The New York hospitality pro serving up sandwiches parkside - Matt Calender, Owner, Club Club Sandwich
What does your business do?
Club Club is a fast-casual sandwich spot that opened in the McCarren Park House around two years ago. It occupies a spot in a pavilion inside Greenpoint’s McCarren Park alongside the Park House Bar and Blank Street Coffee. We have eight different sandwiches, and we also have a cheeseburger and a couple of sides. There's plenty of vegetarian options, vegan options, and gluten free options. The focus is: good sandwiches, fairly quickly.
How did you start your business?
I've been in hospitality since I was 16, mostly working at bars and restaurants. I’ve been at a variety of places in the New York City hospitality scene for many years, and two years ago, my business partner at the time and I decided we wanted to open up a luncheonette. We initially looked at securing our own space, and then the people at Park House, who are friends of mine that I've worked for before, had a food vendor who dropped out last-minute. It had pretty low startup costs — we could just kind of squeeze in there, and that's what we decided to do. We then created a simpler menu to fit the smaller space.
What has been the most challenging part about running your business so far?
There are two big challenges, and they both have to deal with profitability: food costs and labor. On top of that, this is a year-round business, but it’s located in a park, which means that I do most of my sales during the spring, summer, and fall months. In the winter months, I still have to be open per my lease agreement, but sales drop off quite a bit. When business is slower, I work a lot of hours just because I can't afford to pay that other person. When sales are better, I can hire people and focus more on the business overall. Ingredient costs are something all food businesses are grappling with. My accountants tell me every time I have a meeting with them that I need to raise my prices, but it's kind of something that I just don't want to do. I like that our sandwiches aren't insanely expensive; I like being accessible. Instead, I’m always shopping around trying to find the cheapest prices without giving up quality.
How does being located within a park affect how you run your business?
It is extremely beneficial to be where I am, but also at the other side of it, it's kind of a detriment. We're in the middle of the park. So, when it's not too cold and not too hot, it is packed and there's this built-in crowd of people that are always going to want at least burgers and fries. In the summertime, we crush it. When it gets darker earlier, sales drop off. If it's raining, if it's too hot, it's too cold, forest fire smoke, gray air, it’s difficult. It is extremely weather-dependent — I'm constantly checking the weather and constantly trying to staff accordingly.
What are your goals for Club Club?
Honestly, I didn't plan on expanding this concept in the future, but it has kind of dug in and has grown its own legs. I now have a burgers and fries concept at TV Eye, which is a performance venue in Ridgewood. I’m still building clientele over there, but it’s been great. If I could do my own brick-and-mortar sandwich shop and offer some more items, that would be the direction that would go. I'm not sure if I'm going to do another kiosk concept, just because the profitability and flexibility is extremely limited.
What do you love most about running your business?
That's something that kind of gets buried behind the day-to-day processes of owning a business, but I am a hospitality worker through and through. Being able to make something for people that they enjoy — I guess that's probably the best part of it.
