[Vision2020] Fwd: FW: [Vandal]Branegan's, Gambino's To Close

[Scott Dredge]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: vandal-admin at uidaho.edu
> [mailto:vandal-admin at uidaho.edu] On Behalf
> Of Phil Corless
> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 12:43 PM
> To: vandal at uidaho.edu
> Subject: [Vandal]Branegan's, Gambino's To Close
> 
> More doors boarded up in Moscow
> by Murf Raquet, Moscow Daily News
> 
> Two longtime Moscow restaurants have joined the list
> of recent business 
> closings on the Palouse.
> 
> Branegan's will close its doors Nov. 20 and
> Gambino's closed Monday.
> 
> Arick Branen started Branegan's Pizza 13 years ago
> at 1330 W. Pullman
> Road. 
> The building had formerly housed Karl Marks Pizza
> and a radio station.
> 
> Branen cited high costs and needed repairs as the
> reason he is closing
> the 
> business.
> 
> He sold the business a few years ago but took it
> back after it faltered.
> 
> "We were able to get sales back to where they were
> after a year and a
> half, 
> but we couldn't trim (food and labor) costs," he
> said "It's too damn 
> expensive to run a business here."
> 
> When he took the restaurant back, he sold the
> building and signed a 
> five-year lease. He is in the process of negotiating
> out of the lease.
> 
> One of the more popular attractions at the eatery is
> the Sunday football
> 
> buffet where customers buy an all-you-can-eat pizza
> buffet and salad bar
> 
> during NFL games.
> 
> There is little turnover at tables on Sunday and
> some stay for the whole
> day.
> 
> "The salad bar and buffet are hard to make money
> on," he said.
> 
> A leaking roof and other waiting repairs would have
> cost more money than
> 
> Branen was willing to put out.
> 
> "The costs sneak up on you," he said. "With a small
> margin of error, it 
> doesn't take much to kill a guy."
> 
> Branen also blames the dilution of the market with
> chain restaurants.
> 
> "There's not enough population to support all the
> businesses," he added.
> 
> In addition to the pizza menu, Branen also ran a
> Blimpie franchise at
> the 
> building. That, too, will close.
> 
> "Blimpie sales have plummeted," he said. "Several in
> the region have
> gone 
> bankrupt."
> 
> Nov. 20 will be the last day of operation. The final
> buffet will run 10 
> a.m.-5 p.m. There will be give-aways of employee
> shirts and hats plus a 
> drawing for a 32-inch TV.
> 
> In addition to the buffet, there will be free
> refills on beer "until the
> 
> kegs go dry," he said.
> 
> Branen's plans include finishing his master's degree
> at Washington State
> 
> University and working part time at Zip's restaurant
> in Moscow.
> 
> He'll take fond memories with him.
> 
> "My favorite time is once when Idaho soundly beat
> Boise State," he said.
> 
> "The place was packed and everyone was singing the
> fight song, drinking 
> beer and eating pizza ... crowds always produced a
> fun atmosphere."
> 
> An auction of the building contents is set for
> December.
> 
> There is no word on what, if anything, will replace
> Branegan's.
> 
> Moscow businessman Larry Swanger bought Gambino's
> Italian Restaurant
> Monday.
> 
> He purchased the business at 308 W. Sixth St. from
> Ellen Roskovich, who
> ran 
> the popular restaurant for 27 years with her late
> husband, Don.
> 
> Swanger is the owner of the Subway restaurants in
> Moscow, Lewiston and 
> Clarkston, and Checkpoint, a convenience store and
> gas station in
> Pullman. 
> He recently sold the Subway franchises in Pullman
> and Colfax to Cameron 
> Brinkman, a longtime manager at the Moscow Subway.
> 
> Swanger plans extensive remodeling for Gambino's and
> has no target date
> for 
> reopening, but he promises it will continue to be a
> restaurant unless 
> something drastically changes. He'll also replace
> most of the equipment.
> 
> In the meantime, Swanger will be busy readying a new
> Subway for a
> January 
> opening on the Troy Highway next to McDonald's. He
> closed the Subway at
> the 
> Palouse Mall earlier this year.
> 
> Swanger's connection to Gambino's goes back several
> decades.
> 
> "My wife and I moved to Moscow in 1977 to go to
> school," he said. "We 
> frequented Gambino's and became good friends with
> Don and Ellen."
> 
> Not long ago, Swanger joked with his accountant
> about buying the
> business. 
> They figured why not and made and offer, which Ellen
> Roskovich accepted.
> 
> Swanger will keep the name for now and much of the
> menu.
> 
> "They did a lot of great things at Gambino's," he
> said.
> 
> He hopes to add a few more pizza options as well as
> making the business
> on 
> the edge of the University of Idaho campus more
> family oriented. He will
> 
> keep the beer and wine.
> 
> An architect has been hired but there is no rush, he
> said.
> 
> One thing for sure is he won't open the restaurant
> until 3 p.m.
> 
> "I don't want to compete with myself for lunch," he
> said.
> 
> Swanger's other Subway restaurant in Moscow is a few
> blocks away on
> Third 
> Street.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Vandal mailing list
> Vandal at uidaho.edu
> http://www.lists.uidaho.edu/mailman/listinfo/vandal
>