Frank’s Place to get new look, fresh outlook
The Frank’s Place family: Jacob Hoffius, Ashley Collins, Jimi Collins, Jim Collins, Denise Collins, Oliver Bushaw, Jessica Bushaw, Henry Bushaw and Aaron Bushaw. The weathered sign and paint are a reminder that the updates, inside and out, are coming soon!
Saturday, August 4, Frank’s Place will be open as usual for all the fun, food, and festivities of Run Manchester and the Manchester Summer Festival.
But you’d better get your fill of Frank’s goodies this week … because starting on Sunday, Aug. 5, Manchester’s longest-running pizzeria and restaurant will be closed for about two months while it gets a total facelift–both inside and out! On Saturday, many of the restaurant fixtures will be for sale, and those items that are sold can be picked up from owner Jimi Collins during the day on Sunday. Most have been in use at Frank’s since it opened in 1983. On Sunday, Jimi will be getting started with the two-week demolition process, besides being available for pick up of the fixtures that have been purchased.
“The fixtures we are selling include tables, chairs, lighting, stained glass panels from the windows, and several other items,” he explained. “This place has looked the same since I moved to Manchester when I was five years old. I started working here when I was 15–and other than paint, there hasn’t been a whole lot of changes,” he added.
The Collins family–dad Jim, mom Denise, and Jimi and his sister Jessica Bushaw–has owned the restaurant for 10 years, buying it from the original owner Tina Furnari in 2008. Despite the downturn in the economy around that time, the business has continued to thrive, something Denise Collins attributes to the sense of family and community they’ve managed to maintain.
“It’s not just family-owned,” she says. “We are a family here. Our employees are family; our customers are family. And we work with our family.”
She adds that the Frank’s Family has faith in Manchester, especially after watching the ups and downs of the last 15 years or so. Denise serves on the Manchester Downtown Development Authority and knows the amount of time and effort that local business owners put into their work to promote the local economy. She’s grateful to the community that has supported Frank’s Place over the years and says that their customers are the best advertisement they could ask for. It’s for the customers and the staff that they’ve decided to make this big investment in their building and their business, because “we plan to be here for years to come. This renovation will help make that a reality. There are a lot of upgrades that have been needed for a very long time.”
While both Denise and Jimi are very excited (and sometimes more than a little scared) by their plans for change and growth, they are still trying to keep their plans shrouded in a bit of mystery–which has to be difficult, given the research and planning process for this undertaking has been going on for more than a year.
“We kind of want to do a big reveal,” Denise says with a smile. “We want to surprise people. But the changes will be both inside and out. We’ll be getting new signage and fresh paint. The inside will be totally demolished and things will look very different. We will have a better flow for our waitstaff and our cooks. We know how it needs to work, and we have gotten great advice from our project manager, who is local. We’ll be updating our menu, but we will keep the old favorites to accommodate our customers, too.
“It will look very different, but our hope is that it will feel the same.”
One huge change that they are willing to talk about is the addition of beer and wine to their menu. For now, it will only be beer and wine, although their newly-acquired license is a Class C, which also allows them to sell liquor by the glass.
“Our customers have asked for this,” Denise explains. “We will see how it goes. We plan to be a restaurant that happens to serve alcohol, not a bar. Our customers also like our quiet atmosphere and that’s not gonna change.”
Another change that they’re anticipating is an increased social media presence, which will be handled by Jessica. “She’s excited to blog about our renovation on our website, and will probably publish some construction teasers and updates during the time we’re working on it,” Denise said. “There will also be Facebook notices when we’re getting ready to open, so people know when to expect our reveal.”
“I will probably just go over to the gas station and say something,” Jimi adds. “And within 10 minutes, everyone on Main Street will know about it.”
Meanwhile, a host of local contractors will be busy with the demolition and renovation, overseen by Jimi and the family’s project manager. “He has done a lot of restaurants, so he understands that it’s important we allow enough time to do it right,” Denise says. “But, when you are working with a building from the 1890s, sometimes things will happen that you just don’t expect.”
What they do expect is a whirlwind of activity as they prepare for the re-opening in late September or early October. They look forward to hiring a few new employees, and will be taking applications online while the construction is happening. Applications are available on the website at http://franksplacemi.com/.
“There’s a lot of hard work that has gone into reshaping the downtown,” Jimi concludes. “And now we are going to put our own stamp on it.”
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