In early January, Sterling’s Amish Deli announced the deli would be closing after six years of operation. Now, the rebranding and relaunching process for Sterling’s Late Night Diner has begun.
Owner Stephen Sterling calls it a “necessary change” to reduce confusion among customers who may not have known the place was a restaurant rather than just a shop to buy deli meats.
“They don’t realize it’s a restaurant. So, I think by changing the whole entire outlook and the brand, that should help dramatically,” Sterling said.
Sterling has shared on Facebook the process of undergoing these changes, such as in-store improvements, health inspections and even a logo change.
“I had the horse and carriage as my original logo, and then I would put out an A-frame sign outside at night. And, just about every weekend, my A-frame sign would get smashed by some drunk college kid walking by who would just kick it or throw it or punch it,” he said. “So, I thought we might as well just embrace it at this point, and now the horse is kicking the sign.”
Serving food in a college town involves considering prices, as college students tend to be the majority consumer. Sterling has been opting to make menu items cheaper to adhere to student budgets.
“A lot of college students don’t have a whole lot of extra money. I made it so instead of a meal, a sandwich gets chips and a pickle, now it’s just the sandwich, and you’re not paying extra for the chips and a pickle that you might not want,” he said.
One of the main improvements Sterling is looking to make with the business revamp is the ease of ordering for all customers. Part of that process means making some changes to the menu.
“I’ve had to cut some of the menu items out that were pretty wasteful and not profitable. It’s just a part of the change, and some people might be upset about it, but it’s what’s got to happen for it to be an operating restaurant,” he said.
At the end of the day, the entrepreneurial venture for Sterling is all about improving not only the business but the experience for customers as well.
“You should come try us again if you haven’t been here in a while, it’s gonna be way faster, way quicker, higher quality, better service, cleaner atmosphere. Hopefully, everything is just better; that was a big focus of this change,” Sterling said.
