Valley restaurant owner closes all 9 of his eateries on Sundays

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- After a challenging two and a half years, one Valley restaurateur is making a big change to the way he operates his business, one that gives his employees more time at home but means less money coming in.

“Closing on Sundays is going to sting, but it was the right thing to do,” Christopher Collins, Chef & Owner of Common Ground Culinary, said.

Starting this month, Collins is closing all 9 of his eateries every Sunday. Some of his restaurants include popular spots like Grassroots Kitchen & Tap in McCormick Ranch and The Collins Small Batch Kitchen in the Biltmore area.

“Sunday’s the day you make a lot of money,” Shea Provencal with Common Ground Culinary said.

But now Provencal and the company’s 250 employees won’t have to worry about working or getting called in on a Sunday.

“I didn’t even realize it until this past Sunday, it was the first Sunday we were closed, that I kind of had been on high alert all the time, like even if it was in the back of my mind that am I gonna get a text? Is something going to go wrong?” Provencal said.

The change comes as the Phoenix area enters into the prime season with cooler temperatures and an increase in tourists, meaning more people visiting restaurants!

“Certainly, we could have closed on Mondays and we would have lost less money, but that wasn’t the win,” Collins said.

The restaurant group’s revenue will take a hit since Sunday is typically the 3rd busiest day of the week for the company.

“We have all these pros, positive things, that’s the culture of our company, how we’re going to operate, how we’re going to retain the best employees in the industry, and there’s only one con and that was money and we all looked at each other and go we cannot live our lives just driven by money,” Collins said.

Collins says managers are keeping their existing salaries but working 10% less. Hourly workers will still keep all their hours just with a guarantee to have every Sunday off.

“This is forever. This is the quality of life I want people to know that they’re gonna get when they come and work with our teams,” Collins said.

The pandemic caused many people to leave the restaurant industry and people are still hanging up their aprons. In August, more than 6% of food service workers nationwide quit according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“I think the last few years we’ve seen just quality of life be so much more important to people,” Provencal said.

That’s why Provencal is happy to have one day a week where she can focus on her kids and not her phone.

“Knowing that we have a weekend day for birthday parties and to go to church and to spend with our family and to not have to worry about getting a text or a phone call or anything happening at the restaurant, it is wonderful,” she said.

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