Pub owner values customers, community

It’s a Friday evening in downtown Coeur d’Alene’s newest pub, The Beacon, and mingling among the voluble throng of young and old, professionals and partygoers is Jerry Goggin. Dressed in a subdued Hawaiian button-down shirt and slacks, Goggin can’t walk more than a few feet in a crowd that is not quite standing-room-only before someone stops him to strike up a conversation.

For the 43-year-old pub owner, these meet-and-greet rounds are more than mere formalities; they represent a guiding principle behind the pilot-turned-entrepreneur’s approach to running a business.

“You have to value your customers,” Goggin said. “It definitely takes a personal touch.”

As the owner of the recently restored 3,200-square-foot space on Sherman Avenue, Goggin has made it a point for both the new pub and adjoining Brix Restaurant to establish roots in the Coeur d’Alene community. Gaining a foothold in an otherwise crowded restaurant market in downtown Coeur d’Alene was Goggin’s first task when he took over the struggling restaurant in 2003.

“I thought that (the business) could and should work,” Goggin said, adding that as a Southern California native, where urban development is ever-present, he knew there was an opportunity in the making. “We just tried to establish some goodwill in the community.”

Prior to his turn as an entrepreneur, Goggin spent nearly 10 years in the U.S. Navy as an F-14 pilot. He flew almost 100 missions in two tours of duty during the Gulf War in Iraq.

“It was pretty exciting stuff, but it was pretty scary, too,” he said.

In the mid-90s, after his time in the Navy, Goggin worked for TWA airlines as an airline co-pilot. He was on his way to becoming a captain when, in 2003, TWA and American Airlines merged, forcing the nearly 1,500 TWA pilots to the bottom rung on the American Airlines’ existing 10,000 pilots’ ladder of seniority.

So instead of trying to make ends meet as a pilot, Goggin “decided to get aggressive,” he said. “And that’s when I got into the restaurant business.”

With some startup capital, no restaurant experience and a shared idea with his wife, Sandi, the Goggins put together an ambitious yet budget-conscious business plan for Brix Restaurant in 2003.

But creating a reputable, and at the same time profitable, business isn’t a transformation that can be made overnight.

“It took a while,” he said, “I made a lot of mistakes, but we tried to correct them right away.”

Finding a reliable staff was another vital cog in the gears of running a successful business, he said, as well as finding a reliable lender.

The business plan, a bar inspired by Goggin’s travels to bars around the world, was partly born from Brix customers who told him that the town needed a classy, nonsmoking bar.

“It kind of happened like you see in the movies,” Goggin said.

In 2006, the plan was put in motion when the nearly 15-year-old candy store next door was transformed into the nautical-themed bar it is now.

“I wanted it to look somewhat historic,” he said.

Like a North Idaho version of “Cheers,” The Beacon has East Coast flavor. Nautical flags run from several points on the ceiling toward a center column in the middle of the room that is surrounded by the bar below; some of the walls have been sheared away to reveal the original brickwork underneath and black-and-white pictures of sailors and sailboats line the walls. And much like “Cheers,” Goggin might even know your name.

However, the road to building a business from the ground up is not always smooth, it is important to stay as close to, or within, the budget as possible, Goggin said.

With a doorway that connects the restaurant to the new pub, Goggin was able to cut down on much of the cost of a new bar, namely the nearly $200,000 price of an Idaho state liquor license. Brix and The Beacon share the existing license under the umbrella business banner of Brix, LLC.

“It’s a pretty economical way to open up a bar,” Goggin said.

Despite some overshooting in The Beacon’s business-budget plan – mainly the surprises that tearing into an old building present – the cost was kept relatively low while the outcome was what the couple envisioned.

“I wanted to be there everyday to make sure it came out how we wanted it. My wife and I had a pretty good idea of what we wanted it to be,” Goggin said. “I would recommend to young people to take some risks and to work hard to make them work out.”

In addition to branching out to the community with fundraising and philanthropy, Brix and The Beacon share a dedicated staff of almost 75 during the busy summer months. Nikole Cummings has been an employee at Brix and The Beacon for more than two years. When Cumming’s father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, Goggin decided to help out by raising money through the sale of nameplates on the back of the bar’s stools. That’s just the kind of good management and staff dedication that Goggin has incorporated into his business policy.

“I consider him a very good friend,” Cummings said.