David Grossman 10:29
Well, just trying to, you know, bring some of my passion back into each restaurant. In some cases, you know, you had to eliminate some people that just don’t get it. But you really want to try to bring the idea of my vision into what Epic Burger is my idea is to grow it, my idea is not to calf seven locations. Obviously, I took Freshii from zero to 39, in, you know, eight years. So I would like to ramp up even quicker with Epic. So if you want to come along for this ride, and be a part of something truly special. Again, my goal is to open up 200 of these over the next eight years, then show me then prove to me that you want to be part of this team. And people get excited about that people love growth. They love to see remodeled stores, they love to see us putting money back into the business and money back into the menu boards and making some changes and in listening to them. Because previous ownership really didn’t listen to them didn’t take their suggestions didn’t take their criticism seriously. So I think that’s a big part of it is hearing what my customers have to say, hear what my staff has to say, and doing something about it.
Chad Franzen 11:43
Were you aware of kind of some of the issues involved with Epic Burger when you made the decision to buy it?
David Grossman 11:50
Yeah, I was. So they brought me on as like an interim CEO for 60 days to help them figure out the company, this investment firm. So I really started as the interim CEO, and they said, hey, help us figure out what we should do with this company. Should we close all eight locations? Should we close seven Should we close to be closed any. So when I got involved, I saw, stores were dirty, the product had totally changed. There were no window posters. There were no promotions going on. Actually, the website was down, you couldn’t even order from our website. So I saw this opportunity. Because I knew epic in 2008. I knew the founder of epic, I knew what happened was all about I knew there were lines I knew epic was once great. And I knew I could make it great again. So I was well aware of the challenges the issues, and I thought that I could overcome them. And certainly we’ve been able to so many of the stores sales are way up. We have one store that’s still struggling, it’s downtown in the loop at Clinton, Adams. And that’s really as a result of people not returning back to work as quickly as we had hoped. So we’ve got to make a decision as to what we want to do long term with that store. We’d like to keep it open. But it’s been it’s been tough people aren’t returning to work. And that’s making it challenging for us to operate that one particular location.
Chad Franzen 13:21
What do you have some ideas as to how to, you know, over, I’ve talked to some of the people who are trying to do or dealing with the same issue as to how to how to overcome that.
David Grossman 13:31
I mean, obviously, it’s just to be patient, it’s try to just manage your costs. I mean, so again, the store looks good, the stores paid for stores operate, we’ve got a great staff in place. I don’t want to close it, the landlord has been really friendly and is working with us, which is a huge expense. But you know, we still lose money every month, and we’re obviously not in business to lose money. So we’ve been pretty patient the last, you know, two years. So, we were hoping that after Labor Day, you know, two weeks ago, things would pick up a little bit and they did pick up a little bit. Really like on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays, Mondays and Fridays are still a bit slow. People just aren’t coming into the office. You know, maybe it’s a summer thing maybe things will pick up again next week. I think today is actually the last official day of summer. So you know, I’m just trying to be patient. I’m trying to be optimistic, trying to hold on because it was a great location and I know it still can be if people returned back to work.
Chad Franzen 14:38
Hey, I can tell that you have great passion and enthusiasm for Epic Burger. How do you kind of translate that among seven different locations?
David Grossman 14:47
So we have weekly staff meetings with our managers. I visited stores, you know basically like tomorrow, our anniversary day I’ll be at all seven stores. A walk in, you know I put up some tables, give some words of encouragement, I’ll help out where I can. But really, it’s just store visits, it’s manager meetings, it’s, you know, just various promotions. We’ve got employee of the month, every month, we give out little awards and prizes and T shirts, and you know, some epic swag. It’s really trying to just create some excitement amongst the team, maybe a little friendly competition, to just try to, you know, translate my passion into, you know, 120 employees, sometimes it’s not easy. But I do have staff meetings, not only with my managers, but with each store to try to tell my story, let them know that there’s opportunity to grow. Step up, lead by example, ask questions, there are no dumb questions. If you’re not happy with what you’re doing, you know, talk to me, if you’re a creative person, and you want to get involved with maybe your marketing or design or you want to help create a new product, Tommy, every three months, we launched new promotions. And next spring, we’re gonna do a chicken that was created by my Lincoln Park manager. He created it, we’re gonna bring it to action. He is super excited about it. So at today’s meeting, we asked for a holiday milkshake idea whether it’s eggnog or peppermint. Here’s some ideas get involved, like people like that. So it’s fun. What I like to do every day, some people think this business is really hard. But I love it. I know it’s meant for me, I try to just pass on a little bit of love every day. And so far, it’s working.
Chad Franzen 16:42
Nice, very nice. Hey, I have one more question for you. But first, how can people find out more about Epic Burger or follow Epic Burger on social media or whatever?
David Grossman 16:51
Yeah, I mean, that’d be great. So obviously, you can go to our website, you can like it, you can go to Instagram, which is @TheEpicBurger, you can follow us, you know, sign up. For our rewards program. You get all kinds of information on new products coming out, you get a free milkshake on your birthday, you get loyalty points, which will translate to some free food and so that’s those are the three you know, follow us like us and join our rewards program. You know, stop in if you want to email me, I’m happy to answer any questions that you might have dg@epicburger.com Yeah, so hopefully that answers your question.
Chad Franzen 17:31
Yeah, sounds good. The website is epicburger.com. And if you don’t want to, if you want to be hungry, look at the website for more than a few minutes. Hey, last question for you. When you when you’re there as a customer, what’s kind of your go to item I feel like just looking at the pictures now. I would go for several of them. But yeah
David Grossman 17:48
I mix it up. I swear I do like a turkey burger. I get the veggie I get the beyond but if I’m gonna go for a burger. I go with the farmhouse with a hard egg. I love an egg on a burger. The farmhouse really has everything that you find on a farm and it is a tasty burger. But the burger that we are launching Friday night for hamburger hats that will soon be in our stores. For the rest of the year. October November December. It’s a limited-time offer is a bacon kettle crunch burger. It’s got a bacon jelly, little sweetness and a little spice and then some potato chips on there. Some kettle chips and it’s got some crunch, some spice some bacon some cheese. It’s a double burger with bank and credit crunch. will debut Friday night at the hamburger house and will be an epic location starting October 1. It’s a pretty tasty burger one that you guys should try.
Chad Franzen 18:48
Yeah, sounds awesome. Hey, David, it’s been great talking to you. I really appreciate it.
David Grossman 28:52
Thanks so much. Take care, buddy.
Chad Franzen 18:55
You too.
Outro 18:55
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