Jewish Deaf Business
by Sharon Ann Dror
Arlyn Meyerson
15970 Goldwin Place Southfield, MI 48075
E-mail: BuddyBBQ@aol.com
Arlyn Meyerson
Scotch N' Sirloin Restaurant
Arlyn Meyerson was born deaf and grew up in Detroit, MI where his father owned a restaurant business. When Arlyn was 14 years old, he started working for his father during wartime, for it was difficult to find restaurant help during that time. Arlyn started working as a busboy and cashier to help out, which is how he gained experience from the bottom to the top. During the same time period, he also worked for Ford and Lincoln Motor Companies, and Kaiser-Frazer. After graduating from Wilbur Wright High School he trained to be a draftsman, and married his wife, Hester Wayner, who is hard of hearing. The two have five children.
Involvement in Restaurants
In 1960, Arlyn and his hearing brother received a loan from the
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to start a new restaurant called Scotch N'
Sirloin. It seated 175 people and employed 60 workers, eight of them were deaf. Scotch N'
Sirloin became very successful from the time it opened. It gathered many famous movie
actors and well-known sports figures two to three times a week.
In 1974, they noticed the neighborhood was changing gradually, which concerned them about the future of Scotch N' Sirloin. Because they were able to pay off their SBA loan in seven years instead of ten years, they de cided to open a second restaurant in Franklin Place. They were able to get another loan from the SBA. This restaurant, Trio, was much bigger for it held 450 people and employed 150 workers, ten of them were deaf.
Unfortunately, 1975 was a bad-year to borrow money. The interest rate on their second SBA loan was 22% making it very difficult for them to make the monthly payments. They had to sell Scotch N' Sirloin to pay off all the debts at Trio and then in 1977, a year and a half later, they were forced to close Trio.
Arlyn Goes on His Own
In 1979, Arlyn decided to open his own restaurant called Buddy's
Bar-B-Que. He applied for a Small Business Administration loan and paid it
off in ten years. It seated 27 people and employed 11 part-time workers, 2 of them were
deaf. He had a TTY for deaf customers to call in orders, but this did not work out as
planned due to high employee turnover. It was difficult to keep training them all on how to
use the TTY machine.
Buddy's Bar-B-Que was popular for catering private par ties and doing take out and delivery orders. Arlyn communicated with his customers with a pad and pencil until they got used to his voice. He sold the restaurant for a profit in July 1990 and the restaurant continues to do very well.
Was the Hard Work Worth It?
When asked if he would recommend deaf people to start and invest in a restaurant, Arlyn replies, "No ...l would
not unless the person is thoroughly experienced in the food business and thoroughly
dedicated to it. The restaurant business is one of the toughest to run as it requires many
hours daily and seven days a week to work there".
Any regrets? "Yes, one regret was that we started too big from 175 seats at Scotch N' Sirloin to 450 seats at Trio. That was too big of a jump," Arlyn responds.
Retirement
After working in the restaurant business for over 55
years, Arlyn decided to retire. He is currently the President of Tri County Deaf Senior
Citizens, which has over 600 members within the Detroit area. They have about six or seven
sites where they hold their weekly meetings. Arlyn also wishes to travel all over the
world.