Arigato The Man Behind
Dale Del Bello, Jr
2011 VISION: We have been rebuilding since, what I like to refer to as “the perfect storm�, the fire that closed our Tampa restaurant and the housing market tanking and pulling everyone down with it. I feel that 2011 is my opportunity to get back to my goals I had back in 2007. Those goals are building two more Arigato restaurants in two more local markets, starting my franchise operations for the east coast, and getting my Goody Goody sauces on the shelf in your local supermarket. Can you tell us a little about Arigato, when it was formed, how the dream became a reality? Look, Its great to be recognized, but I have to tell you that I am only 1/3 of the machine that keeps Arigato running. My father and sister are the other two thirds making Arigato the premier restaurant that we are known for. Remember we are family owned and family run so we take extreme pride to deliver a product to the table that our own family would be proud to serve. My father opened the first ARIGATO in 1971 in Buffalo, New York. He later opened his second location in Rochester 1973, and his third location in Syracuse New York in 1975. After many cold winters, he decided to move to sunny Florida and opened up our St. Petersburg location in 1978. Soon followed both the Clearwater and Tampa locations. Currently there are three locations in Florida and they are run by my father, sister and myself.
From a business and creative perspective, how are you targeting consumers during the recession? There are really two ways to look at it. There are two types of customers you can market to. You have new customers and existing customers. It is very difficult and expensive trying to get the new customers that have no idea who you are and how to find you to get them to come in for the first time. It is much more efficient to pursue your loyal fan base of customers that are already coming in and try and get them to come back that one extra time. Right now we have a promotion with a travel company where we are able to offer some really cool travel deals for our guests that come back in 30 days. Like a bounce back offer. What’s the most common mistake restaurants make when opening a new location? I can probably fill your entire magazine with answers of what NOT to do when opening a restaurant in Tampa. I would say the most common mistake is getting in over your head concerning rent payments. If the rent is just barely what you can support, any dip in sales is really going to squeeze your bottom line. What are three factors that separate Arigato from any other restaurant? Our first would be our professionally trained chefs and the amount of experience these men have. Your food is prepared from start to finish by professional chefs, some of which have been working for Arigato over 30 years, and the level of quality is amazing. You will not find this level of professionalism at the family dining price point in any other restaurant.
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