Al’s State Street and Al’s South Street Café

Location

Industry

Business Broker

Situation

The owners of Al’s South Street Café wanted to retire and contacted BayState Business Brokers to broker the sale of this popular lunch spot in downtown Boston.

BayState Business Brokers’ Approach

Business broker Bil Zarch prepared to market the business and initially targeted strategic buyers to generate interest in the business. He then shifted the strategy to attract an individual buyer as the café presented an ideal business opportunity to buy a robust business serving lunch Monday through Friday.

There was great interest in the business opportunity but a group of buyers, a dad and his two sons, were especially interested in the cafe, but also wanted to buy the iconic Al’s State Street location.

The owner of this location was not intending to sell at this time, but an agreement was reached, and the buyers moved forward in acquiring both locations on State Street and South Street in Boston.

Results

The two sons had been in the Boston area for years while the father had been living in Albania running their large, family-owned bakery. Acquiring both Al’s South Street Café and Al’s State Street presented a great business opportunity for the family as they planned to introduce their own baked bread to the lunch menu enhancing the menu and significantly reducing a significant expense to the business.

Bil Zarch quarterbacked the sale of both businesses as each had different ownership structures and different accounting firms. Finalizing the financials was time consuming due to older accounting systems, but throughout the sales process the two parties had a collegial relationship and were committed to making the sale happen.

With a large and loyal clientele, the buyers sought to build the brand, expand the business and continue to be a destination lunch place for Bostonians.

The sellers, an uncle, son and nephew, went above and beyond to work alongside the new owners helping them to be set up for continued success.