SYRACUSE — Cindy Seymour and Laura Serway, known for their popular eatery and night spot Laci’s Tapas Bar, have another venture aimed at helping other female entrepreneurs in the Syracuse area to experience success. Seymour and Serway opened Laci’s Tapas Bar located at 304 Hawley Ave. in Syracuse, in 2010. The restaurant offers a wide […]
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Seymour and Serway opened Laci’s Tapas Bar located at 304 Hawley Ave. in Syracuse, in 2010. The restaurant offers a wide variety of tapas — appetizers or snacks in the Spanish cuisine. The eatery’s slogan is “Eat Small, Live Large.” The wine menu is popular with customers, according to testimonials on the restaurant website, since it includes an extensive list of choices.
The restaurant has 15 employees and ranked number 87 among the 522 restaurants in Syracuse listed by the TripAdvisor review website.
Seymour and Serway first created the Laci’s brand in 2006 when they opened their first coffee shop. They also owned and operated Laci’s at the Palace Theater from 2007 to 2010, and Laci’s Burger Joint until 2008 when they sold it to their former employees, according to Seymour.
Their most recent business venture started from their development business, Laci’s Development Company. Seymour and Serway purchased three properties located on Green Street from Home HeadQuarters, Inc., a housing nonprofit, and renovated the facilities for the use of other small-business owners, for residential housing rentals and to distribute their own new coffee brand.
One of the properties is 220 Green St., a two-level 2,400-square-foot house that will be occupied by Fresh Nail Lounge and Spa owned by Jamila Cross. Another is 115 Green St., a two-level 1,300-square-foot house that will be leased to Esther Houston, owner of the bakery 87 and Company, where the new coffee brand will be distributed. The third property is 217 Green St., which is still in construction and will be used for short-term residential rentals, Serway says.
The businesses are scheduled to open to customers by Nov. 1 and the residential rentals will be done in 2014.
Seymour handled all the renovations of the properties and is currently taking a break before completing the residential space.
Seymour and Serway decided to invest in these properties in July 2012 in order to help other women who are local business owners to have the same opportunities that they have had. They declined to disclose the investment sum and other financial details of this venture.
“Esther has been working out of her own house but now she will have more space,” Seymour says of Houston.
Seymour and Serway say that their efforts go into helping women, the local economy and small businesses.
“We keep our money local because we want Syracuse to thrive,” says Seymour, explaining why she and Serway started the project.
Seymour and Serway will also be distributing Living Large Coffee, their own coffee brand that has been sold and served in Laci’s Tapas Bar.
The coffee of Living Large Coffee also comes from their support of woman-owned businesses, in this case a woman-owned 216-acre coffee plantation located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Serway and Seymour partnered with Lucemy Velazquez to acquire some of her sundried and hand harvested coffee. They plan to sell several blends, including the light cinnamon-rum Laci’s blend.
Living Large Coffee was launched at Laci’s Tapas Bar last August but will also be available in 87 and Company and in Linda O’Boyle’s Metro Home Style boutique in 689 N Clinton St. Metro Home Style is a boutique that offers home accessories made in the US, according to their website.
The name of the Laci’s brand is a combination of the owners’ names, Laura and Cindy, according to the Laci’s Tapas Bar website (www.lacistapasbar.com).
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