Chad Franzen 12:54
So there’s a void in the marketplace, and you were successful in your first location, added the word spread to these other towns that people were coming in to your first location, you know, over those first three years to get salad.
Joey Cioffi 13:05
Word of mouth, I mean, it really word of mouth, social media was just beginning to start, you know, what I mean? So Facebook, you know, I was pretty active, you know, with Facebook and getting it out there and just, you know, snapping pictures, putting them out. And, you know, and it was just, my father always taught me good quality food, and, you know, good quality food, you know, with good service, never cutting corners. And, you know, that’s a recipe for success in this business. And, you know, fairly priced, you know, like, we weren’t killing it, you know, I mean, but it was, you know, it was, it was a lot of things. But again, it all stems back to, you know, my early years and learning, you know, the do’s and the don’ts.
Chad Franzen 13:47
Yeah. Was there any thing that you learned upon opening the place? I know, you were born into that you’re, you have spent your whole life in the restaurant business almost, was there anything that kind of was a learning experience for you as a person, the absolute person running the show, as opposed to, you know, maybe helping out or working with other family members?
Joey Cioffi 14:08
Well, God, there was so much they were they were so much you know, from, you know, bouncing your, you know, your bills, your payroll, but the thing that was the most pivotal part of this company, you know, and I say it all the time, you know, it all started with me, but I was fortunate enough to have a friend that, you know, became my business partner in the franchisor. It just so happened he was a customer of trophies, my Italian deli in Springfield, for many many years worked at a hedge fund and love the love the business. We you know, we’ve, you know, established a friendship through, you know, from the store, and he had an injury, so, he had a paddleboard, and he injured his shoulder so he wasn’t able to work out so you eat a little healthier. He’s like, Oh, I’m gonna try yourself, please out Milburn, tried it, love it became a regular was like loving this house like, oh my god, he goes, if you ever franchise this, or if you ever get this and want to scale this, let me know, and I’ll join forces with you and we’ll go. So, you know, in 2000, I think it was, I’m sorry, I’m not good with dates, but I think was like 2015 or so, no 2015-16 We struck a deal where he would be my partner, and he’d open up a franchise location in Westfield. And, you know, his, and he brought on a team member named Tim Baito. So Jerry iKey, who’s my partner brought on guy, Tim banjos with me, along with my general manager, Jared Bravo, we kind of formed this, like, this little team. And, you know, I learned so much from him, I feel he learned from me, and it just, it became like, such a great feeling to have other people in the room. Because it is a lot, you know, I mean, it’s a lot for one person to have to figure these things out. And they came in, and they just rip the place down, in a sense where, like, you know, car cost of goods and stuff that I never paid attention to, in a mom and pop store, you don’t really have to pay attention so much. You know, it’s like, at the end of the week, you’re making money, all right, things are good. All right, you know, that’s fine. But when you’re out selling franchises, and you want to scale this and open up multiple locations, you know, you need to know every last thing from the forks to the garbage bags, every every component of the business. And, and that was, it was tough, it was very hard. You know, because, you know, it was you feel like, Oh, my God, I didn’t know, you know, but then it was great to have all the people in the room that didn’t know and, and together, you know, we just strengthened the foundation and his brand that just made us stronger. And, you know, then once we really got to a point where we felt comfortable, and we’re all making really good money, you know, selling the franchise became pretty, you know, easy, like, you know, we’re getting people that were, you know, somebody bought the first location from me in the buying a second location, because he’s doing so well Melbourne, opened up Montclair block, the territory has even opened, at least in some in Chatham, and then his friend ended up buying three units. Another friend bought two units. And from there, it was just like, because again, like word of mouth with, with the brand, like your earlier question, when you said, hey, you know, how did people know about the Salad House, when people started making money at the Salad House, this business became a business that was a real business. And, and it was, you know, a good opportunity, especially being at the ground level, at the ground floor of, you know, pretty much ours, our launching point. So, you know, so like you said, we do have, you know, we have six, open, three that are under construction should be open by the end of June. And but we also have 13 signed for, you know, that we’re ultimately opening within the next 24 to 36 months or so. units before, you know, hopefully, in 2023.
Chad Franzen 18:07
Okay, so how many, so? How many would that be?
Joey Cioffi 18:12
Altogether? Altogether? 1920 units right now? Okay, you got penciled in? So,
Chad Franzen 18:16
What do you think what makes the Salad House a good franchise opportunity?
Joey Cioffi 18:21
Because, you know, I always wanted to listen, I’m a regular guy. And most of us are, you know, most of us are just like, yeah, sometimes I want to go on a diet, sometimes I want to eat, you know, like, some, you know, crappy and like, I felt as though, you know, consumers have become a lot more educated when they put food in their body, you know, like the McDonald’s and, and nonacademic, they were great. They did their thing, they made billions of dollars, like, they’re, they’re amazing, but fast casual, the landscapes kind of change with supporting, you know, kind of spearheading that, you know, what I mean, and then, you know, healthier, better quality, you know, burgers, like five guys, you know, Smashburger, like these other companies started coming in what we are, is, we’re a fast casual option for pretty much anybody, it’s like, your whole family at home, your work family, and I mean, so. So we, we do something that other people don’t, so we don’t really have, like, you know, people are like, Oh, who’s your competitor, stuff like that. It’s just sweet green is a chocolate like, No, you know, we’re kind of in our own lane, you know, like, we’re really, which is pretty appealing to somebody that’s like, you know, once again, you know, as a business opportunity, you see us as, you know, wow, like, this is kind of like it’s a unicorn, because, you know, you know, but like a unicorn.
Chad Franzen 19:41
So you have, so there are six current locations in New Jersey, three more to come. What are kind of your goals and you said you have 13 potentially to come in the next year or two. What are your some of your goals? Do you want to stay in the in the East Coast or, or what are your thoughts on on the kind of your expansion process?
Joey Cioffi 19:59
Well, We just got ready, we just got approved to be registered in New York City. I mean, in New York State in New York. So we have a location in Brooklyn, that we’re going to announce shortly announcing it here. So, you know, we have that. So the East Coast is, you know, like, we wanted to be able to service and grow organically, you know, I mean, so yeah, we did, we do want to start here. But, you know, we are, you know, we’re probably going to start chopping it out at a state, you know, and, you know, states that we believe that it will succeed, like I, you know, I have strong feelings about Florida, especially with the, you know, the exodus of the East Coast, you know, a lot of people are moving down to Florida, you know, that we’re used to the east coast here. So, you know, definitely, Florida, and, you know, in South Carolina, like, we have some spots that we, you know, we’re hot on, you know, but we haven’t found we want to find people that have experienced in a franchise business, you know, we want people that have multiple units and understand and understand how to run a proper place, because that’s a reason why we haven’t expanded as, you know, we could expand it a lot quicker, we could have sold so many more units, but we’re kind of being very picky with, you know, who we’re, you know, awarding these franchises to?
Chad Franzen 21:17
What’s kind of, like, a good location in town for a place like the Salad House.
Joey Cioffi 21:21
Well, we have, you know, some most of our are like walking downtown, you know, like, somewhat, you know, upper middle class type areas. You know, but, you know, we’re opening up into in a city in New York. And you know, what, Morristown is similar to that to where it’s like a, almost like a city type vibe. But we also have a standalone in Livingston, New Jersey, that’s on a, somewhat of a highway. So like, we, you know, we kind of like can I, honestly, honestly, and I’m not just saying, and I believe we could be anywhere as long as like, you know, and the healthy again, healthy eating is not relegated just to like the, you know, the, you know, the elite anymore. And I mean, everybody eats healthier now, just because, again, we’re edgy, more a little bit more educated with what we put in our body.
Chad Franzen 22:13
How has COVID affected or changed anything? The what you guys do there?
Joey Cioffi 22:18
I’ll tell you what COVID it. First of all, we, I gotta be honest with you, we, we flourished in COVID. But we also did a lot of good. We didn’t we started, you know, with with feeding health care workers, just donating the food from us. And ended up kind of like, there’s a really good article in New Jersey nj.com and star ledger ended up doing a story on, on how we were able to give 3000 If I think that’d be becoming five that that’s I was like, 3000 meals, but like, we ended up getting donations from people to pay for health care workers. So that kept us busy. And everybody was in that situation like people were donating, you know, we were getting money, you know, for you know, we were able to pay our employees to stay open. But we were also able to feed the healthcare workers the heroes on the frontlines. But it also, we were I think the, the reality set into a lot of people that eating a little bit cleaner, healthier is a good move, especially when COVID You know, you say high blood pressure, obesity, I mean, these are things that, you know, potentially, you know, could be could be fatal. So, I think people, you know, we became a little bit more in the rotation and people’s, you know, choice of food. And we also we were already and I’ll be honest with you, we were ready for COVID before COVID Because we already had third party integration with you know, DoorDash UberEATS we had a you know, an app online ordering curbside take away, the curbside take away, it was actually I started that almost in the beginning, because I remember seeing moms come into my store and not be able to get out so I’m like, just call up and we’ll bring it to the curbside. So like we used to do that and Milburn and Morristown pretty often, so like we were like oh, just like we do already. Meanwhile people are just figuring it out.
Chad Franzen 24:14
Sure. Very nice. Hey, how can people find out more about the Salad House at both as a restaurant you know if they’re a customer or as a franchise franchisee possibility?
Joey Cioffi 24:24
So we are on Instagram at the Salad House we just got our blue checkmark so we’re we’re really official. We just got you know, we got we that was a pretty cool moment to get that blue checkmark. So we’re at the Salad House and Instagram. Facebook, we are backslash the Salad House. And our website is www dot thesaladhouse.com. So pretty easy.
Chad Franzen 24:46
Sounds good. Sounds good. Hey, final question for you. If you were to go to the Salad House as a customer, what would be your thing your go to item?
Joey Cioffi 24:56
Oh, man, we got some really good stuff. I like are we Have a crispy shrimp sandwich. It’s like crispy shrimp with avocado, and little spicy mayo and like it’s like lettuce and you know, it’s got a got a little, a little bite, but it’s really, really delicious.
Chad Franzen 25:12
Sounds good. Hey, Joey, I really appreciate your time. It’s been fun to talk to you and hear your story. I really appreciate it.
Joey Cioffi 25:19
No problem, man. Thank you for having me. And good luck in the future.
Chad Franzen 25:23
Yeah. You too. Thank you. So long, everybody.
Outro 25:25
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