Less paperwork hassle boosts numbers at outdoor cafes

KLAIPEDA - With the early summer temperatures hovering at over 25 degrees, forget indoor cafes, wine bars and cocktail lounges - outside beer gardens and cafes are hot, both literally and figuratively, right now. Last year, Vilnius Municipality issued roughly 100 permits to set up outdoor cafes; Kaunas and Klaipeda Municipalities granted them to 60 and 50 cafe proprietors, respectively. Undoubtedly, the numbers will spike up this summer, as Lithuanian municipalities, in anticipation of thousands of basketball fans swarming the European Basketball Championship in Lithuania this fall, already in winter scrambled to facilitate the permit-issuing order. Thus, for instance, Kaunas municipality has exempted the city’s outdoor cafe proprietors from the local tax levy, while Vilnius municipality ceased requiring outdoor cafe owners to renew their cafe project plans yearly – it will suffice to do so just once every three year from now on.

International Hanza Days in Kaunas, from May 19-22, has brought thousands of guests from all over Europe – most of them snuggled outdoors with a mug of local brew in their hands. “The event has shown clearly that foreigners, weather permitting, opt for sipping beer in outdoor beer gardens. For a long time, we had erroneously thought that [sitting] outdoors is an attribute of a country in the south. It turns out that most prefer outdoors over white-gloved service in deluxe restaurants in Lithuania. Sure, the sun must be up to have folks outside,” Viktoras Jermalavicius, owner of a Kaunas cafe, maintained to The Baltic Times.

Kaunas Municipality, in a pursuit of the enlivenment of the city’s cafes, has passed a Municipality Council ruling exempting local cafe owners from the local tax levy from April 15 to October 15. The levy averages 0.15 litas (0.04 euros) per square meter of outdoor cafe space in the central part of Kaunas. It is reported that Kaunas Municipality, due to the exemption, did not receive 9,000 litas from the levy in 2009, and over 30,000 litas last year.

“Undoubtedly, the exemption was a big boost,” Jermalavicius asserts. Lithuanian tourism experts praise Kaunas’ entrepreneurs for tastefully setting up outdoor cafes, though point out their wait staff’s poor command of foreign languages.
After the International Hanza Days in Kaunas were over, some cafe proprietors claimed they saw a double or triple increase in turnover during the event. Most of the sales occurred outdoors.

“Lithuania’s climate perhaps does not pamper us with an abundance of hot summer days. In some sense, they are of golden value. If a waiter does not politely suggest to a passer-by to take a seat outdoors, the cafe will definitely lose the customer. It is naive to expect he or she will walk in and have a seat inside. You have to fight for every client, especially nowadays,” Indre Tautkute-Stankuviene, marketing director of Berneliu Uzeigos (Lads’ Tavern), a trendy restaurant in Kaunas, said.

Image experts note that outdoor cafes enliven the city, make it cozier and, certainly, attract more clients, especially foreign tourists. Cafe owners maintain that these kinds of cafes in summer fetch as much as double the revenues compared to indoor cafes. “We started preparing for the summer in advance, as early as winter. Sure, our hopes are particularly projected on the approaching European Basketball Championship. We expect a lot from it,” Alvyda Eigminiene, deputy director for expansion at JSC Viciunu Restoranu Grupe (Viciunai Restaurant Group) said to the daily Kauno diena.

She notices that the cafe and restaurant business has bottomed out already in Kaunas, and is gradually showing more robustness. “After several loss-producing summers in a row, last summer, profit-wise, was good. Fortunately, Lithuanians do hang out and eat out more often. I hope the trend will gain some bigger speed,” the deputy director said.

Kaunas Municipality and its former mayor, Andrius Kupcinskas, have long been thinking of measures to enliven the city. It seems that they, along with the economic recovery underway, are producing the cherished results. “Our students, who study abroad in the Erasmus program, come back to Kaunas, and are often pleasantly astonished by the liveliness of Laisves Aleja (Freedom Alley), something that has been missing for so many years. That is what I hear from my students,” notices Antanas Vaidelys, communication deputy director of Kaunas College.

Restaurant business experts unanimously agree that Kaunas, Vilnius and Klaipeda, the three largest Lithuanian cities, have recently done a lot in catching up with the summer capital, the hustling-and-bustling Palanga. “Obviously, restaurateurs and cafe owners of the cities have perceived that outdoors are the spots where all life bustles and the money is in summer. However, even anticipating the buzz of the coming Euro basketball, it all depends on the weather,” Alfonsas Ambrazas, owner of Gaire (Landmark), inferred.

Azuolas Gaizutis, owner of cafe Skliautas (Dome) in Kaunas, says that tourist numbers pick up every summer in Kaunas. However, he expresses cautious expectations for the summer season. “All much-advertised venues result in customers outdoors. However, the scale of the hanging out depends not only on the weather, but also on the Lithuanian team’s play in the Championship,” Gaizutis says.

Putting weather and basketball factors away, all entrepreneurs agree that the municipalities’ decisions to ease up the procedures needed to set up an outdoor cafe have served as the main catalyst for boosting outdoor business. Before, cafe proprietors in Vilnius would need to receive the so-called outdoor cafe projects every year. However, since 2009, the nerve-racking lengthy procedures have been simplified. It is enough to have the projects issued once in three years now. “The old order was a big hassle to everyone. Even if you knew that your outdoor terrace takes up the same territory, you would need to collect a dozen necessary signatures. Now all is simple,” the aforementioned Ambrazas maintained.

Vilnius Municipality had announced competitions for running outdoor terraces this year in four new spots, namely, in the proximity of Vingis Park, Sauletekis alley, Verslas Triangle and in Rudininkai Square. To the surprise of many, only Rudininkai Square has received quick interest, while the rest of the offers saw no bids. “The Municipality is trying to satisfy every request to open an outdoor cafe. If businessmen see a spot in the city where they think an outdoor cafe business can go well, we are ready to consider the spots and announce competitions,” Virgina Skiriene, deputy head of Vilnius Municipality’s Trade and Service Department, affirmed to the business daily Verslo zinios recently.

Another Vilnius Municipality representative, Rasa Cibulskiene, head of the Investment Projects Department, notes that this year in Vilnius there will be approximately 20 outdoor cafes that will operate separately - not next to adjacent stationary indoor cafes. “It is a good sign; however, in comparison with other major European cities, the number is low. There should be more such outdoor cafes in Vilnius,” Cibulskiene asserted to the daily 15 minuciu.
She says that the trendiest spots for setting up outdoor cafes in Vilnius remain Vilnius Old City, particularly Vokieciu Street and Rotuses Square (Townhall Square).

Jolanta Beniuliene, head of Vilnius Tourism Information Center, concurs with the municipality representative on the shortage of outdoor terraces in Vilnius. “When we go abroad, we all see that life simmers along considerably more actively there. It is very disappointing upon this realization. I happened to be in Tallinn in early spring this year, and I was astonished by the liveliness of the city - outdoor cafes were set up all over - regardless of the rather chilly temperatures: + 5-10 Celsius,” Beniuliene maintained to 15 minuciu. She thinks that Vilnius Municipality ought to show more flexibility in filling the void in Vilnius.
When it comes to Palanga, a seaside town in the west, the scales shift heavily towards outdoors. “In the hot summer, like last year’s, you could shut down indoor cafes and no one would have missed them, as flocks would swarm to outdoor cafes and terraces,” Audronius Macius, owner of Baras 21, in Palanga, claimed to The Baltic Times.

He says that indoor cafes are necessary only in the off-season. “In Palanga, it is absolutely loss-making to have them only in summer. During high-season, folks want to chill out outdoors,” he said. “Having a cover from the sun and rain in an outdoor cafe is a necessity,” he added. The cafe owner said he built his indoor and adjacent outdoor cafes ten years ago. Had they been somewhere else, the man says, he might consider expansion of the outdoor space; however, he does not have the possibility for this in his cafe in Palanga.

Inga Draksaite, head of Armeniski Saslykai (Armenian Kebabs), notes that investments into outdoor settings can be “endless,” however, they all need large resources. “It all depends on the vision and goals. If one strives to install an extremely good outdoor cafe, it will require large investments. In my instance, I have ordered just outdoor tables and benches; being money-conscious, I have done the rest myself. I have planted flowers and decorative bushes, and I trim them myself,” Draksaite acknowledged.

She stressed that the scope of investments is determined by whether the cafe is being rented or is owned. “Ownership triggers a more meticulous approach to your business and putting in order a cafe’s surroundings,” she said. She admitted that setting up and impeccably maintaining an outdoor cafe can be a costly matter. However, she says, it is an entrepreneur’s breadwinner in summer.

Director of cafe Ronzes Uostas (Ronze Seaport), Daiva Buciene, points out that outdoor cafes, as a rule, net large profits in Palanga resort, however, their maintenance is costly and effort-consuming. “As our cafe is close to the seaside, there is always a lot of sand around it, a result of a gust of wind. Therefore, every year, we have to sweep the beach sand away and bring black soil, plant grass, and water it. Fortunately, we do not have to bring water from afar, as we take it from a nearby rivulet. However, all maintenance is costly,” the Palanga businesswoman said.

She says she would be eager to have more plants and flowers outside; however, she cannot afford hiring a gardener for this whim. As for profitability, she chimes in with the rest of Palanga cafe owners, “Outdoors fetch the largest bulk of income in summer. It cannot be otherwise in Palanga in summer,” says a convinced Uostas.