Two Burr Ridge Businesses Bucking Downward Economic Trends

The current economy has hit many small businesses hard. On Tuesday, Clarendon Hills-based gourmet restaurant Maijean .

"The only reason we have for our closing is … the unstable economy,” said restaurant representatives in an email to .

Amongst news that businesses are struggling, two Burr Ridge small business owners are showing steady growth and have even announced plans to expand.

, in County Line Square, is a 26-year-old family-owned business run by brothers Gigi, Robert and Filippo Rovito. The restaurant specializes in homestyle cooking from the Calabria region of southern Italy.

The restaurant currently has three locations in Burr Ridge's County Line Square and one in Downers Grove. The Rovito brothers plan to open a fifth location in Berwyn by mid-January.

“We’ve been blessed. Our business has grown 10 to 12 percent every year since we opened in Burr Ridge in 2004,” said Gigi Rovito.

The Rovito brothers' 140-seat (70 indoor and 70 outdoor) County Line Square location is the seventh restaurant to occupy that space, and it has continued to succeed where other restaurants in that location have not.

Robert Rovito, who is also one of the restaurant's chefs, said the family's business strategy was to focus on quality ingredients and making sure customers were happy when they walked out the door.

"We really don't do much advertising ... our secret is to make people feel special, like they are part of the family ... That's why we continue to be successful," said Rovito. He said it is important for restaurants to build a solid customer base that will help build the business through word of mouth recommendations.

Building the 'Hype'

Ross and Carissa Bartolomei opened the Burr Ridge store of Salon Hype nearly one year ago in the County Line Square shopping plaza. After seeing steady growth in their , the Bartolomei’s decided to take the plunge to open another store.

"We opened up our [Burr Ridge] location a year ago with moderate expectations. Nomatter what, you never really know how successful you are going to be," said Ross Bartolomei.

Bartolomei said being a proactive marketer is an important factor to being a successful business owner.

"It's one of the things people have forgotten to do, and marketing yourself is so important," said Bartolomei. "We're really out there in the community. We are out there constantly trying to get business into the salon."

Bartolomei said he looks for opportunities to strike up conversations with people to get the word out about the salon when he is out with his family and makes sure to greet people by their first names when he sees them.

"Sometimes that makes all the difference and makes people say, 'You know what, we want to try your salon'," said Bartolomei.

Bartolomei, who walked away from a partnership offer at a Gold Coast salon to start his own salon in 2006, said he believes a business needs more than one location to succeed.

“As a business owner, if you stay focused, and don’t get distracted by the media and all the projections—and if you are willing to sacrifice income to grow multiple businesses—in the long run, it will pay off. A small business owner needs patience and the courage to take big risks, especially in this economy,” he said.

And the Bartolomeis did take risks, even raising prices on certain professional services in order to maintain a good relationship with their stylists and help them feel satisfied with their compensation.

In July, Salon Hype took another risk by becoming one of only five salons in Chicago and 400 nationwide to carry a line of luxury hair care products with prices ranging from $38 to $68.

“Since we began selling the [the Shu Eumura] line four months ago, we haven’t been able to keep it in stock,” said Carissa Bartolomei. “Who would have imagined—in this economy—having such a premium brand flying off the shelves? Bringing it in was a risk, but our gut instinct told us that our clients trust us ... "

Salon Hype now has 62 total employees, and the Burr Ridge location has tripled its projections for revenue since opening last December. Bartolomei said he plans to open an Oak Brook location in the future.

Both Ristorante Capri and Salon Hype said knowing their customers and staying focused on the key ingredients that brought them success in the first place, were important to helping them weather the economic storm.

*Some information in the above article was provided by Salon Hype Media Specialist Wendy Lienhart.

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