The Rebranding of Matthew Medure

Matthew’s Market in San Marco closed in late January. One of owners, Chad Labenz, said it was due to the misconception that they were more expensive, according to a Jacksonville.com article. It’s true that the sandwiches there were a steal and the items they sold in the market were about at the price level of Fresh Market. But as a friend of mine commented: “If they wanted it to be seen as inexpensive, they should have taken off Matthew’s name.” I can’t disagree with that. Matthew Medure isn’t just a person in Jacksonville, he’s a brand. By putting his name on the market, it was seen as luxurious and expensive. Even if they sold deli meats out of the back of a truck*, if Matthew Medure’s name was associated with it, it would be seen as quality, expensive, luxury food. Normally that’s not a problem, it’s an asset, but the economy has made it a liability.

Medure’s, his Ponte Vedra restaurant, which closed late November of last year is supposed to be reopening eventually and will feature lower cost items. Again, the name Matthew Medure does not equate to affordability in the minds of most people on the First Coast. He’s going to have a devil of a time rebranding himself, if that’s what he intends to do. I think that if he’s lowering the price point he should be associated with the place but not use his name in the title.

Matthew’s, his main restaurant, is still open and busy. In fact, they’ve been running a relatively reasonable prix fixe menu of four courses that serves two for just $89. That’s a super deal for one of the fanciest restaurants in town.

Also, according to Jacksonville Confidental, Matthew's along with Bistro Aix and Cafe Carmon are actually offering coupons in the latest MINT Mag. Check out the post!

*As far as I know Matthew Medure has never sold anything out of the back of a truck, nor is his name associated with anyone who has.

Rumors and Restaurants

It's tough to keep a restaurant running in the best of times. In the current economy we're going to see a lot of places closing. Going out to eat is one of the first things people cut when they slash their budgets. We can't really blame people for that. When they do go out to eat, they choose fast food or something they perceive as cheap.

We can expect that lots of places will be going down. Jacksonville Confidential recently incorrectly reported that two places would be shutting their doors.

One was going to be taken over by a new owner and possibly given a new name and the other, the other seems to be in limbo.

I asked the owner of Bungalow on Park if he was closing because of what I'd read on Jax Con. He replied with bravado that he wasn't closing, they weren't going to close and that they had only closed for private holiday parties.

Although his doors were open just a few days after Jax Con's announcement, I really don't know if I believe him. I know from experience that restaurant owners will often lie through their teeth about closing, right up until the day the repo men pry the stove and sink from their walls.

That being said, a rumor of a place closing can kill a restaurant just as quickly as debt can. So, I guess I'm hoping that Jax Con will be a little more careful in the future. I see they've amended the Pom's post, but they haven't done anything with the Bungalow post. At the very least, saying that they "closed their doors for good" on December 16th when they were clearly open after that and keeping it up, makes me think somebody has an axe to grind... (See Jax Con's comments below about how they don't have an axe to grind and my response).