Wally World

4LittlePigs · Posted: May 25 2009 Post subject: Wally World

Need a little input here. I don't have the whole thing figured out yet except a few details. I have a friend who is a manager at our local Wal-Mart. There was a franchise pretzel place that had space leased from them in the store. Actually the girl that had it now works for me. Anyway, he was asking me if I would like to put in my BBQ place in there as kind of a spinoff of my steakhouse and bbq place.
Here is what I know so far. The lease was about $800/month. It's a very small space. I wouldn't be able to have a smoker in there due to venting issues so I would have to prepare the bbq in my place and truck it over. They already have a display hot box. Wes (the manager) tells me that they avg about 4000-5000 customers on a non-holiday day. That can jump up to 6000-8000/day on a holiday weekend like this weekend. I haven't checked with my local HD here about cooking and transporting food but I know him pretty well and as long as I have it covered and keep it to temp they will be fine with it. There is no way I could do all that I do here but I figured my pulled pork sandwiches, brisket sandwiches, fries, onion rings and wedges, cole slaw, potato salad and my killer beans would make some money. Wes eats out here 2-3 days a week and takes home a quart of my beans every Friday.
I'm going to go over in a little bit and check it out and see what equipment I would have to have to run it. It would also get me some great advertising and exposure for the restaurant. Very Happy

I welcome your input. Hope everyone is having a safe and enjoyable holiday. Let's not forget the brave men and women who have died protecting our freedom!
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Sam Diggity's BBQ
MEAT, FIRE, GOOD!!!!!
Home of "Sam Diggity's Ribs & Sauce"

Pit Boss · Posted: May 25 2009 Post subject:

$800 a month is chicken feed. If all looks well, I'd go for it.
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Somewhere in Kenya...a village is missing their idiot.

marvsbbq · BBQ All Star Joined: 15 May 2005 Posts: 6186

If you do wind up doing this, a little trick I like to use to get the "BBQ SMELL" going is put some liquid smoke in a potpourri pot and people will be climbing all over trying to figure out WHERE that WONDERFUL smell is coming from....YOUR BBQ STORE!!!

BBQMAN · Posted: May 26 2009 Post subject:

Sounds interesting.

You mentioned that the place was a pretzel vending operation. Does it have hoods (w/fire suppression) in place for fried foods?

The lease is very reasonable, and may help out your fixed location and catering as well through all the exposure.

Good luck and keep us posted!
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BBQMAN
"I Turned A Hobby Into A Business".
Providing "IMHO" Since 2005.

4LittlePigs · Posted: May 26 2009 Post subject:

I went over last night and checked things out a little more. Unfortunately there is no type of hood/fire supression system so fries, onion rings and the like are out. I'm still waiting on Wes (the manager) to get in touch with the current lease holder to determine what their intentions are. He is pretty sure they are just going to cancel the remainder of the lease. So basically, I will be needing a fridge, warmer cabinet, cash register and that should do it. There is a brand new pepsi fountain already there. Like Marv said I want to mainly use it to supplement my current operation, get exposure and kick up the catering portion.
There is plenty of room for pretty much anything I want to put in there. Will just have to do chips instead of fried stuff. But that will make service that much faster. Wes is excited. Anybody have any catering hot boxes for sale?
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Sam Diggity's BBQ
MEAT, FIRE, GOOD!!!!!
Home of "Sam Diggity's Ribs & Sauce"

CrazyChef · Posted: May 27 2009 Post subject:

These are interesting:

http://www.ventlessfryers.com/
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"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits" - Albert Einstein

4LittlePigs · Posted: May 30 2009 Post subject:

Looks like the Wal-Mart deal may have fallen through. Sad

Wes checked and there was already a clinic that corporate was working with to lease the space. Wes is not sure what is going on with it. After he checked he said that they have yet to contact them about remodeling. He is going to monitor them and see what happens and let me know. Oh well, good thought.
_________________
Sam Diggity's BBQ
MEAT, FIRE, GOOD!!!!!
Home of "Sam Diggity's Ribs & Sauce"