Today we’d like to introduce you to Evan Scher.
Hi Evan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Lulu Karaoke has been around for 20 years now ( going on 21 this year) ( Founded 2005)
Same one door entrance with no windows. Same aluminum foil covered ceiling.
Lulu has gone through many changes over the years. As centreville has evolved, Lulu has survived the storm.
No big corporate, no management team. It always has been just a small family owned business that was blessed with years of loyal locals, industry workers, friends, and people of all kinds.
Each time the business has been passed down in family. This last march myself and my wife inherited the next legacy.
We made some renovations and are re facing the property. It just needed a little ” refresh”.
Because we are a smaller place, sometimes those changes take more time. But each week that passes, it is exciting to see the growth. We hope to grow, but not to change so much that we lose our original identity.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Owning a small business is never smooth. Running it day to day is never smooth.
It could be the AC breaking, the dish machine needing replacing, changing the air filters in the attics.
Essentially doing it all, and then being there for service in the evening means long hours.
But me being a chef before this I think makes this easier for myself.
Solutions can be found, and things need to be taken care of as soon as possible.
But the gratification in operating a place that serves the locals is there.
And that makes all the bumps in the road worth it.
With the economy in the state that it is in, consistency is not always there.
Rising food costs, rising labor costs, tax increases etc.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I was a chef prior to taking over lulu. Overall about 18+ years in the industry. I started working when I was 14.
What really propelled me into my career was taking hospitality tourism classes in school.
That landed me a paid internship to Marriott. From there I went off to Virginia to work in multiple places.
Soon after that I ended up in DC which led to me traveling for work often.
Mostly doing corporate ( Westfields Marriott, Thompson Hyatt, Hilton Conrad, Janelia Farms Aramark).
But also working in between with smaller entities and local restaurant groups ( Ada’s On The River ARP, The Block,People’s Drug AVX).
I think what sets me apart is that by being involved within different levels of hospitality has given me my own perspective and thoughts of ownership. Working in small mom and pop environments, to executing full scale operations at a luxury level has given me a lot of insight on how I want my interactions to be for guests/ customers of all kinds.
The goal is to operate at a higher level then anticipated. To exceed the customers standards.
Sometimes for me, this is something as little as remembering peoples birthdays and celebrating them with personalized amenities. Sometimes its operating at a level where my staff works tirelessly to keep our place as close to perfect as possible. The amount of work and diligence my team puts in to keeping a 20+ year old location clean is phenomenal.
So as I say, I would be nothing without my team here. Respecting and creating new respects in culture in our industry is also something that I take pride in here. I have seen the different ways that my owners and managers treated staff before.
We can change that.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I do believe risks are important. I think to come into a place that was so consistent for so many years and change was the biggest one. I have found change important to myself, but that is just me. What I have come to discover is that many people are creatures of habit and fear change.
We completely face lifted the interior and added other aspects. Menu changes, cocktails, new staff, etc.
The biggest risk was moving away from a lot of the ” staples”.
We understand as the operators and as ” customers” of other places the viewpoint that some have had.
We have lost some customers in the process.
People ask why change that? People ask why add this?
But in that same notion, we have gained so much more.
It is a balance. Trying to shed our old skin, while remaining the same comfortable place we have been.
Essentially trying to show people that an old dog can learn new tricks.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lulu-cafe.com/
- Instagram: _lulucafe
