THUNDER BAY — Shelley Simon gave up trying to run the former Scandinavian Home Society restaurant on Thunder Bay's north side, but she's taking its nickname–along with the menu–to an address in Westfort.
Simon will call her new Brown Street restaurant Station Two the Scand Stop,
She had attached the same name to the building she leased from the society on South Algoma Street.
In an interview with Tbnewswatch, Simon said operating what was commonly known as the Scand turned out to be too costly for her.
According to Simon, she walked away from the lease she signed about three years ago with the society because operating expenses exceeded revenue.
She said she believes there was "never" going to be a chance to turn a profit by relying on the breakfast trade.
"For a breakfast place, there's no way anybody could make money there. They've never made money there since the Niva family left [to start up their own restaurant a few blocks away]. You can't make it on breakfast. You can't charge enough to pay those kinds of bills," Simon said.
She tried to extend the Scand's operating hours and expand the menu, she said, but the changes didn't work.
"The thing with the Scand is that it had this stigma to it, It is 'breakfast'. No matter how many times I tried to do the dinner thing, it didn't work because people have a mind set."
Simon said she put "a lot of money" into renovations and created the Viking Lounge dining area in the restaurant, but "it just didn't fly. People just didn't get it."
Staff from the Algoma Street restaurant, she said, will join her in her new location which she expects to open next week.
The new location will offer a menu that includes the same items served at the Scand.
As for the future of the building she's leaving behind, Simon said "it would make a great daycare."
The Scandinavian Home Society has put the property up for sale, thereby terminating its connection to the cultural landmark it founded 93 years ago.
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