EATERY STAKES NEW CLAIM
Eatery expands as others shut
ONE of Townsville’s most popular restaurants is bucking the trend and expanding its business.
The old Pizza Hut restaurant on Hervey Range Rd is being transformed to house an IMC Steak House.
The restaurant, currently in Palmer St, will employ an extra 30 people when the new space opens in March.
Owner Jon van Grinsven said the original IMC restaurant took a while to get going but had traded “quite strongly” for the past year.
“So much so that it’s putting pressure on our existing premises because I don’t have any options to expand … as there’s nowhere to build on,” he said.
His property company already owned the old Pizza Hut restaurant so the decision to move there was easy.
“We had an empty building and we thought that we’d be our best tenant with the most chance of success so we’re going to give it a go and see what happens,” he said.
The expansion of IMC, which featured prominently in Townsville Bulletin’s Best of Townsville series for steak, comes after it was revealed Michel’s and Seasoned were closing.
“The restaurant industry as a whole has always been extremely difficult but at present it’s probably the most challenging I’ve seen it,” Mr Van Grinsven said. “It’s not a Townsville thing, it’s Queensland and that’s from Brisbane to Cairns.”
Mr Van Grinsven said rent and wages were the two biggest costs in the restaurant business, so being able to cut one of those was a bonus.
“You’ve got to be able to have certain factors working in your favour, otherwise it’s very difficult,” he said.
“I think the success of the original IMC (comes from) providing extreme value for our customers.
“Our margins are tiny but if we get enough volume we are able to survive.”
Having another venue in the suburbs where a lot of people live is another reason for the location.
“There’s a high-density population based around Kirwan there and we’re hoping that creates enough volume to support the restaurant,” Mr Van Grinsven said.
Mr Van Grinsven hopes the restaurant will be open in the second week of March.
The old building is being gutted and fitted out now ahead of the opening.
“We have (put) a pretty substantial capital investment into it, so it should feel nice for the customers,” he said.