Why Restaurants Should Compete for Staff, Not Customers

Jon Myerow didn’t come from money. He’s a guy who took on equity and debt to start his first Tria location in 2004, and he’s worked very hard every year since to build popular, profitable restaurants. He has learned to mix in style and passion with hard work and savvy business decisions. Along the way, he has created Philadelphia’s most popular wine, cheese and beer cafés, featuring artisanal products made by passionate people. Both Tria and Biba, his other concept, are simple concepts, executed extremely well. When we spoke to Jon for Restaurant Owners Uncorked, we asked about the importance of hiring the right people to work in his restaurants. Here’s some of what he said…

“To me the biggest competition is not for customers. It’s for staff. If you compete in the labor market and get the best staff, the customers will follow. So we look at it a little differently. We put a lot of money into the staff. Paying them, and the benefits, and so forth.

We’re very selective. If we put an ad on Craigslist, we’ll get 100 or 200 responses, and there might be three or four people that we consider seriously. I like to say, “It’s harder to get into Tria than it is to get into Harvard!” (Laughs) Our acceptance rate is lower.”

Jon shared many other winning philosophies during his interview, and you’ll be able to read about them very soon. Stay tuned…

The Schedulefly Crew