To the uninitiated (landlocked) segment of the club and resort fraternity, managing a “boat club” might seem to be primarily a matter of avoiding accidents and traffic jams in the harbor, with maybe some par-3 holes and a sandwich-and-beer stand available for members after they’ve grown tired of being on the water.
Unfortunately, with more than a few boat clubs today, that’s not too far from the case. And truth be told, 40 years ago that description would have also applied pretty well to the Catawba Island Club (CIC), a property at the tip of a small spit of land that juts into Lake Erie in north central Ohio, halfway between Toledo and Cleveland.
Founded in 1928 as the Catawba Cliffs Beach Club, the property was acquired in the late 1960s by a development company headed by James Stouffer, Sr., from the third generation of the Stouffer family business that made its mark in restaurants, frozen foods and hotels. To devote his full attention to the newly acquired club, Stouffer resigned as President of the restaurant and inns division of the family business—but as he plunged in to try to work with what he’d bought, he may have wondered more than a few times just what he’d gotten himself into.
“The property had suffered a lot from the Depression and World War II, and then continued to have hardships through the ‘50s and ‘60s,” says Jim Stouffer, Jr., who now owns the club in partnership with his two sisters, Sarah and Susan, and serves as its Chairman & CEO.
Chef Susan Davila welcomes the competitive challenges created by the absence of food minimums. Assistant Club Manager Jonathan Wierzba and other staffers constantly follow their GM’s lead in searching for new ways to make members happy.
“When my father acquired it, it had really fallen flat,” he adds. “There was just a handful of docks, a gravel parking lot, no pool or tennis courts, and just a rudimentary golf course.”
Two things still did exist, though, to offer hope that the property could be revived: the glorious sunsets that could always be seen over Lake Erie, and the vivid vision for what CIC could become that was burned into Jim Stouffer, Sr.’s mind.
“Those are two things you couldn’t duplicate anywhere else,” says his son. “Even though northern Ohio wasn ‘t exactly known then as a boating mecca, my father was a good five to ten years ahead of the curve in seeing what the club could become. The same entrepreneurial instincts that helped our family pioneer new services and products in the food and hospitality business served him well as he set out to make this a place that could attract people from all of the nearby metropolitan areas—not just Cleveland and Toledo, but also Detroit and Columbus and places even farther away—and change people’s ideas about where to go for their vacations or retirements.”
Something for Everyone
Unfortunately, Jim Stouffer, Sr. only got 10 years to put his vision into place, as he died in 1979 at just 47 years of age. But even in that short period, he completely reversed the deteriorating trend for the CIC property, and made it clear that the club would never again run the risk of being a place where everything beyond moving the boats around looked like an afterthought.
Jim Stouffer, Jr. and his sisters now uphold the family’s tradition of management excellence at CIC.
And since his death, his children have combined with a talented and dedicated staff, led by General Manager Mike Schenk, to more than maintain the momentum. Next year, in fact, will mark a major milestone for the property, when it opens the final holes of its new Arthur Hillsdesigned championship golf course—with an expanded pro shop and gleaming new bar/grill overlooking one of the showcase holes.
“We’ve learned that you can’t just think in terms of boaters and non-boaters, ” Stouffer says. “There’s a lot of overlap between the groups, and in many cases, when they come to a place like this and get exposed to the other activities, or change their lifestyles as they get older or their family situations change, they also shift their emphasis from one activity to another.
“We also see that the life-style we’re promoting here, with the full range of club activities and the surrounding real estate development, can be every bit as appealing in this northern location—maybe more so—than in Florida or New Mexico or Arizona,” Stouffer adds. “ There are many people who will be happy to stay in the Midwest for their vacation or retirement needs, if you provide all the things they want and need. And there’s a lot to be said for how much less crowded it can be here.”
The final holes of an Arthur Hills-directed renovation will be done by Memorial Day 2007, giving CIC a championship course that management expects to become a destination of its own. Food Worth Coming Back For
To go right along with great golf and other land-based activities such as a fitness center, the CIC food and beverage operation has also continued to rise to new levels under the direction of Schenk, who first worked at CIC in 1976, during a summer internship while a hospitality student at Michigan State. That gave him his initial first-hand exposure, through direct tutelage under Jim Stouffer, Sr., to the type of special atmosphere the family sought to create at the club. After graduating, Schenk went to work for Stouffer’s restaurant division in Detroit. And when the opportunity arose to come to CIC as General Manager, he jumped at the chance to return to what he already recognized as a unique setting.
Certainly, Catawba Island presents its challenges on the food and beverage side. Schenk and his staff have built F&B at CIC into a $2 million annual operation, of which 70% is a la carte business—” and it’s a hard a la carte,” Schenk notes, with no dining assessments to provide any articifical support. The club is always looking for ways to achieve a better balance by expanding its wedding/banquet business and hosting more business conferences in the Monday through Thursday “shoulder season.” But it’s somewhat handcuffed in these efforts not only by its location, but also the smaller event rooms in the original beach club hotel (see photo) that still serves as the primary clubhouse.
General Manager Mike Schenk’s hands-on approach doesn’t go unnoticed, by either members or staff.
Management would also like to make CIC more of a year-round destination, but because of the infamous “Lake Erie snow effect,” the property becomes a bit too much of a winter wonderland, effectively limiting it to pretty much a nine month operation at best, except for some wellattended member events for the winter holidays.
(The winters can be so severe, in fact, that Schenk once made an off-season hire solely because a candidate fought his way through a particularly brutal snowstorm to have an interview. “He got here and I said, ‘You made it, so you’ve got the job,’ “ Schenk recalls.)
Working with these inherent limitations, CIC has tried to do all it can to build auxiliary meeting and banquet facilities and dining spots on the property. Its new lakeside pool area (see photo), built five years ago for $1 million, has done much to boost revenues, Schenk says. “It’s been a big plus to have the outdoor bar and light foodservice [at the new pool],” he says. “Sales of smoothies, adult drinks and snacks there really helped us get off a flat line for F&B revenues.”
The long-standing casual dining atmosphere at CIC—a no-ties dress code has bee
n in effect for 20 years—has done much to generate repeat business.
Still, “regular” dining will always hold the key to F&B success at CIC. To make the most of it, the club relies on innovative menus, great service, and a relaxed atmosphere. “We were way ahead of the curve when it comes to casual dress,” Schenk says. “We put in a no-ties dress code in the mid-’80s [see side bar], and it’s really helped to make people feel more comfortable about using the club as their primary dining option on several occasions, both day and night, during the week.”
But knowing that the clientele is comfortable doesn’t stop the CIC staff from being ever-diligent about what it serves its diners—and how. “Our overriding philosophy is, ‘We’re only as good as our next meal,’ “ Schenk says.
On the menu and preparation side, that means that Chef Susan Davila and staff (which includes her husband, Chaney, as an on-site pastry chef ) are constantly looking for new ways to feature the fresh vegetables and herbs that are grown organically on site, and the fresh lake fish, such as perch and walleye, that are so abundantly available because of the club’s location.
Chef Davila says she actually welcomes the absence of dining assessments at the club, because it keeps the creativity flowing. “Competition is always out there,” she says. “Last year, a sushi restaurant opened up nearby that created new challenges for us.” In response, Davila has stepped up efforts to highlight more “light” items, such as chicken en papillote or a modified shrimp scampi (see recipe).
While Davila and her staff focus on keeping menu offerings fresh and flavorful, the service side stays thoroughly schooled, under Schenk’s direction, to do anything needed to ensure the best possible dining experience and leave nothing to chance.
“Mike has a wealth of knowledge and is always finding new ways to make the members happy,” notes Assistant Club Manager Jonathan Wierzba, who, along with Assistant Clubhouse Manager David Dunn and Dining Room Manager Mary Ann Alton, leads the day-to-day drive for F&B service excellence.
Adds Dunn: “Everyone sees how Mike won’t hesitate to pitch in to do something like move tables, and it instantly creates a tremendous amount of respect and a sense that ‘no job is unimportant.’ “
The original beach club hotel still serves as CIC’s primary clubhouse, and some of the lodging rooms have been retained and are made available to members and guests. Ongoing Legacy
The examples that Schenk and his staff are constantly setting really stem from lessons learned through CIC’s connection with the original Stouffer Company, which grew from a buttermilk-and-pie stand started by Abraham and Mahala Stouffer in downtown Cleveland in 1915 to eventually became a $120 million business before it merged in 1967 with Litton Industries. (Stouffer Foods now exists as part of the Nestle Corporation, while the Stouffer Hotel Company is now part of Renaissance Hotels and Resorts.)
As challenging as it may have been, though, for the Stouffer family to go from such humble beginnings to that eventual payoff, Jim Stouffer, Jr. doesn’t think for a minute that the family’s current line of business is any more of a cakewalk.
“This is a tough industry, with a business model that’s as tough as it gets,” he says. “To make it work, we have to focus equal attention on three strategies: the club and hospitality business, the marina, and real estate development. And in each area, we have to be religious about getting the proper return on investment, and then making the right reinvestments as we generate cash flow.”
Stouffer and Schenk also feel that the family ownership of the club, while offering a welcome break from the need to manage through member committees, also makes it more critical to find other ways to listen, and respond to, member needs.
An expanded pro shop, to be opened in conjunction with the completion of the upgraded championship course, will continue to promote club pride through a variety of CIC items.
“You can never stand still,” Stouffer adds. “We purposely have a membership drive every few years, no matter where our numbers are, just to remind ourselves of who we are and what we want to be. It’s a good process to go through, just to make sure you’re not letting yourself get too stuffy, pretentious, or complacent.”
And oh, by the way—nothing is left to chance at CIC when it comes to what might appear to be the biggest “given” about its operations: its marina. Under the direction of Marina General Manager Jack Madison, and implemented on a daily basis by dedicated and experienced staffers such as Harbourmaster Jim Wildman, Scheduler Amy Shiets, and Paint Shop Manager Jim Rakocy, the “boat” part of the Catawba Island Club is equally impressive for its attention to detail and determination to stay ahead of the competition.
“Jim Stouffer has always felt very strongly that [the CIC marina operations] have to survive on their own—we don’t force members to use our services, and we’re always well aware of what their other options are,” says Madison. So ownership has also reinvested sizable sums in heated storage facilities and other ways to serve and pamper the 320 boatowners who use CIC slips and do expect the “boat part” of the club to do more than just avoid accidents, too. C&RB
Oakmont Country Club At A Glance ■ Year Established: 1928 (as Catawba Cliffs Beach Club) ■ Number of Members: 1,250 ■ Employees: 220 (100 full-time) ■ F&B Revenues: $2 Million ■ Chairman & CEO: Jim Stouffer, Jr. ■ General Manager: Mike Schenk ■ General Manager, Marina Ops.: Jack Madison ■ Chief Financial Officer: Steve May ■ Golf Course Superintendent: Bob Griffen ■ Head Golf Pro: Chuck Redmond ■ Chef: Susan Davila ■ Fitness Director: Toni Garrett ■ Harbourmaster: Jim Wildman ■ Assistant Club Manager: Jonathan Wierzba ■ Assistant Clubhouse Manager: David Dunn
Plain and Simple
Many clubs struggle with “going casual” because they can’t decide, or effectively communicate, just what should and shouldn’t be allowed. Casual dress has been the norm for 20 years at the Catawba Island Club, and is credited with creating a comfortable atmosphere that keeps members coming back for several meals each week. Here are some of the simple “dos and don’ts” definitions that have worked well for the club:
• For breakfast and lunch, casual attire in good taste is always acceptable.
• For dinner, we require men to wear a collared or banded-collar dress shirt. In the main dining room, sport coats are required on Saturday evenings only.
• We always allow shorts at night in the Captain’s Walk [a nautical themed bar and grill].
• Nice jeans are acceptable in all dining areas except the main dining room.
• For men, hats are not appropriate attire for any inside dining rooms. For women, dress hats only are allowed.
• Women may wear dressy walking shorts or walking short outfits.
• Ties are never a required part of our dress code for men in any dining area.
• T-shirts are never appropriate attire in the evening.
• Men’s tank tops are never acceptable in any dining room, in the clubhouse, or on the patio.
• Children over 16 should please respect the sport coat rule in the appropriate dining rooms at night.
• On Sundays, a traditional family day, casual dining is available all day in all dining rooms. Shorts are permissible. Hats and tank tops are inappropriate for men of all ages. Please note that some t-shirts may be deemed inappropriate because of their content.
• Casual dress, including shorts, is permissible on the patio. Dogs are not allowed on the patio.
• At night, please understand we may have to turn away any improperly dressed members or guests. This is a judgment call.
Half of CIC’s 1,250 members are boaters, but an equally large group is attracted to the club’s many land-based activities. One of the biggest hits is proving to be the lakeside pool area created through a $1 million upgrade five years ago.
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