by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
It would be interesting to see how many customers would be drawn to breakfast and lunch at Wade’s Place if more hungry people knew where to find it.
Odds are the line would snake around the corner of the concourse of the SunTrust building.
Wade Niergarth wouldn’t mind finding out. Most of his clientele work in those upper floors of the SunTrust building, and he sees most of them over and over again.
He is allowed to put out a sign on the building’s property to announce that day’s luncheon specials. But he can’t advertise on the sidewalk.
Niergarth is certain that being permitted to put his signs in more prominent spots would be a boost for business.
“It couldn’t hurt,” he said. “There’s still a lot of people down here who don’t know where we are.”
None of which is to say business is bad. There are easier tasks than trying to string an uninterrupted three-minute conversation together with Niergarth during the early hours of the day.
“We probably have the best overall breakfast setup downtown, with our riders, croissants, bagels and burritos,” he said, as customers flowed in and out of the small restaurant. “And we have, without question, the best bacon in town.”
Still, as the fortunes of the SunTrust building shift, so do Niergarth’s. Occupancy is down. Business is tepid — for the moment.
“It’s a good location when the building fills up,” he said. “It’s very dependent on the building occupancy. SunTrust is moving out in June. They’re talking to other people about moving in, but I don’t know of anything that’s been finalized.”
Niergarth is a native of Atlanta and earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing at Florida State University. He has worked in sales management and was a branch manager for Lance Snack Foods.
The spot that became Wade’s Place was a Stand ’n’ Snack during the 1980s. It was sold in 1990. Niergarth became familiar with the location because he sold restaurant supplies to the new owners.
When he bought the business five years ago, he knew it was “a really good opportunity.”
“I thought this was a really good set-up,” he said. “You’re in your own business. You only work days, regular days. No weekends, no nights, no holidays.”
When he first bought the small restaurant, Niergarth felt that traffic was not what it could be. So he made a small adjustment that made a big difference.
“They used to smoke cigarettes in here,” he said. “We cleaned all that out, and business was really good.”
Those who work in the SunTrust building will always be Niergarth’s “bread and butter,” but catering is also “a solid 10 percent” of the business.
“We have some regular catering, pretty standard weekly catering to buildings downtown,” he said. “There’s nothing scheduled, but we’re pretty regular with some of them.”
Niergarth does just about everything at the restaurant except regularly work his kitchen. There, he gets some obviously appreciated assists from Maria Tompkins and Linda Hartley.
Activity in his section of downtown hasn’t been as intense as in others, Niergarth said. He’s eager for that to change.
Once the new county courthouse is finished, the Humana and SunTrust buildings should be packed with tenants, he predicted. And then, the sky’s the limit.
“It’s doing better than I thought it would be five years ago,” Niergarth said. “All we’ve got to do is fill this building up, and this is going to be an unbelievable business. It really will.”