Community Highlights: Meet Jamie Alfalla of Alfalla Hospitality Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Alfalla.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
My husband and I built a marketing company from the ground up in 2018, and by 2020, we had experienced tremendous growth in marketing hotels and other hospitality-related businesses! We were still determining if we would make it when Covid hit, but we quickly pivoted to real estate marketing and professional services. We had built this business brick by brick, client by client, and in an instant, we thought it could all be gone. And Boom, real estate boomed, and we recovered and started to thrive. With everyone moving to Zoom, we finally saw an opportunity to move and go fully remote. So we took all our savings and moved to Wilmington, North Carolina! We took a leap of faith and invested in Graystone Inn, Front Street Inn, and the Verandas Bed & Breakfast. We put everything we had ever earned and saved into renovating Graystone and turning it into a luxury boutique hotel.

We also created a fine dining restaurant within it called Preston. We were on cloud 9 in June 2023, watching the public receive our newly renovated property so well that we couldn’t have been more proud. The renovation was a bit more involved than we had anticipated, and we had started to run out of money, so the grand opening of Preston Restaurant was coming just in the nick of time. We saw everything we had worked for was about to come to fruition. We opened Preston without a hitch, and it was so exciting; we were beyond pleased with the concept and couldn’t have been happier! Then, on day 5, we had a fire. That’s right; I’m up in smoke, literally. It was a freak situation, to nobody’s fault, that ended in tons of water damage, and unfortunately, all the work that had been done the past two years was destroyed. We felt like giving up, overwhelmed by disappointment, but overly grateful at the same time. Nobody was hurt. We still have our health, and that’s something we constantly appreciate. Some problems are devastating, but remembering how blessed we are keeps us focused. And Focused, we stayed. Brick by brick, we do what we know, and rebuilding is our only option.

We decided to keep our executive team together, and instead of laying everyone off, our team took a massive leap of faith and decided they would stick with us. We told them it would be a struggle, but we found a way to keep making payroll, and we went on to create Oklahoma’s Original Burger, a melt-in-your-mouth smash burger concept that we designed to be multi-location, and that’s doing so well! We were still feeling the pain of the financial challenges from the Graystone fire and still struggling to keep everyone employed, so we decided to fast-track our idea for a coffee shop that turned into a cocktail bar by night. We expected a sleepy coffee shop, and it was, at first, then we got local influencers to come and do content for us, and we went viral. The martini flights and S’mores by fire pits just took off. We started turning away 100 people a night on Fridays and Saturdays. We were so busy!

We just thought, wow, God is great! We couldn’t believe it. But then again, God has a way of turning our scars into stars. It’s so true: In every adversity lies a seed of equal or more significant opportunity. Through this experience, I’ve learned gratitude more than ever. It would have been great to have success after success, but the hard times are what show you your true character. Our team is so tight-knit and unified; this experience brought us closer and honestly; the people we have met and the kindness we have shown through this ordeal have been life-changing. We are still trying to get Graystone put back together, and we see a resolution to that situation over the near horizon, but we learned in business, you need to be flexible and willing to pivot at any time. So now, while we wait for Graystone lawyers and insurance to get sorted, we are opening an Italian steak house downtown. We thought, why not use all the equipment that sitting, not in use, and put it to use, and so that’s what we are doing.

The opening of Sugo Italian Steakhouse will be a great help in aiding the giant strain that Graystone has been causing us. We are faithful and will come out victorious. We couldn’t be more proud to be entrepreneurs in Wilmington and to add to the ever-growing food scene here. We would love to be able to be a small part of what puts Wilmington on the map as a food destination on the East Coast. We love getting inspiration from Raleigh and Charleston and local business owners. We love living life with purpose, we chase growth, not money, and we love people. Creating experiences people enjoy is our passion; we will do it as long as possible! Our story is nowhere near done, and we couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who impacted our lives during our journey!

Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I mentioned obstacles above, but it’s important to note that we had a lifetime of challenges before we even moved to Wilmington. Challenges are part of life, and they are the most outstanding teacher. We always look at situations from the rock bottom viewpoint and say, “What are we supposed to learn?” Failing Forward by John Maxwell is one of my favorite books of all time because, as a young person looking to be successful, I was given that book and learned early on how valuable mistakes can be. How imperative messing up can be to your long-term success. Learning through failure is priceless; there is nothing like coming out of a storm to teach you gratitude. Life is temporary, and every second we are blessed to live is a second we cherish. It is also important to note that we don’t need help getting through anything. It takes a village to raise a child and a community of entrepreneurs to build an entrepreneur. We have many incredible examples and entrepreneurs who have paved the way, not given up when it was hard, tried new ideas that seemed crazy, and continued to innovate. I could list at least 30 business owners in Wilmington who showed us kindness during the Graystone ordeal, lent a hand, and encouraged us. Wilmington is a fantastic city in which to live, build, and grow.

As you know, we’re big fans of Alfalla Hospitality Group. For our readers who might need to become more familiar with the brand, what can you tell them about it?
We run Alfalla Hospitality Group, which comprises 3 hotels and 3 restaurants.

• Graystone www.staygraystone.com
• Front Street Inn https://www.frontstreetinn.com/
• Verandas www.verandasbedandbreakfast.com
• www.concordeespressobar.com
• https://www.oklahomasoriginalburger.com/
• www.sugoitaliansteakhouse.com

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a military brat raised and grew up everywhere. I was born in Alabama and moved to Wilmington from Long Island, NY, in March 2021. My husband Ace was born and raised in Queens, NY.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.concordeespressobar.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RGOXkAUyPE
• SoundCloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-afVY9sX1U
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQCAHCWB2go
  https://youtu.be/dbZQ86LTg-g?si=QoKqU1HhSvYsYZV9