Ziggie's adds north side location, closes Ciggies

by Paul Schreiber

SBJ Reporter

pschreiber@sbj.net

Ziggie's Caf North has rolled in to Copper Station.

In a deal struck Nov. 30, Copper Station Caf owner Michael Ngo leased his 200-seat restaurant at 853 N. Glenstone to Agim Zendeli, owner and operator of Ziggie's Caf at 2222 S. Campbell.

Zendeli also operates the 40-employee Avanzare Italian Dining at 1908 S. Glenstone with partner Tony Garcia.

Ziggie's north

Zendeli's partner in the Ziggie's Caf North endeavor is 11-year employee Pedro Bolanos. The split is 60 percent Bolanos and 40 percent Zendeli, said Zendeli, who also gets a percentage of the receipts for his management participation and directional oversight. Zendeli said he is also looking to the possibility of franchising Ziggie's locations, and that plan should be finalized by the end of the year.

Copper Station Caf opened Aug. 2, 2002. Ngo purchased the 5,500 square-foot facility for $500,000 from the Shoney Corporation in January 2002, and said interior renovations and equipment additions ran him another $500,000. His last renovation was $9,000 worth of HVAC work to get a 50-person smoking section up to city code.

In addition to Ngo's previous renovations to Copper Station Cafe, Zendeli pumped in about $15,000 worth of grills, stoves and fryers. It opened for business as a 24-hour restaurant Dec. 1 with about 45 employees and a menu identical to the South Campbell location. The Ziggie's sign went up Dec. 8.

Zendeli has a three-year lease arrangement with Ngo for about $7,000 per month, plus first and last month's rent, Ngo said, adding that if he decides to put the building up for sale, Zendeli has first option to buy.

Following the initial lease period there is an option to renew for two five-year periods, Zendeli said.

Meanwhile, Ngo's closing of Copper Station freed up time for himself and wife, Kathreen. While Copper Station receipts averaged between $60,000 and $70,000 a month, Kathreen Ngo had to spent an excessive amount of time managing operations.

Closing the restaurant also allows Ngo to focus on the $800,000 transformation of the former A & B Cycle building at 220 W. Walnut into a center-city nightclub, Traffic Downtown Club and Sushi Bar, in anticipation of a Jan. 31 opening.

Ngo owns three Chinese restaurants in Springfield: Jade East at 2435 S. Campbell, Jade East at 1336 N. Glenstone and Jade Dynasty at 300 E. Battlefield.

Ciggies out

On Dec. 22, Zendeli closed the short-lived, all-smoking Ciggies at 2185 S. Campbell indefinitely. A lack of staffing sufficient to meet holiday demands and the fact that he now has a smoking section available at the north side location contributed to the closing. Sales averaged about $25,000 a month, he said.

"We're busy and (Ziggie's Caf North) kicked off real well, so I don't know if I'm going to open (the Ciggies location) or I'm going to lease it." Zendeli invested about $25,000 on the interior remodel of the 49-seat, 1,250-square-foot restaurant formerly known as Mike's Place, he said. Ciggies 10 employees were shifted to other locations.

Banquets and catering

On Jan. 5, Zendeli hired Karen Dorris as banquet and catering manager for both Ziggie's locations and for Avanzare. Zendeli said he would like to see revenues from banquet and catering operations doubled from 5 percent of revenue to 10 percent for 2004.

Dorris said reaching "a volume of $10,000 in catering and $10,000 in banquets a month" is achievable. She said weddings and corporate events, such as Realtor luncheons or financial-related business seminars, would be target markets for catering. Ziggie's Caf North has a banquet room for about 40, while Avanzare's room can accommodate about 45.

Dorris previously served as office manager for the engineering firm of Ledbetter Toth & Associates Inc.

Family history

Zendeli said the Ziggie moniker is a nickname for his father Zulbehar, who opened Ziggie's Family Restaurant at 729 W. Sunshine in 1983. This was after opening the first Ziggie's in Mendota, Ill., from 1969 to 1983, which he later sold to his cousin, who still operates it. The Zendeli family is originally from Kicevo, Macedonia.