Nothing was a more concrete illustration of how the public felt about Tom Sandoval than the blow to his company. Schwartz & Sandy’s, the bar he opened with the Vanderpump Rules star Tom Schwartzwas effectively “cancelled” by fans angered by his affair with Rachel Leviss.
Schwartz & Sandy’s was boycotted and flooded with bad reviews. Now Schwartz is talking numbers. And in a recent interview, he revealed exactly how much his income stream has been hit.
Schwartz called the fallout a “spectacle”
“This year almost broke me,” Schwartz exclusively revealed to Entrepreneur. “I’m glad we persevered, (but) there was a point where I wasn’t sure if we were going to do it.”
“Our names are on the side of this building, so that comes with some responsibility,” Schwartz added. “I have never felt such a concentrated dose of negativity, especially online. It was a spectacle.
Indeed, Schwartz often spoke about the impact of public anger on him. It was not just an emotional reaction, but also the fear of losing his business.
The entrepreneur asked him what the “immediate effects of real-time fallout” were.
Schwartz’s business partner and longtime restaurateur Greg Morris was also on hand to discuss the numbers. When the bar opened in November 2022, it was only making a “modest 60% of projected revenue.” The following weeks were marked by steady growth.
” Right after ScandovalHowever, we saw a rapid increase in activity, but it was short-lived,” Greg explained. “After experiencing a 30% increase in our turnover in four to five weeks, we saw our figures decline precipitously. Week after week we saw the numbers drop, sometimes by 50% per week. At our lowest point, we gave up about 80% of our business.
Schwartz added: “People have really rallied behind us. We discussed rebranding or temporarily closing.
The “keyboard critics” were relentless, according to the VPR star. The restaurant went from “good reviews” from “4.6 stars” to around “2.5 stars”.
“It’s really detrimental to businesses: cancel culture and keyboard criticism. It was such a weird world experience. People were angry; they were excited. Things got dark and weird,” Schwartz said.
What’s next for Schwartz & Sandy’s?
Now that the restaurant is out of the red, Schwartz feels a “new sense of optimism and enthusiasm.” And that means a refresh at Schwartz & Sandy’s.
“We are currently working on new dishes, new drinks and a new music program. We’re going to do some subtle redesigns, we’re also working on something to tie all these places (VPR) together. People call it “Vandercrawl,” which is why we’re putting together a little tour for Tom Tom, Jax’s Studio City (owned by former castmate Jax Taylor), as well as Schwartz and Sandy’s. It’s moving, and I think people will really enjoy it. It’s going to be special,” Schwartz revealed.
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