Kate DeMarco and Meg MacDonald graduated Plymouth State University in 2008 and now own the newly opened Panther Pub & Grill together. They are both 23 years old from Salem, N.H. DeMarco and Macdonald attended PSU in 2004 as business admin majors with communications minors. Demarco was left unsatisfied living in the dorms her fall semester of her first year, so by spring semester she bought a house off campus. DeMarco lived in it and rented the additional rooms to other PSU students. By her sophomore year she bought a second house, which was also rented out to students. DeMarco and MacDonald sat down with us at the Panther Pub & Grill on 22 Main Street. For the meeting we sat in a comfortable booth, which made the atmosphere very friendly and casual. Kate and Meg viewed their large 20-seat bar while we got a nice view of sports memorabilia and one of the many flat screen televisions.
The Clock: Is this always something you wanted to do?Katie DeMarco and Meg MacDonald: No, we were going to go into nursing, but it seemed a lot better until we actually did it.
TC: How did you buy two houses and become a landlord at such a young age?KD: Buying, selling, renting houses and flipping properties has always been a family hobby, so when I was unhappy living in the dorms I thought it would be a good idea to buy a house off-campus. It ended up being cheaper because the house paid itself back.
TC: Was it hard being a landlord and a student?KD: Yes, it was challenging being a landlord and still a student. I was [also] a manager for the basketball team for many years so it got hard trying to juggle all three. However, I was able to use the experience of owning two houses in my classes. It gave me a lot of ideas about how to structure things. It got difficult when some students gave me a hard time as renters because I was younger than they were.
TC: How did you go from being a landlord to owning a pub?KD: In my sophomore year I started looking in to restaurants around Plymouth. I looked at 6 Burner Bistro and Plymouth Trolley but it wasn’t the right time or opportunity to buy. My parents used to own a seasonal restaurant and for two years and Meg and I used to be managers at my aunt’s ice cream business. It was kind of like we owned it and we got used to the restaurant business.
TC: Did you ever think that after graduating from Plymouth you would open a pub?KD: No. Because of the recession we thought we would just get our master’s from Plymouth and stay in property management. Then the opportunity to buy the property for the pub came along.
TC: How did you find the location for the Panther Pub and how did you go about buying it?KD: Meg and I worked for Robert’s Eatery for a month, which was the establishment prior to the Panther Pub, so we were aware that the business was struggling and the property was for sale. We put together a 12-page business plan and tried various banks to approve our plan. Most banks would not even talk to me because of my age. Community Guaranty Savings Bank, the one right across the street is the only one who would talk to us and they finally approved the plan. We started in March and took one task at a time.
TC: How did you manage to turn Robert’s Eatery into the Panther Pub?KD: Well, Meg thought of the name and by combining our ideas [we] made our dream come true. We started remodeling in April and that lasted until September. We interviewed numerous contractors to build what we had in mind. We changed everything around, made windows and a door into a wall and utilized the space to make it bigger. I could not have done it without the help of my family and friends: they were up here every week during construction. My parents were up helping every weekend and my roommates and friends helped out all summer painting. Just until recently none of the tables were finished and my dad had to assemble them by hand. We also wanted to make sure that no matter where you sit in the Pub that you always have a view of one of the TVs. The bar is unique. It is made from varnished logs from a local saw mill and it’s one of the few square bars in Plymouth. The sports memorabilia is from a warehouse in Manchester, N.H. and they gave us a discount since we purchased so many items. Two pictures have already been stolen though, so we started screwing the frames in to the walls. We were probably the most stressed during the construction processes and just getting things done on time. Our office still looks like a construction site.MM: The construction was a whole different level of stress then the stress we are feeling right now.
TC: It must be difficult owning two properties and a pub, and all the while getting your master’s. Is there any way to deal with the stress?MM: I don’t like rentals. It is too stressful. I like the pub more and we split the duties. I deal strictly with the bar, beer distributors, and the liquor. Katie does the bills, wait staff, payroll, and is in charge of going to the bank.KD: We hired a chef, Kelly, who has a lot of experience and deals with managing the kitchen and kitchen help. Since the construction is over, we are more stressed about employee costs and invoices. While in school you never realize [the things] you are learning in class actually helps you in life. Applying what we [have] learned to our business has been a rewarding lesson. One thing I learned is that it is a lot harder [than it looks;] In the classroom things seem a lot cheaper then they are until you start paying for them. Being a landlord is not an everyday thing like the pub. When something in a house goes wrong I get it fixed and something maybe won’t happen for another month. The pub, however, is an everyday thing and someone always has to be here. So I am glad there are two of us and not just one. We would not be able to do this without the support of our friends and family. My mom usually tells me when something isn’t a good idea, but she was all for it. Our friends and family believe in us and would not have put so much work and faith into it if they did not. This also was not a graduation gift like some people believe. We were able to achieve this with hard work and we do have to pay it all back. Throughout this entire process one thing I know now is how important it is to have the support and encouragement of those you love. I do not know if we could have done this without them and my good friends.
TC: Since this is the Panther Pub, named after the Plymouth State Panthers has the school gotten involved at all?KD: Yes. One of our goals is to try to get the pub and Plymouth community involved with the school. We do not just want students to enjoy our pub, but we want the locals to enjoy it also. We donate and became sponsors of the Athletic program and we have our logo on the football team’s banner. On Wednesday nights we have trivia and a portion of the proceeds goes to Jacob’s Bridge Through Autism. We also hired Plymouth State students which make up 30 employees.
TC: Do you have any long term goals?MM: We hope to open other pubs in small college towns. We think it is important to get colleges and towns more involved with each other. KD: Not many small college towns have a pub like this so it will be something unique and different. We would name the pub after the college’s mascot and paint it the school colors. It is important to start small and grow.
TC: There are numerous restaurants and bars in Plymouth and yours is definitely unique, but is there anything else that makes it stand out from the others?KD: The prices are reasonable and it is one of the cheaper establishments to buy drinks. We are the only place that keeps the kitchen open till midnight along with the bar so people can order food late while enjoying a drink. You can order dinner and sit at the bar while watching a sports game. We have a bunch of our older friends coming back to visit asking us why we didn’t open anything like this years ago. It is fun to come to work and socialize because many of our friends come here and it is a great place to hang out.
TC: Have you gotten any feedback from people?KD: Yes, guys seem to like to come in and watch sports games. Everyone seems to enjoy themselves when they are here. The only negative thing I have heard is that on the night we opened there was slow service, but that is definitely something that can be improved on and changed. Overall we have received great reviews from our peers.