Even a Burrito (Shop) Can Start a Revival
In the height of the Great Recession of 2008/2009, we opened a relatively lonely restaurant in then struggling Downtown Crossing. Hard to imagine finding that scary today, I know. (Copley Square on Boylston was also a nerve-wracking opening in 2011 and we barely got our board to approve the site - it became one of our very best - so much so that the landlord eventually forced us out with a buyout we had to take in order to make way for the Chick-Fil-A you visit today)
Mayor Thomas Menino visited our new School Street location to cut the ribbon. School Street was Boloco #16 and #10 in the City of Boston itself.
An op-ed in The Boston Globe the next day threw shade on a collective attempt by a few small businesses to bring life to an area of town where cranes would sit idle for years. The future was unclear, if not downright bleak. Opening a restaurant in that spot was not considered smart at the time, and the fact that it was a lowly "burrito shop" gave further reason for the author to go low.
The Globe gave me a chance to respond, which I appreciated. Looking back, the area has boomed obviously. What looks so obvious today was anything but 17 years ago.
MARCH 14, 2009
As the co-founder and CEO of “burrito shop” (Boloco, AKA Boston Local Co.) referred to in Adrian Walker’s column on Friday, March 6, I could have easily let his opening lines throw a wrench in my day. (“A burrito shop just opened - and the city believes this is a mark of success. That is a snapshot of what is wrong with Downtown Crossing.”) Thankfully, due to the fact that our shops serve about 40,000 Bostonians weekly, we long ago realized we will never be perfect and are quite accustomed to the occasional, often justified, rant. However, it is those same 40,000 Bostonians who have enabled our business to grow to 16 locations, ten of which are in the city of Boston where we employ 210 people. Our “world headquarters”, incidentally, are on the corner of Mass Ave and Boylston next to the very first Boloco we opened in 1997. Of potential interest to some, we’ve built our business from the “inside-out”- doing whatever it takes from day one to give each of our hard-working team members a job with health benefits, matching 401K contributions, profit-sharing opportunity, and a real voice in how our business grows and operates. Maybe most importantly, we do everything we can to provide a meaningful career path in an industry that is not necessarily known for doing so. I could go on about food, about environmental impact, etc. but since I’m statistically losing about 5% of readers with every additional word written, I’ll stop here.
As I consider it all, I find myself wondering how such an exciting, grass roots, in-the-streets event like the one that Mayor Thomas Menino led on Wednesday could be so “wrong” for Downtown Crossing and the city of Boston. On a day when the national economic condition worsened further, Mayor Menino visited our newest restaurant and 4 neighboring shops in the Downtown Crossing district to lend his support to small businesses during these tough times. Let’s be honest. Boloco and the other businesses themselves aren’t likely going to make or break Downtown Crossing. But I think I share the view of most people in some very basic philosophies. Things like- even the little details matter, that small things add up to big things, that a positive attitude can lead to positive outcomes, and that finding a glass half full always trumps a glass half empty. The Mayor entered our shop as well as the others on Wednesday with genuine enthusiasm, sincere questions about how we as a business are doing, and offering encouragement and a “pat-on-the back” to those of us who continue to believe in Boston as a city and Downtown Crossing as an important, unique district full of potential and vitality.
Had Adrian Walker been present at the event, he would have known immediately that this was not a walking tour for reporters but instead a celebration of businesses who are investing in Downtown Crossing. Next time, Adrian, I would respectfully encourage you to spend a bit more time with the people who are giving of their time, energy and dollars to create things that hopefully add to the lives of others. In fact, it was that same day when Boloco also donated 50% of the proceeds of our 4 downtown restaurants to non-profit Community Servings - nearly $7,000.
Maybe most importantly, when one of our city’s leaders, be it Mayor Menino or the many others dedicated to making Boston a city of which we can all be proud, makes an effort to walk the streets and personally connect with the people trying to make those streets alive and vibrant, please think twice about using those events as negative ammunition to make a point about unrelated community challenges. If only more leaders in all of society’s sectors would reach out to us as Mayor Menino did this past Wednesday, our world would be a far better place.
Finally, in the spirit of showing our appreciation to the 5% of you who have read this far and to the Globe editors who graciously allowed all of this to be printed, anyone who prints this letter out and presents it at any of our 16 restaurants in on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 from 11am-8pm gets a burrito, bowl or smoothie of their choice on us when they purchase any other item on our menu of equal or greater value. Adrian, you are welcome to join in the fiesta as well, but only, of course, if you choose to visit the new Boloco in Downtown Crossing with follow ups to the other shops the Mayor supported this week. Maybe you’ll see things differently this time around.
