Opinions on if CJ's Charlotte restraunt means authing significant

[blackcat]

What it means is that he needs a tax write-off and a money losing venture like a restaurant is the perfect way to do it.  Dude is rich, if he wanted to make more money, he'd find somewhere else better to put his investment.  Investing in restaurants, especially if you're not there to oversee the daily operations, is a terrible idea.  He'll spend a poo ton of $$ upfitting the place and after a few years when he's not making a dime off of it, he'll sell it for less than he put into it. 

[CarolinaXblue]

He's got his hands in a lot of business from what I've heard. Probably just making another move

[csx]

I'm all for athletes spending their money however they see fit but restaurants are historically terrible investments, period.  Its his money, but just about anything this side of sending cash to Nigerian princes would have a better long term chance of him ever recouping what hes going to spend.  Hope it works out for him though.

Unless you know what you are doing. Friends and acquaintances of mine probably own 30 restaurant and do pretty well. When you have the money opening a place like that to break even for fun isnt that hard. Plus losing some money for tax purposes isnt a foreign concept either.

[electro's horse]

Why do athletes always blow money on restaurants? If there was ever a business where you could lose your shirt overnight it's the food and bev industry.

Vick lost 8 million dollars on a wine bar lol

[RoaringRiot]

Seems like we have a bunch of financial advisors on the Huddle. And here I've been thinking you're all football GMs this whole time.

[tondi]

Unless you know what you are doing. Friends and acquaintances of mine probably own 30 restaurant and do pretty well. When you have the money opening a place like that to break even for fun isnt that hard. Plus losing some money for tax purposes isnt a foreign concept either.

Oh sure, if he just wants somewhere to hang out with his buddies and doesn't really care about ROI then thats something anyone with deep enough pockets should be able to pull off.

[Arroz con Panther]

He already has a number of restaurants and franchises. He's just continuing his businesses.  

Does he?  I didn't know that.  Are we talking fast food franchises or restaurants like this because there's a difference in how successful they'll be.

[csx]

I'm sure Richardson can give him some advice.

[PanthersBigD]

Ryan Kalil's LLC owns the property. It's probably a joint venture with several players. I'd bet he's either buying the property from Kalil outright or invested a larger share to secure naming rights. Very cool. So two veteran, all-pro Panthers want to reinvest in the community, and provide a location for fans to meet IN UPTOWN, WALKING DISTANCE FROM THE STADIUM and all some of you people can say is, "Don't do it, it's gonna fail." What the fug?

[gtanaka]

Does he?  I didn't know that.  Are we talking fast food franchises or restaurants like this because there's a difference in how successful they'll be.

I know he owns at least one (I think a couple though) of like fast food, don't remember where I read it. Not sure if he has any that he's actually started.

[Bartin]

It means he needs a new business advisor. Restaurants are terrible ideas unless you go the franchise route in which case it can be a very sound idea.

[Moorgan]

Restaurants can make money. It's just difficult. Management and location are very important...potentially more so than in most other businesses. It takes attention and experience. And of course money. But somehow I doubt CJ has any plans to be much more than a controlling interest in it. If you get smart people with a track record and a solid plan...there is no reason NOT to open the restaurant if you have the cash. I'd be willing to bet that Charlotte is one of the better cities for it too. My guess is disposable cash is better in Charlotte due to a lower cost of living. Opening a restaurant in NYC is a different animal altogether.

Regardless, good luck to him. Also reports are he was upset by going to IR. So I wouldn't question someone's heart when they are trying to make the best of a bad situation.

[Khyber53]

Too late for that. He bought the building and there's not a lot of options to use that structure as is without some serious remodel construction/demolition. That would cost CJ a metric poo ton more $$ and since it has some historic significance, I'm sure the city council will be breathing down his neck wanting to oversee the concepts and implementations. They sure as hell won't like it being turned into a parking garage, so CJ is probably stuck with the restaurant concept.

Restaurants properly managed can make money. However, the problem most professional athletes who open restaurants and car dealerships run into that bankrupts the business is hiring family and friends to manage the business instead of experienced professionals that know the business. Family and friends don't take it seriously since it's not their money that goes down the drain if the business isn't run responsibly.

Actually the biggest risk when athletes/celebrities open a restaurant (unlike buying a franchise fast food/casual dining place) is that they start using it as their personal place to hold court and entertain friends. Optimally, one third of the price of each plate/item goes to profit (a third to food costs, a third to overhead/wages). If you can flip enough tables and keep people coming in each day, you can get a decent income if managed wisely.

Start bringing the family by twice a week for dinner, hosting parties in the private room for your friends, keeping employees late to cook and serve for your pals... and boom, you're out of luck. If you let a few friends run a bar tab and you're in the practice of snagging a good bottle of wine or two a week for personal consumption, and you can jet yourself to the poorhouse.

A well run restaurant makes steady money, but it is a high maintenance beast from staff to equipment to PR to provisioning. A badly run restaurant can eat through a million bucks in a year like it was nothing.

Caveat emptor.

[SCP]

Wow