@conrad : Disappointed with the Journal Star again.... no research or follow up on the blame of the intersection.... and no exploration of the loaded 'changing demographics' attribution.... which is an apparent afterthought at the tail end of the article.

@Mahkno : I'm also disappointed, as I refuted those claims in my interview with him. Andy drank the Stefan Zeller Kool-Aid on this one.Interesting point. Avantis Founder Albert Zeller attended all the meetings related to the intersection improvements and was supportive . He may have been thinking, like the One World guys, that pedestrians getting killed in front of the store was bad for business.

My impression was that Albert was ok with the intersection change. A lot of customers were parking in the 'public' lots already. The younger Stefan has been much less invested in the West Bluff than the father.There were solid management teams in the restaurants when Albert was in charge. Turnover increased with Stefan and quality declined.

It sounds like Avanti's wants to blame everything except themselves. Every restaurant I go to anymore is packed with people and that is true of places that have parking and those that don't.

I think it all boils down to (maybe) newer Bradley students have better taste than their predecessors. And many more options than 50 years ago.

Have no idea what is down on Farmington Rd now. Through the years, the students, at least some of them, used to go down there quite a bit.
The basketball games on campus brought people into the Bradley neighborhood too. That's not the case anymore either.
Also, more ways to get food delivered to the residence halls than there was years ago.
Seems it could be a wide variety of causes that added up to a big problem.

My take... 1) The population that made up their primary customer base has moved. As we have seen with redistricting, there has been significant population decline south of Forest Hill, which is the delivery area for Avanti's on Main.2) There are a LOT more restaurant options today, in the nearby area, than there were ten years ago. If you are not feeling it for average italian food, you got many choices now.3) Ten years ago, you had limited delivery options... pizza, avantis, some chinese places, and that was about it. Now you have GrubHub, Doordash, Uber Eats, and their like facilitating delivery for nearly every restaurant. You want McDonalds delivered? Done. You want Dac's Smokehouse delivered? Done. Jr's Chicken? Done. One World? You bet! Thanh Linh has been doing crazy amounts of delivery, that they never did before. Choices choices choices...4) Even before the pandemic there was a decline in people working downtown. The main street location did a robust lunch delivery business. They would quietly open at 10a to get it rolling. All that has nearly gone away. The pandemic and the shift to work from home has only made it worse.5) Finally... staffing... the Avanti kitchen is tight and cramped. The pay seems to suck. Management is inconsistent. There are more desirable places to work.The intersection? Nah. Sales Tax revenues for the area tell a very different story. That intersection has been good for the area and good for the city. Expect more of it, when they redo Main and redo Western all the way up.

@Mahkno : I agree with everything you've said and think Zeller is playing the blame game here but he does have a valid point. Last Wednesday evening, 5:15-ish?, I drove past the Knoxville location. The lot was fairly full. I remember joking that the 70+ crowd must be rockin' it for dinner tonight. I'm going to guess at the same time Main Street Avantis probably had 3 customers. If I'm sitting in my car at the corner of Sheridan and Forrest Hill and think "Damn, I REALLY want Avanti's tonight!!!", even though I am closer to Main, I'm going to Knoxville; it's just easier. And we all want easier.

The times I have picked up food at the Main location... it has never not been busy. The most recent situation, I waited 30 minutes in line to pick up an order I called in 45 minutes earlier. That was all a staffing issue.Another instance.... daytime, 4ish ... guy rolls up and parks right outside the carryout door (there is on street parking there), comes in... pays for his carryout... ***** loudly about the intersection... gets food... and instantly drives off... yes people let him out. Mind you this guy rolled up and is gone in less than 5 minutes and only had to walk 20 feet... but that intersection was awful.... lol... The man had the ideal carryout experience. The only thing that would have made it more perfect was if the cashier brought his food out to his car. You can get that kind of service across the street at One World. That place with NO parking of it's own. The cognitive dissonance is strong in people. One World Pizza > Avanti's

@AntiRanchDrssng : The Main Street Avantis dining room was closed and has been closed since 2019. You would have had the experience of encountering a locked door.

@Mahkno : And how often does an empty space just happen to be empty right in front, the order is ready, and kind people allow instant egress? I'll buy a lottery ticket.

Buh Bye"Unfortunately several crew members have chosen not to work today and therefore we are closing the Main Street location effective immediately. Our Rockwood location is ready to accept Delivery and Pickup business starting today for those Main Street customers wanting those services." - 10a.m. update to Facebook.

@PeoriaIllinoisan : Vicious 2 edged sword. Tell employees you are closing and they don't show up because they have found other jobs or don't care since they won't have employment. You are then screwed.
You just close leaving employees screwed/without jobs and you are a ruthless, uncaring @ZZh0le.
I was like Avanti's and gave my employees two weeks warning. I had three employees left the day I closed.

ppprecipients.com/vi ew.php?did=214567

@bgbird68 :
That was probably to keep the entire company open, with four other locations, not just the University/Main location.