While many pub and restaurant owners find it a big enough challenge to successfully run one establishment, several Vancouver companies have found a winning formula capable of helping them expand to many establishments as well as liquor stores.
Longtime stalwarts in that space include This is Blueprint and the Donnelly Group, but the fastest-growing pub and restaurant venture in the past five years in B.C. is Joseph Richard Group (JRG) – a venture that started operating in Vancouver in 2010 and has since gained traction in the suburbs and in Alberta.
JRG increased revenue 234% to more than $34.4 million between 2012 and 2016. That was good enough to rank No. 32 on Business in Vancouver's 2017 list of B.C.'s fastest-growing companies.
The company now operates six pubs (Micky’s Irish Public House, the Henry Public House, Edith + Arthur Public House, Oceanside Yacht Club & Public House, Oak & Thorne Public House and the Buck & Ear Bar and Grill) as well as seven pubs branded Townhall Public House and three steak and lobster houses branded S+L Kitchen & Bar. It also operates three private liquor stores.
Plans include expanding and separating out an internal catering operation as well as opening a restaurant named Sudo Asian Kitchen and another called That Italian Spot. Opening a high-end restaurant that ranks among the country’s finest is also on principal Ryan Moreno’s agenda.
Moreno told Business in Vancouver that once that is complete, the company could focus on franchising its Townhall Public House brand and then potentially franchising its S+L Kitchen & Bar brand.
Financing for this expansion has come not only from the company’s two main principals, Moreno and André Bourque, but also from about half a dozen other investors who own various percentages of different establishments. The Joseph Richard brand comes from Bourque’s middle name, Joseph, and Moreno’s middle name, Richard.
The duo have also raised capital from selling nightclubs branded Joseph Richard, Vanilla Room and Motel.
“Everybody will tell you that it’s all about your people and in our case it has been,” Moreno said. “That’s both hiring the right people and giving them opportunity. The better people you have, the better you can grow your business.”
As the organization expands, Moreno believes its venues will become even more desirable as places to work because there will be such a diversity of jobs.
“If you look at the portfolio of the company, you have the top of the line, chef-driven restaurant, where you have the opportunity to be a sommelier or a maître d’, or you could work at the pubs and have a different experience, in a place where there is music trivia, bingo and karaoke,” he said. “There will also be restaurants in between – Asian and Italian places.”
He credits his company’s diverse range of hospitality businesses as well as its rapid growth for being able to lure some celebrity chefs.
Matthew Stowe, who won the Top Chef Canada competition in 2013, joined the company as director of culinary operations late last year. He joined David Jorge, who won MasterChef Canada Season 2 in 2015 and now oversees the Langley S+L Kitchen & Bar location.
“These guys saw the opportunity and they liked the opportunity because, for them, it’s the perfect fit,” Moreno said.
Moreno met Bourque in elementary school and, after high school, the two founded a bartending school together before separately launching their own ventures.
Moreno said one of his first hospitality businesses was Rain Lounge and Grill.
“I don’t wish it on my worst enemy but I don’t regret it,” he said of the experience, which left him with some lessons on what to avoid.
His biggest insight from that venture was to be aware of what things cost and to make sure not to overpay. Not only did Rain have a lease rate that Moreno now says was way too high on a per-square-foot basis, but it was also a space that was too large, meaning that there was a lot of wasted square footage.
“Make sure you get an appropriate-sized space and keep your operating expenses lean,” he said when asked what advice he has for aspiring pub owners. “Make sure that every decision you make is lean and as trim as it can be.” •
