Success brings its own unique set of challenges. The Capitol Hill Club is located at the very nexus of legislative power in Washington, D.C., just one block from the U.S. Capitol. Its members are largely drawn from those serving in Congress, and the club has traditionally been a favorite of those on the Republican side of the aisle.
This club, with its focus on dining banquets and private meetings, is a popular destination well-suited for its members’ purposes. Politics is a people business and thus the proverbial horse-trading, compromising, strategizing and just plain socializing that lubricates the gears of government find their ideal backdrop here. The Capitol Hill Club may not have invented the power lunch, but it carries forward that tradition forward magnificently.
The Capitol Hill Club is a busy club with a lot of facility available for its memberships and their varying needs. There are, General Manager Stan Lawson explains, “Five floors of pure social dining club,” amounting to 38,000 square feet. There are a couple floors devoted to private dining rooms; there are the main and “Presidential” dining facilities; and then there is the very popular Grill Room situated in the lower level.
Indeed, the Grill Room has become a first choice for many club members in their daily dining routine. Especially with Congress in session, it seems more and more members were seeking out their favorite club offerings with a lunch-mate in the comfortable and convenient surroundings offered by the Grill Room. Over time, the swell in demand has been substantial. The Grill Room is such a go-to place for members that in 2015 revenues surged 24 percent more than 2014 levels.
But success does not come without complications. In the case of The Capitol Hill Club, this lunch crowd brought with it long wait times for tables and, as a result, some dissatisfaction among members. Complaints were heard: “I show up at 11:30 a.m. and you already have a line for lunch.”
The club’s management was concerned. Perhaps they recalled Yogi Berra’s devastating analysis of a popular St. Louis dining establishment: “Nobody goes there any more, it’s too crowded.” The situation called for action and so they sprang into problem-solving mode.
It took a bit of time and study. Management tapped some expert advice; opinions from club members were of course sought and a precise solution was devised. It was a very smart approach in that it conjured up a fix without a dramatic refashioning of the very popular grill or big price tag for a radical reset.
This logic was unassailable: let’s do a better job of matching supply with demand—Econ 101.
Define the Problem: “We were getting killed by deuces,” recalls Lawson. Parties of two were routinely being seated at four-top tables, as more and more “deuces” piled up at the door together with the occasional large group looking for seating.
Reallocate Resources: Consistent with this usage data, the management arrived at a strategic re-adjustment of the seating configuration consistent with the space available and with much of the existing furnishings. Simply put, the club needed more two tops (and fewer four tops), but also desired to retain the flexibility to quickly and conveniently serve the larger groups that inevitably appeared.
Implement: The new floor plan called for about 10 more tables, which would now be configured as two tops (a few more chairs were required as well). The club also made “judicious” use of banquette seating—something not previously employed—which could easily accommodate the larger groups as well as the more typical table of 2.
Monitor: Before this change, reports Lawson, the staff might stretch to serve 140 lunches, whereas now 170 to 180 lunches is “really easy.” They are now turning the room almost three times in the 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. peak lunch period. Average check size has not changed, but the wait times, when they do occur, are likely to be half as long—more like 15 minutes instead of 30. Seating is slightly tighter, but does not appear to detract from either the overall dining experience or the capacity of the wait staff to work efficiently. The problem of excessive wait times has been effectively addressed.
A Philosophy of Adaptability and Flexibility
Though The Capitol Hill Club may adopt a style of operation that reflects a more conservative and traditional philosophy, the management must nevertheless stay abreast of changing preferences and styles. This can affect everything from menu offerings to space utilization.
For example, the club does an appreciable number of banquets and private parties. The purpose may vary—fundraising, celebratory occasions, political organizing—but over time Lawson and his team have observed that the size of such gatherings seems now to be favoring smaller and more intimate gatherings. Thus management philosophy—as illustrated in the Grill Room challenge—has been to match club resources more closely to member needs. Three years ago, four private dining rooms on one floor were reconfigured to provide six more right-sized intimate spaces with valued features like sound-absorbent walls. In this way, the number and size of rooms dedicated to such private parties had proven subject to change and adjustments to better serve more members.
Politics is nothing if not unpredictable. There are elections cycles, legislative calendars and the transitory nature of elective office. Thus The Capitol Hill Club wisely adapts to these changes while remaining true to its larger mission and purpose. There seems a larger lesson here for other clubs—whatever their core membership constituency might be—about the resiliency of the club concept itself.
The club membership and the social and capital assets they build and safeguard (especially the clubhouse) serve as a renewable and adaptable resource. The essential challenge is to understand member needs and expectations and then to set about in ways both systematic and creative to make the world and our various corners in it a better place, capable of doing more.
Club Trends Fall 2016