Longtime radio DJ turned real estate developer turned restaurateur Fred Trainor has sold the Main Street venue he fashioned last year from the leftovers of famed Penticton venue The Elite. And on Feb. 1, Block 300 Casual Steakhouse, at 340 Main St., is officially under new ownership.
New local, independent ownership. "It was sold today," said Trainor Tuesday evening, "to a local from the South Okanagan. They plan on keeping it a restaurant. There's a sign going on the door Wednesday morning saying it's been sold and will reopen under new ownership soon."
And Trainor genuinely seems happy. Restaurant ownership, it turns out, was not something he particularly enjoyed.
"Plain and simple, I wanted to sell because I really didn’t like being a restaurateur. Among the many mistakes I made, the last time I went into a business I knew nothing about, real estate development, I was 61. But when I went into the restaurant business at 73, that's a big difference."
"I had so much energy at 61, and it just isn't there at my age now. Even though people told me that this is a tough business, I didn't realize until I got in there how much more difficult a restaurant is than anything I've ever done."
But there was more to it than that. Block 300 endured issues out of the gate that went far beyond the norm.
"I'm not going to name names," he said last night. "But all the things we were assured were done before we opened, none of them were done. And when we opened our doors, it was a complete disaster."
"And it continued to be very difficult in that we were inconsistent until we were able to hire our own kitchen crew and staff, all full-timers. And then we knew what our strengths and weaknesses were. It took quite awhile."
By September, said Trainor, the staff had been updated and concerns eliminated, and Block 300 had finally "turned the corner." Yet some of the negative vibes remained.
"I think a lot of people still wouldn't come to us because they'd heard so many bad things. Inside though, our customers were raving about us. 'This is the best burger I've ever had.' 'This is the best steak I've ever had.' Honest to God, we heard that all the time."
But the turmoil had taken its toll. Trainor hadn't intended to be a day-to-day, hands-on owner stuck fixing past problems, yet that's precisely what he was doing.
"With all the troubles we had that forced me to be there all the time, it was just too stressful, and I didn't want to continue to do that. So I decided for the first time in my life that I'd take a look at retirement."
Fortunately, potential suitors were already waiting.
"I had two different parties approach me. The first was in the fall, but I don't think they could have gotten to the finish line. And they eventually dropped out."
"The second one we worked with pretty hard and we just about got to the finish line, and then it fell apart. So in early December I decided to find somebody on my own. And that's what I did."
Today, Trainor is relishing his first glimpse at life without work. His development crew is currently in the final stages of a nine-unit subdivision in downtown Summerland, and when the final two homes are completed, he said he'll "begin working on my golf game."
In the meantime, he has no idea when the new ownership will reopen, how the menu will be structured, or whether they'll even keep the Block 300 name. Certainly Trainor did a fabulous job renovating the place from its aged and somewhat decrepit Elite guise, so it could very well be sooner rather than later.
And he maintains he didn't build Block 300 to sell it. "It definitely wasn't my intent when I started. But that said, in the end that's what entrepreneurs do. They do build things and they sell them."
There is, he said, one big regret. "One of the hardest parts of this is how it's disrupted the lives of the people who worked hard for us every day. All these people put their heart and soul into it. I hope many or all of them will be back, and I think the new owners know how important they are."
As for that golfing retirement, we’ll believe it when we see it. No matter what his age, Fred Trainor isn't exactly the type to take it easy.
