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Tri-Cities Journal of Business - Food, bars and cafés will soon have a new way to reach customers
By By Amelia Veneziano - TCAJOB staff reporter Published: 02/12/2009
The Tri-Cities restaurant community is a quandary.
Waits at the big chains can stretch beyond 30 minutes while local restaurant owners and chefs face empty tables.
A new venture aims to change that.
TASTE Tri-Cities, a new website and quarterly magazine, officially launches Feb. 20-22 at the Home and Garden Show at TRAC. The creators hope to help Tri-Citians answer the persistent question: ‘What’s for dinner?’ – or breakfast, lunch, happy hour or late-night snacks.
“We want to make this the Fandango of what’s for dinner in the Tri-Cities,” said co-creator Becky Ferguson of Pasco.
The magazine and website will include articles and reviews of local restaurants, menus, specialty items and deals and links to business websites. It will be a ‘one-stop’ communication link between restaurants and consumers.
“There are hundreds of restaurants here that people just don’t know exist,” said co-creator Cory Wright of Richland. “People always say there’s no place to eat in the Tri-Cities, but they just say that because there’s no Chili’s or Cheesecake Factory. There are a ton of places to eat here and I think a lot of people will really be surprised by what’s out there.”
Ferguson, sales and marketing manager for TASTE, and Wright, artistic director, began working on TASTE in November. The first magazine will have about 16 pages and be published about Feb. 20.
So far, TASTE has been received well by local restaurants advertising in it and by businesses that want to distribute.
Ferguson said advertising sales have been strong and nearly all of Taste’s advertisers have signed one-year contracts.
Among those advertisers is Ice Harbor Brewing Company, a brewery based in Kennewick.
Co-owner Mike Hall thinks the focus of Taste will distinguish it from other restaurant- and entrainment-based media in town.
“I think they’ve got a good target market,” Hall said. “Focusing on the locally owned, mom and pop stores is important. It’s tough for us to compete against the big chains with all their marketing dollars.”
Hall has advertised in a variety of markets since opening Ice Harbor in 1997. He said he hopes Taste will help drive customers into Ice Harbor’s two Kennewick locations and increase awareness of the brewery.
He also likes the website. Although he hasn’t had time to put much information on it, there are links to Ice Harbor’s website on it.
“It’ll be a good way for people to see our events and specials, even if they don’t know much about us,” he said.
Customers can note how they heard about the brewery on restaurant comment cards, he said. Otherwise there’s no real way to measure the effectiveness of print advertising.
“I decided to try Taste out and see how well they worked,” Hall said. “They’ve got a good concept and I like that they’re promoting small, locally-owned restaurants.”
The magazine will have articles about restaurants, bars and cafes, mystery diner reviews and formal restaurant reviews. Restaurants do not have to be advertisers to be included in or reviewed by TASTE.
The website lists all the restaurants, bars and food venues in the Tri-Cities. So far, there are 312 listings, with more to come.
It will cover restaurants, bars, bakeries, catering and cafes and includes some nightlife information. The magazine will be distributed in hotels, the airport, TRAC and local college campuses, and other places tourists likely go. Wineries in here and in Prosser will have copies, as will in advertising restaurants.
“We’ve grown our distribution so quickly that we’re going to have to put a hold on it because we don’t want to over-extend,” Ferguson said. She and Wright will be distributing the magazine together.
Although TASTE will have information on all the restaurants in town, its main focus will be locally owned eateries. “We’re committed to the local mom and pop, independent businesses in the area,” she said. “We want to give visibility and exposure to them that they probably can’t afford otherwise. That’s our passion. We’re not going to turn down advertising from the big chains, but they’re not our primary focus.”
By Feb. 20, users will be able to read the TASTE magazine, view the website on computers and mobile devices and add the business to their MySpace ‘friend’ list. Wright plans to create Twitter and Facebook accounts, text message and email lists and perhaps make iPhone and Blackberry applications.
“We really want to hit the young demographic,” Ferguson said. “Business owners don’t realize how our generation communicates. We do and we can reach them. We want to allow mom and pops to easily access the younger generation.”
The website, and eventually the magazine, will offer opportunities for user-created content, including reviews, videos and recommendations. “People from our generation don’t necessarily just want to walk in someplace new,” Ferguson said. “They want to know what’s good there, what the atmosphere is like – we want to show some of that.”
It will include information about events and nightlife as well as ‘dinner and a show’-type recommendations – where to go for drinks after a Columbia Basin College play, for example.
“We’re not going to fully cover entertainment, but say on St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll cover where you can get a green beer and listen to an Irish band,” Ferguson said. “We are pairing needs and highlighting some special events. We’re covering every end of the market.”
Although there are no growth plans yet, the partners are considering making TASTE a franchisable venue. “We’re content to work here right now,” she said.
“Our passion is the Tri-Cities market. As long as the mom and pop’s of the Tri-Cities are still (coming) to us and advertising, we’ll keep our commitment to them. If they don’t, we’ll move on. But our hope and goal is to never go there.”
Wright would like to see the local TASTE grow first. “We want to maintain it and to create something that is a resource for both locals and tourists,” he said. “It’s also a resource for restaurants to get their name out there and not necessarily spend a lot on local advertising. This is a less expensive way to appeal to people, but still be noticed by the public, get information on the website and succeed.”
For more information about TASTE, contact Ferguson at (509) 554-2587. The website address is www.tastetricities.com. The mobile website is www.tastemobile.com.
Ice Harbor is online at www.iceharbor.com and has two Kennewick locations, at 206 N. Benton St. Ste. C and on Clover Island at 350 Clover Island Dr. (509) 586-3181. Also check out Ice Harbor's listings on TASTE.
Want more? Ask for TasteTriCities.comtaste-tri-cities-founders-cory-wright-becky-fergusonTASTE Tri-Cities founders, Cory Wright and Becky Ferguson enjoying a bite at Ice Harbor at the Marina. Photo by:Amelia Veneziano
