Encore Cafe to be reopened as health food grocery store

Downtown Bloomington is losing a landmark restaurant and gaining a grocery store.\nThe Bloomingfoods co-op announced in its July newsletter that it would be converting the popular gourmet cafeteria Encore Café into a grocery location servicing the downtown and westside of Bloomington. Plans exist for a deli section with seating maintaining some of Encore's menu items.\nIn the newsletter, co-op board President Strats Stratigos described the move as a "very difficult decision," but stressed that it will better serve the community. \n"There is a growing interest in healthy and local foods," he said. "Our members have been very vocal about seeing a Bloomingfoods grocery on the near westside."\nBeyond meeting the needs of the westside and the growing Prospect Hill neighborhood, the store should cater to the downtown's ballooning housing density, Bloomingfoods General Manager George Huntington said. As one of the few downtown buildings with an adjoining parking lot, it makes an ideal spot.\n"With all of the urban infill, it's really all fallen into place," he said.\nAcquired in 2002, Encore proved a burden on the ledger of Bloomingfoods, which runs a 9,000-square-foot eastside store, as well as its flagship back-alley Kirkwood Avenue location.\n"Our continuing commitment to key values, such as offering food at affordable prices and being an excellent employer, have made it difficult to operate the Encore Café as a profitable business," Santigos wrote in the newsletter. "We endeavor to pay all our full-time staff a living wage, provide health benefits and paid vacation."\nEncore reported more than $1 million gross revenue in the 2005 fiscal year. It only brought in about $700,000 during its first year of Bloomingfoods ownership. But beyond high overhead, it faces increased competition.\nWhen Encore first opened in 1991, 200 restaurants did business in Monroe County. That figure has since exploded to more than 320. Without comparable population growth, it's become a zero sum game for dining dollars.\n"It's a competitive landscape out there," Huntington said.\nOffering no table service, the eatery boasts an extensive salad bar and upscale entrees including herb-roasted salmon and Thai Chile chicken. Doubling as a caterer, it's known for its gourmet soups and many vegan sandwich options.\nEncore has also served as a nightlife destination, hosting many folk and roots acts and featuring a specialty selection of imported beers and wines. It stands as one of the few venues to afford local artists display space.\nBloomingfoods maintains its commitment to the arts, Huntington said. The location will continue to provide exposure for local artists, including the possibility of an outdoor sculpture area.\nEncore staffs 40 employees, roughly the number of positions the grocery store will create. Huntington said he expects most of the Encore staff to shuffle into the Bloomingfoods fold, with some crossover from other locations.\nHaving cultivated an urbane dining experience, owner Jim Silberstein sold the Encore to Bloomingfoods in May 2002 after casting around for a local buyer. The introduction of several national chains siphoned away revenue, leaving it unprofitable.\nThe co-op specializes in natural and organic foods at reasonable prices. Having tried its hand in the restaurant business, it's now renewing its core focus, Stratigos wrote in the newsletter.\nThough the Bloomingfoods board deemed its Encore run a success as a community space, market analysis encourages the new approach.\n"We feel that due diligence has been performed," Stratigos wrote in the newsletter. "It is time to move in a new direction at the Encore, one that reflects our expertise in the grocery business while building on what we've learned while running a restaurant."\nThe Encore Café will remain open through the summer as Bloomingfoods works out logistics. Remodeling of the 7,000-square-foot space is slated to begin in the fall.\n"It's business as usual," Huntington said. "We just wanted to make the announcement right away."\nThe future of the Bloomingfoods-owned Theater Café, the Buskirk-Chumley adjunct that relies on Encore's kitchen, remains up in the air.\nBloomingfoods will keep its members and the community updated as plans develop. \nHuntington urges patrons to give feedback on which menu items they would like to see kept over in the deli.\nComments and questions can be directed to 339-4442.