Inovasi Owner Explains Why Royce Closed

John des Rosiers thought he had two good ideas for Highland Park.

The first was a chef-driven Italian restaurant. That second was .

Neither worked out.

"I thought we had two good ideas that turned out to be two not good ideas," des Rosiers said.

Des Rosiers, who owns Inovasi and Wisma in Lake Bluff, opened Moderno in Highland Park last year, in the Renaissance Place location that was formerly Rosebud. When the ambitious menu didn't attract the high volume necessary to make the large space profitable, des Rosiers closed it and went back to the drawing board. 

A month later, he reopened it as Royce. The idea was to make the new restaurant more customer-friendly and affordable, with build your own burger options and locally sourced ingredients.

"Royce, in general, was a good concept," des Rosiers said. "It's just really tough in Highland Park right now."

A few months later,

Des Rosiers isn't the only restaurateur struggling in Highland Park. During the roughly six month period Moderno was open, des Rosiers said he saw about a half dozen restaurants close in Highland Park.

"That's unusual for suburbs or the city," he said. "The downtown community is getting crushed right now."

Des Rosiers compared the difficulty of staying open in Highland Park to the success he's had in Lake Bluff. He pointed to the small town's strip of restaurants that include the newly open Pasta Palooza and a microbrewery.

"If you wanted to open something here you couldn't right now," des Rosiers said about Lake Bluff's full business district.

Comparatively, in Highland Park, Saks Fifth Avenue closed in Renaissance Place. Corner Bakery has also closed recently, as well as Benjamin, M Restaurant, Stashs and two cupcake places.

"In the span of one year all that stuff closed," des Rosiers said.

The chef believes that the demand just doesn't exist for a restaurant as large as Moderno or Royce in Highland Park anymore. In fact, he doesn't think the demand is there for smaller places either.

"My personal feeling it's more of the market right now," he said. "Different restaurants at different price points that do different things have all been cut down the same way."

Des Rosiers said that, while Inovasi and Wisma see hundreds of customers on weekends, Moderno and Royce was not getting that kind of volume. He believes that the closures of both Highland Park movie theaters and the Saks also hurt foot traffic for restaurants in the area.

"There's no reason to be there if you're not shopping or going to see a movie," des Rosiers said.

Des Rosiers is quick to say he's not trying to point fingers. He takes responsibility for the failure of both restaurants. His investors and landlord were all great to work with, he says.

"In the end it was my idea and maybe I picked the wrong two concepts," des Rosiers said. "If you take enough chances, one of them is not going to work."

Why do you think Royce closed? Do you think it's harder for businesses to survive in Highland Park than it used to be?