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Florida CEOs answer: What are you doing to bring in customers?

Joe Yerkes
Joe Yerkes

Restaurant
Joe Yerkes
Owner — Bayfront Bistro — Fort Myers Beach

"We've started doing very hot pricing on feature wines. We run two wines a month on a really hot feature if we can do the right kind of deal with our suppliers. We launched a completely new lunch menu in October that talks to the tourist that's not high end. They don't want to spend $15 on a hamburger."

Bruce Dunbar
Bruce Dunbar

Hotel
Bruce Dunbar
General manager — Terrace Hotel — Lakeland

"More internet solicitations. We target specific companies or institutions that we know are traveling. We're doing more with colleges and universities. We cherry-pick the market segments that are less sensitive to the turmoil. We customize the package to fit the needs of the client. We do a lot of surveys. We pivot as soon as we get a read on the direction it's going."

Stuart Borton
Stuart Borton

Restaurant
Stuart Borton
Owner — Yellow Dog Cafe — Malabar (Brevard County)

"Maintaining quality is the big one. We went from choice to prime to upgrade what we're offering. Focusing on making sure the customer gets every need met from the time they pull up. We've added valet parking since the recession started."

Andy Brouillard
Andy Brouillard

Event Facility
Andy Brouillard
General manager — TPepin's Hospitality Centre — Tampa

"We've tried to network people to tour the facility. One thing we've done — it's been very good for us — we had several caterers. We've partnered exclusively with Puff 'n Stuff catering. They were one of our preferred caterers. We still package our offerings very reasonably, so customers end up getting upscale catering and an upscale facility. It's given us the opportunity to do off-property catering. We're not just cooking for our own facility but the off-property facility."