Do You Want to Buy or Sale A Restaurant: Lakewood Group Realty Is Ready to Help

Would you share a little bit of your business background?
We provide financial advice and financial representation to the banking system for successful financing. Suppose we have one of the following scenarios: A business owner who wants to buy equipment, an owner who wants to renovate his restaurant, one who is interested in buying another restaurant, with or without real estate, someone who wants to sell his restaurant, but the buyer does not have enough money, and the seller does not want to finance it. Because these types of loans are convoluted and very detail-oriented, a bank refusal often results in the borrower being discouraged and finding himself in the awkward position of borrowing money from the free market. With interest rates particularly unfavorable for a company whose profit is relatively small. Lakewood Group aids in all the above cases. Specifically, we undertake to analyze the business date and advise the people involved in the transaction.

Lakewood Group Realty started in 2005 as a real estate company, with founders Chris Morgan Mavris and Ed Sherry. Photo by Tulug Ozel

How The Lakewood Group started and how was the major turning point for the company?
Lakewood Group Realty started in 2005 as a real estate company, with founders Chris Morgan Mavris and Ed Sherry. Chris soon realized that the company needed to support its customers in the financial sector and began to explore opportunities to represent restaurants in the banking system. This is how it was born.

You focus on food and beverage industry which provide working capital for remodeling, equipment purchases, inventory, and debt refinancing. How Covid-19 affected on your business?
We can make a thorough forecast and incorporate changes as we evolve. What do we expect to happen in the near future: The restaurant industry experienced a new reality after COVID-19, as there has been no other modern event of this magnitude. Recovery was obviously a challenge for all restaurants. Unfortunately, many restaurants closed or were reduced, about 15-25% in total, according to some reports. Unemployment hit restaurant staff as restaurant owners kept only experienced staff and fired the rest. Who knows what other revelations may develop after COVID-19. The only thing that is stable in the restaurant industry is change.

Turkish restaurants are opening across the U.S., and many of them often are sold or exchanged ownership. What would you recommend to an entrepreneur who wants to open a restaurant in New York City or any other market?
As you know, 80% of the restaurant business default the first two years. Also, it's a very taxing and demanding business. Because of that, the entrepreneur interested in opening a restaurant must be very knowledgeable of this business to succeed. The loans we provide to the entrepreneurs who decide to open a restaurant rely heavily on their industry knowledge. When the time comes for the entrepreneur to purchase a running restaurant, we, the lenders, evaluate the subject restaurant. Our experience shows that there is no such thing as buyer's and seller's market in the food industry. It all depends on the restaurant's events and what the seller sees, and the degree of his needs will sell it for the right amount of money. Every time is an excellent time to buy a restaurant. The economic trends somewhat affect the restaurant business.

Anastasia Theologi

How was 2021 for your company and what is the expectation from 2022?
The good thing is that we’re very optimistic, and regardless of the good or bad economic times, there’s always money available for entrepreneurs. We don’t have the magic ball to see what will happen in 2022, but we are very optimistic, and we hope that we don’t have other COVID-19 related events that will affect the economy.

Would you like to add anything?
The restaurant business is very demanding, and it is, however, very profitable for the sophisticated and knowledgeable operator. Because the industry is very volatile, it takes knowledgeable loan brokers to provide the restaurant entrepreneur with banking funds and interests