor, and newspaper retailer, with the restaurant being located on the corner, next to a vacant former Woolworth’s location. Given my proximity to this restaurant from where I work, I have frequented this restaurant for much of the last few years. The following case study represents the travails of a small enterprise competing in a highly differentiated market, as one part of the downtown Winston-Salem area is thriving with high end restaurants, theater, and jazz clubs, while the area that surrounds Bon Appetit Cafe and Deli has yet to experience that kind of success. Location being an important consideration for the success of any venture, Jimmy (the owner) has had the opportunity to experiment with his clientele in an effort both to increase restaurant profitability, while at the same time fulfill his vision of being the only restaurant with an Arab flavor in a conservative town in the Southeastern United States.
