Village business challenges discussed

Karen Billing

Staff Writer

The Rancho Santa Fe Association board has started a new feature at its meetings, inviting village merchants in to talk about their businesses and discuss how the Association can help them. Tim Cusac, owner of Caffe Positano and Rancho Sandwich, was the first to pay the board a visit.

President Jack Queen, a fan of Positano’s coffee and bran muffins, asked Cusac if he didn’t run a coffee shop, what other kind of business did he think might work in the village?

“That’s the million dollar question,” Cusac said.

Cusac, who has owned both businesses since 2005, said it is definitely a challenge to own a business in the village with top issues being the lack of parking and the high cost of rents. He said he thinks many merchants may come into the area thinking the streets are “paved with gold” and misunderstand how to create a product and quality of service that suits the people in RSF. Cusac said it’s been very difficult to keep the sandwich shop going over the last couple of years.

“I am absolutely unwilling to walk away,” Cusac said. “It’s really not easy and the rents are a very significant piece of that.”