Commentary by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — We’ve had a spirited debate about the closing of “The Rock” and “Clubhouse 3” on this website this week.

It’s an essential debate, because the reopening of the old “Wellington Steakhouse” was an experiment that didn’t work out, and one that could define our business climate in the future.

Wellington is not the Wellington of 50 years, nor the one of 20 years or even 10 years. All local businesses have to work harder to make in today’s world.

Technology has changed the landscape of how we do business and how we conduct our lives. The need to go out and “meet” people – to have a face-to-face conversation with one another – is less prevalent. We are more content to talk with one another through texting, or e-mail, or Facebook, or other social media. I’m not complaining. It is just the way it is.

So how does this affect a business like “The Rock” or “Clubhouse 3?” People just don’t go out like they used to. If someone wants to know the gossip of the day, they used to gather in coffee shops and restaurants. Now they just chat on Facebook.

Thus a service oriented business such as The Rock, where people gather, has a harder time making it. It’s not just in Wellington. It is everywhere.

It’s too bad. When Tudi McCreary decided to open her business she called “The Rock,” she brought something new to Wellington. Her food was good and she provided something different. I had one of the best steaks I ever had eaten. Her fish with various sauces was as good as anything I had ever eaten in Wichita.

The atmosphere was classy and I never understood the complaint about service. Every time I was there I had great service.

But the restaurant never took off. When I was there, hardly anyone was there – unlike Tudi’s Neives Restaurant where there is always a line to get a table.

Some are saying the food was overpriced. Some said it was too upscale for Wellington, etc., etc., etc. We can quibble about that all day and never get a uniform opinion. I’m thinking the building itself may have tremendous overhead which will make it difficult for anyone to make it.

But if I was going to pinpoint an essential problem with the business, it was a failure in marketing.

The other day, my teenage child and I were trying to figure out a place to eat while the Mrs. was out of town and nobody in their right mind should be subjected to what I have to cook.

We couldn’t agree on a place, so I suggested The Rock. He said “what’s that?”

I said it’s where the “Steakhouse” used to be. And he said, “oh, yeah,” as if discovering a cure for cancer.

And that right there was a problem for The Rock.

As we all know teens are not the most observant of people unless it is about them.

But the fact it was not in his consciousness was proof The Rock was not making an impact in this person’s life.

Tudi and Nate Cornejo, did a tremendous job of refurbishing inside the building, and the outside of it was looking much better.

But here was one thing that bugged the heck out of me. When I drove down the road, there never was a sign that advertised “The Rock,” and a marquee below it advertising the latest luncheon and dinner specials. It was hard to tell if the restaurant was open or closed. I don’t think the passer-by traveler would ever think of it being open.

And there was never a sign to remind the Wellington dweller that the building was indeed back open while driving by.

People are creatures of habit. They get into a routine of eating at one place, visiting a particular group of friends, taking in a movie, going to a ball game, visiting a particular website, running the same errands, etc.

The fact that the building had been vacated for over a year before The Rock was ever open did not help things. People had gotten used to the building being closed. When it reopened the citizens had to relearn that it was reopened.

No matter how good of product you have, you need to capture the attention of the people.

A business, whether new or old, has to continue to remind those they are there for them – and urge them to comeback because there may be a new special or a new menu item. That not only requires a sign, but constant marketing – whether it be on this website, or the newspaper, or the cable station, or through Facebook, or through charitable events, it needs to be continuous.

Near the end, Tudi was doing much better in that approach. She ran a “Chefs of Sysco” promotion on this site and I saw an advertisement on Sumner Cable. But obviously it was too late.

She closed in late December. It made me sad. Here was a local group who tried something new and opened a complex that Wellington desperately needed open. And it didn’t work out.

Local civic leaders, including myself, always preach about doing business locally. And it’s important for people to continue to do so.

But like a successful marriage, it has to be a two-way street.

A successful local business has to provide the kind of products and service the locals want to have. And it’s important to remind those locals they have the products and services that these same locals want to have.

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