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First was a casualty on 99th Avenue N. Next up are restaurants in Clearwater and Palm Harbor, followed by the Tyrone area operation.
By SHARON L. BOND
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 7, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- The Steak and Ale on 22nd Avenue N, a fixture in the Tyrone Square Mall area for 26 years, is closing Oct. 24.
"We enjoyed great relationships with many guests there in the area. We had tremendous support," said Peggy Marshall-Mims, a spokeswoman for Metromedia Restaurant Group in Plano, Texas.
"Unfortunately, sales were not strong enough (for Steak and Ale) to stay there." She said the decision to close the store in western St. Petersburg was a tough one, had been under consideration for a while and could not be attributed to a loss of business from the terrorists' attacks.
"My sense is that everyone in the industry has seen some effect of what happened on Sept. 11. But I don't know that I would attribute (the closings) to that. These kinds of reviews take a while," Marshall-Mims said.
Metromedia is the parent company for Steak and Ale, Bennigan's, and Ponderosa and Bonanza steakhouses. The company closed the Steak and Ale on 99th Avenue N at the end of September, Marshall-Mims said. It had been open for 16 years.
Metromedia also plans to shut down Steak and Ales in Clearwater and Palm Harbor on Oct. 19. That leaves Pinellas without any of the steakhouses that offer "a relaxing, comfortable dining experience," Marshall-Mims said. But she added that the chain was not looking at the whole market of Pinellas when making its decisions. It was judging individual stores.
"We have a number of restaurants in Tampa. That's not St. Petersburg but it is close by," Marshall-Mims said.
Some of Metromedia's other restaurants are in St. Petersburg. Near the Steak and Ales that are closing are two Bennigan's locations.
"The financial bottom line just did not justify keeping it open," she said of the 99th Avenue restaurant, which served north St. Petersburg. The same is true of the north Pinellas locations, she said.
Marshall-Mims said the company does periodic reviews of all its locations, "as any business would do." The company will sell both of its locations in St. Petersburg, at 6778 22nd Ave. N and 445 99th Ave. N.
The Steak and Ales in St. Petersburg each had about 35 employees. Marshall-Mims said the company will help those people find other jobs, either at other Metromedia locations or outside the system.
Steak and Ale started in 1965.