In 2009, CNN Money ranked Lubbock the No. 12 best midsize metro area to launch a small business. However, in the past year, Lubbock residents have seen local establishments such as Fraîche Cafe, Bless Your Heart, Yoga Bean and Belly’s Cafe go out of business.
Joe Felicia, co-owner of One Guy From Italy, the family owned Italian restaurant that came to Lubbock 30 to 40 years ago from the East Coast, said the company focuses on consistency and customer service.
“People tend to say ‘who’s your competition,’” Felicia said, “and it’s within these four walls; it’s just us. We concentrate on being the best that we can be. We don’t worry about whatever anybody else is doing because everybody has their niche.”
Niki Ragsdale from Hobbs, New Mexico, opened Undergrounds Coffee in January. She said she and her husband have two Undergrounds Coffee locations in Hobbs. The couple wanted to try opening one in Lubbock because they get a lot of their product from the city.
“Since we’re in town, we try to find a lot of local businesses to get drinks and food and stuff,” Ragsdale said, “so we thought why not open one of our own.”
A poll conducted last week by the Hub@TTU showed that a majority of people prefer to shop local
Bree Waldie, a senior journalism and electronic media & communications major from Grapevine, Texas, said she usually shops chain businesses because she knows what they are going to have. In addition, she said a lot of smaller businesses are usually more expensive.
“I think having a social media representative is a huge deal,” Waldie said. “I know T.C. Elli’s does that, and they’re on Facebook all the time, and they’re on Twitter, and that drives college students to go out ’cause this is a college town and have deals and have things going on. And, once they do go, they’ll keep coming back. Just getting the word out there.”
According to a poll conducted by the Hub@TTU, a majority of people prefer to shop local. Out of 45 votes, 32 voted local, while 11 people claimed they did not have a preference. Two voted for chain businesses.
Felicia said One Guy From Italy originally opened in the South Plains Mall before opening another location on 4th Street. After that, the restaurant moved to the Tully’s across the street from the current University Avenue location. There they made their name with Texas Tech students before almost going out of business, moving into the location they have now and opening up their 50th Street location.
“It’s a good possibility that if your dad, or even granddad, came to a One Guy 30 years ago,” Felicia said, ” and it’s a strong possibility that the same guy that made his food back then is still making it today. That’s something that no other business in Lubbock can say. Besides that, we put an emphasis on customer service. We’re real meticulous on who we hire. We’re one of the few places that hire students as freshman, and they stay ’til they’re seniors. Not a real big turnover rate.”
One Guy from Italy. Photo by Kaitlin ThogmartinRagsdale said they sell more than coffee at their location. All of their pastries and sandwiches are baked fresh in the morning.
Ragsdale said they sell more than coffee at their location. All of their pastries and sandwiches are baked fresh in the morning.
“I think people in this area are not quite sure yet of what we have as far as products, but other than that, people have been very supportive,” Ragsdale said. “It’s been a little different here, a shift in the product. We have quite a few students from Tech that work for us. And, they’ve come up with some really great marketing ideas, such as doing a Thirsty Thursday, and we do happy hour every day from 2 to 4.”
Felicia said he has been in the business for about 30 years, on and off, and believes the prices are pretty fair.
“I know we’re like in the top 10 in Lubbock as far as restaurants go, out of 500. And, we have the same guys doing the same thing day in and day out, so there’s consistency. And, that’s something that’s really hard to maintain, and also over here, if you look around us, there’s a lot more places to eat now then there were 10 years ago.”
About Kaitlin Thogmartin
