Correction appended
Two Hanover restaurants, Quiznos and Carpaccio Ristorante Italiano, have closed their doors in the last month due to the weak economy, according to the restaurants' owners.
Jim Rubens, the landlord of the Hanover Park building where the establishments were located, said that the economy has created an environment where struggling restaurants may not be able to survive.
"The weak get weeded out during recessions," Rubens said. "When you have a recession, any cracks that don't show up during a normal economy really show up."
Carpaccio closed on April 9 because of the economic climate and high rent, according to Melba Leopardi, who co-owned the restaurant with her husband, Giovanni Leopardi.
"When you have high sales, you can afford to pay your bills," Leopardi said. "High rent is not as high when you are making enough money. It becomes harder when you are paying 10 to 15 percent of your gross sales to your rent. There is just no way to make a living."
Rubens blamed the way the restaurants were run for their failures.
"In both of these cases, it was not a matter of location or rent, it was a matter of the internal management," Rubens said.
Leopardi disagreed, saying that the restaurant's location was a major cause of its financial struggles.
"We were off Main Street in a cellar. If you didn't know we were there, you wouldn't find us," Leopardi said. "We didn't have a room with a view. We didn't have windows."
Despite good food and great service, the general atmosphere at Carpaccio was another factor in the decision to close, Rubens said.
Leopardi disagreed.
"I would say we served thousands and thousands of people in the three years that we were open, and I think that speaks for itself," he said.
The Hanover Quiznos franchise closed on March 25. The restaurant did not have enough business to stay open, according Michael Kline, who co-owned the franchise with his wife, Brenda.
"We did see a pretty significant downturn starting the fourth quarter of last year," Michael Kline said.
Rubens added that the current economic climate exacerbated the management issues at Quiznos.
"In the case of Quiznos, it was a very simple problem: the management simply could not get a sandwich out in five minutes or less, which is what the customer wanted," Rubens said. "You can't do that in this kind of store -- it's a quick-serve sandwich shop."
Michael Kline declined to comment on Rubens' criticism of his restaurant.
Hanover High student Ari Brown said that the closing of Quiznos is a problem for local residents. Brown is a contributor to The Dartmouth's IT team.
"The nearest sandwich shop is eight miles away," he said.
While the owners of the two restaurants pointed to the economic climate as the primary cause of their closings, several other Hanover restaurants owners said the economy has not greatly affected their businesses.
"We have continued to maintain the sales rates that we opened with," said Nick Yager, co-owner of Gusanoz Mexican Restaurant with his wife, Maria Limon.
The Hanover restaurant, which opened in September 2008, is the second location for the Gusanoz chain.
"We haven't seen any growth or declines in sales," Yager said. "We have a large shift toward delivery, but overall the numbers have maintained pretty flat so we are pretty happy considering the current economic situation."
Charles Kang, head chef at Yama Restaurant II, said that the restaurant, which opened in the middle of the economic crisis in January, has done well.
"The business here has been great," Kang said. "At the beginning it was almost crazy, but it's slowed down a little bit, but not much."
Dartmouth students are an especially important part of the restaurant's success, he added.
"A lot of our customers are college students, who tend to be independent of the general economy of the country," Kang said.
Molly's Restaurant & Bar, a staple of the Hanover downtown community, has also weathered the economic downturn, according to Shane Bodkins, the establishment's house manager.
"Our sales are about flat over the last year, as compared to the year before," Bodkins said. "I think we have the same amount of people as we always have, but I think they are spending less. Dartmouth students are an exception, they are pretty consistent."
The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Ari Brown is a member of The Dartmouth Business staff. In fact, Brown is a contributor to The Dartmouth's IT team.
