Chophouse chopped
Marcello’s faced increased lease costs, growing competition
Marcello’s is closing after facing increased lease costs, growing competition in Uptown
Opened over a decade ago, the sizzle at Marcello’s Chophouse has fizzled due to increased lease costs and more competition.
“The restaurant has closed,” Jim Henning, co-owner of Marcello’s and founder of United Restaurant Hospitality Consultants, confirmed on Monday.
He said nearly 40 employees have lost their jobs.
The No. 1 reason for the closure was finding an affordable leasing arrangement with landlord Simon Property Group, he said. “We couldn’t come together on terms and still make money.”
Calls to the property group were not returned.
“At the end of the day, it’s a very hard decision,” said Henning, who said the enterprise was still profitable. “Unfortunately the ones who most suffer are staff.”
“We had good revenues, but not great,” he said. Part of that is because of the competition from new players like The Cheesecake Factory, not to mention restaurants catering to steakhouse diners in the area.
Options include both chain and high-end restaurants operating within a half-mile radius of the former Marcello’s, which was opened in November 2005 by Frank Marcello. The landscape includes Ruth’s Chris, which opened in May 2016 and serves a happy hour menu but mostly caters to the dinner trade. Also there are Outback Steakhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse.
The appellation “chophouse” in and of itself means more than just another steakhouse. In cities such as New York and Chicago, chophouses are where you find the best prepared slabs of USDA prime bone-in steaks, chops, seafood and wines served with attentive tableside service.
Thanks to its loyal clientele, Henning said Marcello’s may live another day.
“We still own the name and the liquor license, which are appealing to new owners.” Henning is also shopping the market for another location to possibly relaunch the eatery.
Also getting the chop at ABQ Uptown is New Mexico’s lone Bebe store. The women’s clothing chain, which is based in San Francisco and has 170 locations across the U. S., is closing all of its stores and shifting its focus to become an online-only retailer.
Bloomberg, which first reported the closure on March 21, said Bebe has “no significant debt” but has lost about $200 million over the past
four years. A Bebe store manager at Uptown said the business, which is next door to the high-traffic Apple store, has been at the location for about 10 years and has 10 employees. She declined to give a closing date.
Calls placed to ABQ Uptown operator Simon Property Group inquiring about plans for the soon-to-be-empty retail site were not returned.