To Empire Builders,
We’re back with another episode of Empires - this time with RickVanzura.
Let’s dive in 🫡
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Presented by CloudKitchens
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What’s on My Mind 🧠
Rick Vanzura’s Journey
Rick during his tenure as CEO of Wahlburgers
Rick is currently the CEO of GrowthFactor, an AI-native site selection operating system.
Prior to that, he has had numerous executive leadership positions across a wide variety of brick and mortar brands:
Kmart
Borders
Panera Bread
Wahlburgers (CEO)
GameStop
In our converastion, we discuss all things restaurants, and what it takes to scale successfully in brick & mortar.
There’s also some wild stories from Rick:
1) Borders Rejected Jeff Bezos and 5% of Amazon
Rick and the CEO of Borders met with Jeff Bezos about a partnership with Borders. Jeff offered an equity stake in his fledgling start up…
“They wanted us to handle distribution for them, and in exchange for that, they were offering us a fee plus 5% of the company”
“Jeff every now and then just kept repeating - and these words will forever burn in my ear - ‘You and Barnes & Noble are the big guys. We just wanna get our little piece of the pie.’”
2) Touring Mark Wahlberg’s ~$70M Mansion
“I said, ‘Wow, Mark, that’s something. I think I would get lost in that place.’”
He said, ‘You know the best part of it?’ I said, ‘What’s that, Mark?’ He said, ‘Ted paid for it all.’ He got $52 million because that movie was so successful and he got so much on the back end.”
3) Panera’s Original Strategic North Star
“His quote was, ‘Avoid the fast food Death Star at all costs.’ And by that he meant Panera was meant to be an elevated experience - familiar made fantastic.”
“But I think in their attempt to try and chase a little more margin, Panera got optimized to death.”
Episode is live on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube!
QSR Corner 🍔
Q2 Winners & Losers
Coffee is in, pizza is out, and some legacy QSR chains are struggling with much-needed turnarounds.
7Brew Beats Dutch Bros to Salad and Go Sites
The brand emerged ahead of Dutch Bros in the bankruptcy auction for the drive-thru restaurant portfolio.
Pizza Hut Sales is Officially Complete
Yum! Brands announced the completion of the sale of Pizza Hut, excluding Mainland China, to LongRange Capital for approximately $1.5 billion.
Mike’s Red Tacos Signs 15 Unit Deal
The San Diego Birria brand has signed a 15-unit agreement with Michael Khalil to bring its signature drip to the Great Lakes State.
Best of the Rest 🧱
7-Eleven is Launching a New Pizza Crust
The move to enhance its pies underscores the retailer’s years-long goal to position itself as a food-focused destination.
Amazon Sued by FTC
Internal documents indicate Amazon knew its practices could damage advertiser trust, but Amazon says the FTC doesn’t understand the business.
Shell Acquires Tri Star Energy
The oil giant will purchase 320 Tri Star c-stores and supply agreements with 552 dealer-owned locations as it significantly grows its retail footprint in the Southeast.
That’s it for today’s newsletter, if you enjoyed it, please forward to anyone else in your network who would benefit or find it interesting!