What is it you wish for most this year: More customers? Better marketing? Lower food costs?
How about something as simple as staying in business?
That thought occurred to me after talking to Tom Thees of Restaurant Equipment Retrieval, a Toledo-based company that repossesses foodservice equipment. Tom, whom I’ve known for many years, estimates the bank he represents has three years worth of work for him.
It’s not a pleasant job — at least the part that requires picking up used equipment after a restaurant fails.
“Restaurants go sideways for a lot of different reasons,” Tom says, “but generally it’s not because [the franchisee] didn’t work hard.” Tom blames “inferior locations” and “marketing that isn’t in all cases helpful in certain geographical regions.”