Many lessons for business veterans

What the businesses do have in common are their roots. Both were founded in the 1980s and are now celebrating more than 25 years of success.

“It feels good, 25 years. It’s tiring!” Sunset Grille chef and co-owner Rich Haab said over a cup of coffee at the bar. To celebrate the anniversary, the Sunset Grille will feature weekly Sunday concerts outside on its new deck.

“It feels really wonderful,” stylist and salon founder Moira Selleck, who has been in business for 28 years, said after locking up for the day. Selleck is still thinking about how to celebrate the milestone and show appreciation for her customers. She is considering having a day at the salon where all proceeds go to the North Country Animal League.

Haab founded the Sunset Grille with his wife, Nancy, in 1988, a few years after they met in what used to be Little Avenues Tavern.

When the building went up for sale, the couple went for it.

“We were both up here being ski bums and chefs,” said Haab, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, and they decided to specialize in what they call “Northern Southern barbecue” because they couldn’t find any decent bar food in town.

“There’s nothing like it anywhere else,” Haab said.

Selleck graduated from Stowe High School and studied theater arts in Florida before coming back to her hometown. When one of her close friends, who owned a salon, suggested she study hairstyling, Selleck went for it.

“She was a big influence in my life at the time,” Selleck said of her friend.

After working for a year in Waterbury, Selleck moved to her friend’s salon and eventually bought the place when the owner married and left town.

“It’s something I never dreamed of doing,” Selleck said of hairstyling. “This was an unexpected, unplanned career that I walked into and ended up loving.”

‘Freshen things up’

The restaurant scene has changed over the years, Haab said, and he’s been careful to keep up with the times. Although his core business model has remained the same, the company branched out to social media and started offering more local produce on the menu.

“You have to freshen things up,” he said.

Haab tweaks the menu constantly, as he has ever since he started cooking. “When other people openly copy my ideas, then I come up with new ones,” he said.

Haab said the Stowe restaurant scene is unique because eateries all have their own niches, which helps spread business.

While the hairstyling scene in Stowe used to be all of two salons, the competition has built up to about 13 in Stowe alone, Selleck said.

“It’s changed a lot,” Selleck, who came to Stowe in 1967, said of the town’s hairstyling crowd. “I can tell by my bookkeeping. At least it’s steady,” although it can sometimes be discouraging not to see revenues consistently rising.

Community connections

To remain successful over the decades, both Haab and Selleck have explored numerous ways to promote themselves.

The Sunset Grille has been a member of the Stowe Area Association since it opened, and has been involved in a number of community events, Haab said. For all 25 of its years, the restaurant has hosted Stowe’s Green Up Day, the annual Vermont effort to clean up roadsides.

“When people ask us to help out, we say yes whenever we can,” Haab said.

Together with his sons and daughter, Haab has also participated in barbecue competitions, winning trophies and plaques.

Moira’s Hairstyling contributes a lot to silent auctions and local benefits, Selleck said, and relies on word of mouth for advertising.

“I understand that can make you or break you,” Selleck said, but “I would like our clientele out there to know how much I appreciate their loyalty. … I feel very fortunate that my clientele has mostly consisted of the locals, some of whom have become friends,” she said. It’s very comforting to live in a small town with familiar faces, she said.

Loyal employees

Beyond hard work, Haab said the secrets to his success are consistency, creativity and loyal employees.

His restaurant has remained open from 11:30 a.m. to midnight, 362 days a year, since its founding, steady hours that ensure recommendations from hotels and locals, Haab said.

He also focuses on keeping his product consistently good, but branches out to upgrade the dining experience as time wears on. In fact, he just started smoking his own ham and bacon.

Haab has four or five employees who have been with him for over five years, professional loyalty that ensures good-quality service, he said.

Selleck said her customers come back because of consistent prices, up-to-date styling and high standards.

“I have a passion for color and highlight and I think that shows,” she said. “I just make sure really good work goes out this door.”

Selleck added that several of her employees have stayed for over 10 years, with very low turnover overall.

“I think that says a lot. It’s comfortable, happy, consistent,” she said. Selleck said her customers know the salon is a fun, welcoming environment.

“We have a sense of humor in here,” she said.

Not always pretty

Although Haab said he and his wife love Stowe’s atmosphere and community, the restaurant business isn’t always easy.

“People think it’s so glamorous to own a restaurant, but you have to take on all aspects of the business,” Haab said, such as cleaning up vomit in the restrooms.

“A lot of people in Stowe don’t seem to be going out that much anymore,” Haab said, saying that prices and the need for designated drivers may have discouraged people from leaving home.

He hopes to reverse this trend by reminding people how much fun it is to reconnect in a social setting.

Also, if you go to the Sunset Grille, you might just run into some celebrities.

“Our local representative, Heidi (Scheuermann), comes in here all the time,” Haab said. The entire Boston Bruins ice hockey team has also graced the establishment.

“That kind of stuff makes it fun to own a restaurant,” Haab said. “It’s all about the people you meet.”

Although Haab says he hopes to step back from the restaurant’s day-to-day operations in coming years, he predicts that he’ll be around for a while.

Selleck said she plans eventually to take a few weeks off every winter to snowboard.

“I really haven’t missed a beat,” she said of her 28 years at the salon. “I’ve gotten sick, but always on my day off. It’s funny how that works.”