by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Less groceries and more places to sit and eat are just some of the changes customers will find soon at Farah’s Food Mart & N.Y. Deli on Bay Street.
Kamal Farah, who also owns Farah’s of Downtown across from Hemming Plaza, did a little rearranging to make his place look more like a restaurant and less like a convenience store.
Where he used to have sundry items near the entrance to the store, he now has seating all the way to the front door and the items for sale have been moved to the back.
“It looks more like a restaurant now and people eating there can see out the window,” said Farah. “People would walk by and they would see the groceries and think it was a convenience store.”
Now, when someone wants to buy something they come to the front and he doesn’t have to run from the back to the front to help them.
“Also, I was losing a lot of stuff from when we get really busy and no one was in the front of the store to wait on customers,” said Farah.
With the Berkman Plaza development open, Farah thought the grocery concept would be successful.
“To tell you the truth, the reason I’m not going to cater to some of those people over there is because most of them work during the day, which is the time that I am open,” said Farah. “It [groceries] was a bad move. We thought with Berkman Plaza coming, the people would want grocery items, but they haven’t. Berkman Plaza is a nice place and they have done a nice job with it, but I don’t believe that the people that are coming in over there are going to help us in any way. People are not in here to buy dish soap, laundry soap, macaroni and cheese or hamburger helper.”
Farah did say his business has been supported by the construction workers who have been working on Berkman Plaza.
With the probability that downtown will one day become a 24-hour city, where does Farah’s fit in?
“I’m 60 years old now and I really don’t think that the 24-hour city will be in my lifetime,” he said. “It is going to take a lot of changing, which Jacksonville is doing, but I’ve been down here 28 years and I see how the people are and I know what people want. After work, most of the people want to get in their car, they want to get over that bridge and go home and they don’t want to hang around downtown.”
In addition to the interior, Farah is making a few exterior changes, including renovating and creating a courtyard behind the restaurant for outdoor seating.
“We do have a courtyard in the back and we were waiting for our beer and wine license, which we now have, to work on it,” said Farah. “We are going to remodel our kitchen so customers can have access to the courtyard. I’m planning on putting umbrellas and tables out there.”
Along with his renovations, he will block the alley with a gate to keep out the vagrants.
“I had tables and chairs out there at one time, but they disappeared,” he said. “I’ve talked to the owner of the building and he said I could put a wrought iron gate out there with an opening that I can lock at night. That way it will keep the undesirables out. As soon as the weather cools down, it will certainly be a nice place to have. I will have plants out there and maybe get my daughter Meche [Farah, a local artist] to paint a mural on the wall.”
Because he now has a beer and wine license, he plans for open for Jacksonville Jaguars home games.
“Next Jaguars game we are going to open the back with just cold sandwiches and subs, not the grill, for people to take out,” said Farah.