Rick's Steaks Leaving RTM?

[Holly Moore]

He wasn't stuck with his landlord's legal cost despite the judge ruling that he didn't have a leg to stand on,

Do we think this is because:

a) The Reading Terminal Market Board is a bunch of really swell guys and gals who care more for Rick's well-being than their fiduciary responsibility as the board of a not for profit organization, or

b) Some other reason the RTM Board has chosen not to disclose?

Have I mentioned we are talking about $700,000 of the market's funds that did not have to be irresponsibly squandered?

Not paying penalties for violating his lease.

More generosity; more potential funds lost. Same question as above.

He added 16 additional months operating a thriving cash business

Not to mention losing a million dollar plus a year business that has been in the family for 20 years. Some say he could have prevented this somehow. Yet he was never offered a lease to sign. So how, other than long ago knuckling under to the the board's and management's egos, could Rick have prevented this.

Edited June 28, 2008 by Holly Moore (log)

[MarketStEl]

Jeez, Holly, damned if they do and damned if they don't!

The management took a pretty good drubbing in the court of public opinion initially when they moved to boot him. Given the heated nature of the dispute, even when it was quietly simmering, don't you think that sticking Oliveri with the legal fees, although plainly within their rights, would have been portrayed as adding insult to injury in the press?

You may not be so inclined, but I'd cut them some slack here. After all, Rick sued the management first. He could have simply shut down when his lease was up, but he chose to fight.

Yes, management simply could have offered him a lease on the same terms as the other merchants. And Rick could have behaved in a way that did not lead the management to conclude before that time that he was simply too much of an obnoxious obstructionist to keep around, too. Once the suit was filed, all that was water under the bridge; I don't think you could have reasonably expected management not to defend itself, and offering a lease at that point would have been both extremely hypocritical and a major loss of face (as well as of control over the Market's general operations down the road).

It's over now. It was what it was, and it's not what it isn't. Time to move on -- seems everyone else has, even the Amish.

[Holly Moore]

Jeez, Holly, damned if they do and damned if they don't!

The management took a pretty good drubbing in the court of public opinion initially when they moved to boot him.  Given the heated nature of the dispute, even when it was quietly simmering, don't you think that sticking Oliveri with the legal fees, although plainly within their rights, would have been portrayed as adding insult to injury in the press?

You may not be so inclined, but I'd cut them some slack here.  After all, Rick sued the management first.  He could have simply shut down when his lease was up, but he chose to fight.

Yes, management simply could have offered him a lease on the same terms as the other merchants.  And Rick could have behaved in a way that did not lead the management to conclude before that time that he was simply too much of an obnoxious obstructionist to keep around, too.  Once the suit was filed, all that was water under the bridge; I don't think you could have reasonably expected management not to defend itself, and offering a lease at that point would have been both extremely hypocritical and a major loss of face (as well as of control over the Market's general operations down the road).

It's over now.  It was what it was, and it's not what it isn't.  Time to move on -- seems everyone else has, even the Amish.

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Actually, I have a feeling that some others, beside me, have not moved on. Stay tuned.

Does anyone not believe that the heretofore vengeful Reading Terminal Market Board had to have had an awfully compelling reason, above and beyond the quality of their mercy dropping as the gentle rain from heaven upon Rick Olivieri, not to have nailed Rick's Steaks for court costs, legal fees, lease violation penalties and anything else their attorneys thought up.

Edited June 29, 2008 by Holly Moore (log)

[wkl]

FWIW, here's what Laban said on his chat board a couple of weeks ago:

As for Rick's steaks? They were so incredibly ordinary, actually subpar (tasteless, unseasoned meat topped with rubbery provolone and canned mushrooms and over-pickled peppers that I was so unwise to order - why oh why did I get the "works"?), you have to wonder how he stayed in business so long. Of course, I know - it's the first place every tourist sees when they walk into the Market, and the line is pretty much automatic. I've always thought to be a shame, sort of bad publicity for a Philly icon (the steak). Then again, I've also always said that there should be enough room for more than one cheesesteak place in the Reading Terminal Market.

As info, there is another cheesesteak vendor. Spataro's has been making them since they moved to their new center court location. Anyone tried them yet?

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i had one shortly after they opened. i think i posted about it somewhere. it was pretty average.

the only steak of ricks i ever had was at the ball park. i just couldn't wait in that ridiculous line at tony luke's. you know what? i thought it was pretty damn good. way better than my spataro's experience.

[Holly Moore]

This month's Philadelphia Magazine gives some insight into the events leading up to the RTM Board's (AKA Dunston's) decision to oust Rick's Steaks resulting in the Board eventually irresponsibly squandering $700,000 of RTM funds.

Edited September 2, 2008 by Holly Moore (log)

[Capaneus]

This month's Philadelphia Magazine gives some insight into the events leading up to the RTM Board's (AKA Dunsted's) decision to oust Rick's Steaks resulting in the Board eventually irresponsibly squandering $700,000 of RTM funds.

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"Insight"? The only thing novel about that piece are the depths of smarmy insinuation it plumbs, and the cavalier way in which which it drops in little bits of made-up dramatic business without a hint of sourcing, attribution or corroboration.

Darn thing is scurrilous even by the often-questionable standards of the publication in question.

[Holly Moore]

It is consistent with what I have heard from more than one knowledgeable person. Considering the RTM Board's demonstrated inclination for retribution it is not surprising that many of the conversations were off the record.

What is scurrilous is that Mayor Street, Mayor Nutter and City Council did not get involved in a timely manner and that Dunston is still Chairman of the RTM Board.

[rlibkind]

While Capaneus is correct in criticizing the article's elevated sense of drama, I think it captures the essence of the situation, though it's clear the writer sympathizes more with Rick than Ric. Both sides let ego get in the way of a solution. Rick had plenty of opportunity to swallow a little pride and keep his goose laying golden cheese steak eggs, and Ricardo could have given Rick a little more public room to maneouver and avoid all the bad publicity.

The writer casts this is a "suits vs. jeans" battle, and in a way, he's right. But that tension between the "suit" and the "jeans" is absolutely necessary for the health of the market. There's a need to have the market operated as a business if it is to prosper. But that prosperity also depends upon a strong group of merchants committed to the market as a public market, not a food court.

Both merchants and management must continue to honor the purpose of the market, as stated in its Mission Statement and Operating Policy Guidelines.

Mission Statement:

    *  To preserve the architectural and historical character, and function, of the Reading Terminal Market as an urban farmers’ market.

    * To provide a wide variety of produce, meat, fish, bakery and dairy products, and other raw and prepared food, brought to a public market in the center of the city by farmers, growers, producers and chefs;

    * To maintain an environment that recognizes and celebrates the diversity of our citizens and fosters their interaction;

    * To strengthen the historic link and mutual dependency of our rural and urban communities; and,

    * To achieve this, while preserving the financial viability and achieving self-sufficiency for the Market.

Operating Policy Guidelines:

    *  In filling vacancies which may arise in the Market, general preference shall be given to growers and purveyors of local and regional produce.

    * Businesses in the Market which offer food intended primarily or exclusively for consumption within the Market shall be limited to no more that the greater of one-third of the total businesses in the Market, or one-third of the total leasable area of the Market.

    * All leases shall reserve to the Corporation the right to approve changes in the product lines of merchants in the Market.

    * Leases shall require the owners to be actively involved in the management and operation of their businesses within the Market.

    * Rental rates and rental differentials for merchants within the Market shall be established so as to facilitate the achievement of the above policies, while at the same time maintaining the self-sufficiency and financial viability of the Market.

    * Leases shall grant the Corporation approval rights over all plans and activities which result in changes to the facades and fixtures of stalls, even if these are paid for entirely by the merchants themselves. Corporation review and approval of such plans and activities shall be consistent with the “Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for Reading Terminal” which comprises Exhibit “P” of the City/PCCA Lease and Service Agreement.

[Holly Moore]

My sense is that the decision not to renew Rick's Steaks' lease may have been more about questionable, behind-the-scenes dealing for one of the market's best locations than it was about a personality clash between Dunston and Olivieri.

No Reading Terminal Market merchant is safe if someone with the right connections wants that merchant's location. Every lease ends sometime and no merchant has any legal right to prevent the RTM Board of Directors, at its whim, from refusing to renew the merchant's lease.

If the Reading Terminal Market Board, starting with Dunston, truly gives a damn about Reading Terminal Market tradition, let them

1. Add to the Mission Statement the goal of preserving not only its "character" but also the Reading Terminal Market's history and tradition; and

2. Add to the Operating Guidelines specific language that spells out reasons a merchant's lease would not be renewed - language that protects a merchant, who runs a good operation, from retribution by the Board for mysterious or petty reasons.

Edited September 2, 2008 by Holly Moore (log)

[lancastermike]

According to this Rick's Last Day

today was Rick's last day for business at the RTM. Says he plans to re-open someplace in a couple of months

[Bluehensfan]

According to this Rick's Last Day

today was Rick's last day for business at the RTM.  Says he plans to re-open someplace in a couple of months

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Anyone else get a weird vibe visiting RTM since Rick's closed? Seeing the empty stall and the holes where the fixtures used to be make me think of NYC after 911 for some reason.

[Holly Moore]

At this point I am mostly curious as to whom will eventually tkae over that piece of free and very valuable real estate once the RTM Board figures things have died down enough to announce a new tenant.

Will it be a politically connected "friend" or will they grudgingly figure there has been too much sunlight on the "Tony Luke" fiasco that initiated their actions that they are now forced to actually assign the space openly and fairly.

Edited November 3, 2008 by Holly Moore (log)

[Holly Moore]

Look's like Rick Olivieri isn't the only person leaving the market. Rumor has it another change (not a merchant) is in the works.

Fair Foods relocation to Rick's Steaks location was a brilliant ploy by the market management. A happier ending than the board's greedy, initial plan and probably the only the move the management could make after all the hoopla.

While I'm glad to see Fair Foods get more space, I'm guessing management is taking a major cut in rental income. That $700,000 squandered keeps getting bigger and bigger.

[Holly Moore]

RTM Board Chairman Ricardo Dunston Resigns

[Bluehensfan]

RTM Board Chairman Ricardo Dunston Resigns

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What's that smell?

[Rich Pawlak]

And a Merry Christmas to all.

Well, except for Rick Olivieri.

At least he's got to appreciate the karma of it.

[rtman]

Did anybody find out why the Chair Ricardo Dunston was let go by the airport and why he left the non-profit ? Could it be the pressure to explain the $700,000 he spent to boot Rick's out the Market plus the cost of Kevin Feeley to be the "spokesman" of the cowardly board of directors.

[rtman]

700,000.00 and counting! How much is the RTM losing in rent over the almost 3 months Rick's has been gone ?

[rtman]

Rumor has it the RTM Corp is having a "going away party" for Ric Dunston. How much is that costing the merchants ? Oh, I forgot.....it is not RTM Corps. so who cares! Spend,spend,spend !

[rlibkind]

It's been rumored for weeks, but now Rick has made it official: he intends to re-open in the food court at the Bellevue.

Rick's plans became public today when he told The Metro, which ran the story on page two. According to that story Rick "said he is meeting Friday [today] with officials at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue to discuss a location in the building's food court."

That doesn't mean it's signed, sealed and delivered, but from all accounts that I've heard, it's as good as done. The food court at the Bellevue hasn't exactly been knocking people's socks off, given its subterranean location. Management of the food court have been planning a re-do, and signing Rick's gives them an extra publicity push. I've heard that management had been hoping to hold off on the news a bit so as to include the news in announcing a revamp of the food court, thereby making a bigger splash, but it appears as if Rick couldn't wait. Rick gives the food court more visibility that it would otherwise have.

Rick has always made a decent, representative cheese steak and he should do reasonably at the Bellevue in an area that's starved for a bona fide rendition of the beast. But the Bellevue palls in comparison to the RTM in terms of foot traffic. At the RTM, you not only have the office crowd, but the regular coterie of food shoppers, conventioneers and tourists. At the Bellevue, you're pretty much limited to the white collar drudges. Not many folks go for a cheese steak before a night at the opera or theater.

[Rich Pawlak]

Rick may have a problem there, since there is also a cheesesteak place there (unless of course it's leaving); when I worked at The Bellevue (and was part of "Bellevue management"), the merchants in the Food Court all held relative exclusives on their food offerings. So I wonder how that will be handled. Also, Bob, the Food Court is open until 5:30-6PM only and is busy only at lunch. And when it's busy down there for lunch, it's really busy. I forget the traffic numbers (I left in 2002), but they were impressive from 11:30AM-2PM.

[MarketStEl]

If the Food Court at the Bellevue closes at 6 pm, then its hours and the Reading Terminal Market's are in sync. Rick Oliveri won't lose business due to shorter hours there.

He won't, however, have tourist and conventioneer traffic to bolster his bottom line at the Bellevue. I hope there are enough office workers chowing down there at lunchtime to make up for the loss.

I finally got around to reading the PhillyMag article. (Note to self: I should give Steve Volk a call and see how he's doing.) From what I know of Steve, he generally tends to sympathize with the "little guy" in a dispute between the Powerful and the Pipsqueak, and in this struggle, Rick Oliveri was definitely the Little Guy. But his "Jeans vs. Suits" metaphor certainly fits the meta-story within which this drama took place. As long as my friend Paul Steinke has been running the Market on behalf of its new owners (I believe he is the second RTM General Manager under PCCA ownership), I've heard continual complaints about how the new owners were trying to manage the Market as though it were a shopping mall. Certainly, doing research on how shoppers view the Market vs. its competition would probably rub Market traditionalists the wrong way; their likely response, I suspect, was "The Reading Terminal Market has no competition." Strictly speaking, they are right, in that there is no food market like the RTM anywhere near it, but as Paul knows, the shoppers regard it as functionally interchangeable with Whole Foods, their neighborhood supermarket, or 9th Street, and if the Market is to both fulfill its mission and do so profitably, it must pay attention to that competition and meet it while remaining true to its own character. (Which, btw, is why I would not endorse language in the RTM's Operating Policy Guidelines explicitly referring to history and tradition in addition to character; doing so would put the Market in the same straitjacket this city seems to like to wrap itself in until somebody comes along with something too compelling to let history stand in its way.)

All this regular shopper can say is that the Market has never looked better, and the quality and variety of fresh foods available is as good as it's ever been. If a $7.50 cheesesteak is the price we must pay for this, then IMO it's worth it; you can get an equally mediocre cheesesteak at Geno's for the same price right now.

[Holly Moore]

In other words, the ends justify the means.

[Rich Pawlak]

If the Food Court at the Bellevue closes at 6 pm, then its hours and the Reading Terminal Market's are in sync.  Rick Oliveri won't lose business due to shorter hours there.

He won't, however, have tourist and conventioneer traffic to bolster his bottom line at the Bellevue.  I hope there are enough office workers chowing down there at lunchtime to make up for the loss.

I finally got around to reading the PhillyMag article.  (Note to self:  I should give Steve Volk a call and see how he's doing.)  From what I know of Steve, he generally tends to sympathize with the "little guy" in a dispute between the Powerful and the Pipsqueak, and in this struggle, Rick Oliveri was definitely the Little Guy.  But his "Jeans vs. Suits" metaphor certainly fits the meta-story within which this drama took place.  As long as my friend Paul Steinke has been running the Market on behalf of its new owners (I believe he is the second RTM General Manager under PCCA ownership), I've heard continual complaints about how the new owners were trying to manage the Market as though it were a shopping mall.  Certainly, doing research on how shoppers view the Market vs. its competition would probably rub Market traditionalists the wrong way; their likely response, I suspect, was "The Reading Terminal Market has no competition."  Strictly speaking, they are right, in that there is no food market like the RTM anywhere near it, but as Paul knows, the shoppers regard it as functionally interchangeable with Whole Foods, their neighborhood supermarket, or 9th Street, and if the Market is to both fulfill its mission and do so profitably, it must pay attention to that competition and meet it while remaining true to its own character.  (Which, btw, is why I would not endorse language in the RTM's Operating Policy Guidelines explicitly referring to history and tradition in addition to character; doing so would put the Market in the same straitjacket this city seems to like to wrap itself in until somebody comes along with something too compelling to let history stand in its way.)

All this regular shopper can say is that the Market has never looked better, and the quality and variety of fresh foods available is as good as it's ever been.  If a $7.50 cheesesteak is the price we must pay for this, then IMO it's worth it; you can get an equally mediocre cheesesteak at Geno's for the same price right now.

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I can tell you from past experience that when the Food Court at The Bellevue gets busy, it's a packed house down there, as busy as any place in town. Conventioneers do make their way over there, simply because of the building's historic status and likely because of some of its tenants, such as Tiffany & Co, Williams-Sonoma and Nicole Miller. I can recall a time in 2000, on a Monday after a Rick Nichols article on the Food Court in the old Inquirer Magazine, when a constant river of humanity poured into the Food Court for hours, mostly locals rediscovereing the place. That business uptick lasted for several months. It was an incredible testament to the power of a Rick Nichols column.

[MarketStEl]

In other words, the ends justify the means.

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Well, I will agree that they were rougher than they should have been in dealing with Rick, but if the "end" is to preserve the Market as a fresh food source first and foremost, then...while I wouldn't go the Malcolm X route and say that they should preserve that function "by any means necessary," I don't think that subsidizing the lower-margin fresh food vendors out of the profits of the prepared-foods sellers is all that outlandish, and it's my understanding that Rick was a real PITA on this point, carrying on the fight past the point where it should probably have ended.

The RTM having much less selling space than Pike Place Market, keeping the fresh food vendors viable in its location is not a simple affair. Pike Place struck me as far more crafts fair and tourist magnet than food market on my visit there, but it's so huge that both roles can coexist comfortably. The RTM doesn't have the same luxury: it would be all too easy for the place to become a funkier version of the Bellevue food court in toto.

If I'm not very much mistaken, in terms of number of businesses as opposed to total square footage, the non-fresh-food vendors currently operating in the RTM outnumber the fresh food sellers. Absent the thumbs on the scale in the form of the Operating Policy Guidelines and this policy, I could see them gradually becoming 100% of the tenants if things were left to their "natural" course. It would certainly make things easier for the management and more lucrative for the PCCA.