Episode 71 - Bob, Marc & Jeremy | McGlynns Pub

Speaker A: Every entrepreneur has a story. Welcome to Happy Half Hour with an Entrepreneur, where each episode, your host, Brian Carney, will share a drink with a successful business owner and have them discuss their unique journey, gaining insight on what it takes to be an entrepreneur and different ways to get there. Brian isn't just a beer nerd. He's also the co founder of Rivers Edge Advisors, a financial planning firm headquartered in Delaware specializing in working with business owners. Uh, it's time to pour yourself a drink and enjoy a happy half hour with an entrepreneur.

Speaker B: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Happy Half Hour with an Entrepreneur. I am your host, Brian Carney. My guests today are Bob Ashby, Mark Ashby, and Jeremy Hughes, the owners of Ashby Hospitality Group, which originally started with one restaurant 35 years ago and now has six restaurants, a food truck, and over 300 employees. This is a very special episode of the podcast for two reasons. First, we're recording live at the newest Ashby hospitality group location, McGlinns in Greenville, Delaware. Secondly, this is the final episode, episode 71 of the podcast. We will be shutting this podcast down. So this is the last episode. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me today. I'm excited to talk to you.

Speaker C: Thanks for having us.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, first we got to talk about what we're drinking. So I'm drinking. It's called Taylor's Grog. It's a, uh, misspillion. Brew it just for you guys.

Speaker D: Yeah, Ms. Billy and River Brewery. I've, uh, been making it for about eight, 10 years now.

Speaker B: And it's just for you.

Speaker D: Yeah, only available at our restaurant.

Speaker B: Okay, great. And what are you drinking?

Speaker D: I've got Fiddlehead, Uh, new to Delaware. They just started, distributed in Delaware. Fiddlehead IPA from Vermont. It's delicious.

Speaker C: Yeah. Same beer for me as well.

Speaker B: Excellent. Bob. Just water for you. Smart. I've.

Speaker E: I've got, uh, club soda because I'm heading out of town tomorrow morning early, so.

Speaker B: Love it.

Speaker E: Thought I'd take it easy tonight.

Speaker B: Okay, good. That's probably a smart move. Smarter than I would probably be. Uh, all right, well, let's start. Tell us a little bit about your company.

Speaker E: Turn that over to Mark and Jeremy. I'm the retired guy.

Speaker C: Far away. Mark.

Speaker D: Uh, well, we're a local Delaware restaurant, uh, group family owned, mostly, uh, and operated. First restaurant was 40 years ago in Pike Creek, like he said. Uh, now we're up to six. This is the first restaurant that we've opened, uh, with just Jeremy and myself since my father, uh, retired. He retired about seven years ago now. And, um, yeah, it's been going Great. Uh, before that, I mean, last two years, he, you know, we started taking over and started. He started giving us the autonomy to make some decisions. And ever since then, it's been great, and he's been a great resource to have a great person to deal with.

Speaker B: I'm sure that's great. So, Bob, you and your wife Sandy, opened the first McGlins in 1983. How did you even get a start in the hospitality business?

Speaker E: A. Uh, couple things. First, I graduated from Delaware with business degree. And at the time, I was working at, uh, the Stone Balloon while I was going to college, and I saw a young guy named Bill Stevenson that looked, uh, like he was pretty successful. And I said, bar business is a cousin to the restaurant business. So I said, you know what? I'd like to have my own business, so I'll get a job working for a restaurant company. I worked for HA Winston's, which was a gourmet burger chain similar to the Bennegans and Fridays. And I did that for six years. Along the way, I got married. I bought a house that was a duplex in Wilmington and rented out one half and lived in the other because that was the only way I could afford the mortgage. I did it a second time up in Allentown for the same reasons. So when it came time that the opportunity was there to buy was, uh, the Drummond, uh, Ale house and turned into a McGlynn's. I was able to borrow against both those properties, uh, and that gave me, uh, $30,000, 5,000 on a credit card, and 10,000 from the video jukebox guy. That was it.

Speaker B: That's incredible. So you parlayed home equity loans and credit cards into what would eventually be Ashby Hospitality.

Speaker E: Yeah, and I forgot to tell you that home, uh, equity loans were 21%.

Speaker B: We're getting close to that now, so.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker B: Um, but you waited almost 15 years before you opened your second restaurant.

Speaker E: Uh, not correct.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker E: Uh, in between the two McLinns, there was two, uh, restaurants called Ashby's Oyster House. Okay. There was Ashby's Clam Bar up in Greenville. We, uh, had a seafood market down the beach. Uh, so I had a number of things, uh, going at the time, and I just, uh, had a creative spirit, so I didn't want to just do another McGlynn's. However, after I sold two of them, closed one of them, and, uh, decided that maybe, uh, McLinns is the next best thing to do. So I did a second McLins.

Speaker B: Oh, that's great. I love it. So Mark and Jeremy when did you guys start working with the company?

Speaker D: Jeremy?

Speaker C: Uh, well, I imagine Mark started the day he was born. Um, I started with Bob. Working for Bob in 2002.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Yeah. So I got hired as a manager at the McGlins and People's Plaza.

Speaker B: And what was your. What was your career like before that? What were you doing before that?

Speaker C: Before that?

Speaker D: What were you doing the night?

Speaker C: How much time you got here? So the reason I got the job is because Maglan's at People's Plaza was where I used to hang out.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: And I had a few too many beers, and I asked the manager if they were hiring. I fill out an application at, like, midnight. Woke, uh, up the next morning, like, oh, my God, what did I do? And Bob called me that day for an interview. That was it.

Speaker B: So you figured, if you're going to hang out there, you might as well get paid for it?

Speaker C: Yeah, something like that. I don't know if I was thinking at the time. Uh, but I'd been working in restaurants leading up to that for many years before, so.

Speaker B: That's great. How about you, Mark? What was your first role?

Speaker D: Yeah, like Jeremy said, I mean, I grew up crawling around on the floor of McGlins and Pike Creek, eating popcorn under the booth. And, you know, I think I learned to count, uh, one of the cooks teaching me how many clams was a dozen. Putting them into a clam bag. And, um, I started sometime during high school, I think, doing Sunday morning dishwasher shifts. Um, and then ever since then, I stayed in it. I lifeguarded, um, down on the beach some.

Speaker B: Oh, nice.

Speaker D: And, um, the summer before I went to college at University of Delaware, I started as a dishwasher and line cook at Deer park. And then I continued there the whole time, year round. And when I turned, uh, 19, I started serving. Uh, when I turned 21, I started bartending sometime in there during a winter session. I worked up in the office, uh, bookkeeping. And then I think, yeah, it was bartending. And, um, I just finished my senior year. Just stuck through a first summer bartending. Uh, and I was like, all the students were getting ready to come back to University of Delaware. I was like, all right, great. I'm gonna make some good money. I moved up the list a little bit as a bartender. I'm gonna get some good shifts. And the day the summer ended, my dad asked me if I wanted to start managing. I was like, ah, I was about to start managing right after that.

Speaker B: That's great. Well, you guys, I mean, the restaurant industry is just notoriously brutal. Uh, the success rate is terrible. What do you think separates you? And why. Why have you guys been so successful for so long?

Speaker D: You know, it. It is a brutal industry. Um, I think what a lot of people miss or a lot of people think they can open a restaurant. A lot of people throw a good party and then they want to open a restaurant and host a bunch of people at a party, which is what we do. A lot of people think they can make a good cocktail and want to open a bar. We do that too. And a lot of people can cook a great meal and think they're going to open a great restaurant. We do that too. But what I think a lot of people miss is that it's a business which is similar to any business that's just got its own unique issues. And you can't just throw a good party, you can't just cook a good burger. You have to do a bit of everything. And I think that's why a lot of people miss it. They get into the restaurant and then they're like, whoa, what's payroll? What does a food cost? What's a liquor cost? Do any of that. And very luckily, my dad set us up from the beginning as a, you know, he did it all by himself. Family run operation, but it was a business.

Speaker B: Yep. Well, you see that happen. A lot of professional athletes, they always retire, uh, or while they're playing, they buy a steakhouse or something, and then it typically goes under because they have no idea what they're doing. So to have that sort of guidance early on is probably huge.

Speaker D: Yeah, that was.

Speaker C: Yeah. I think it's also making sure you surround yourself with people that you trust and that are going to help you get there. I think you can very easily get lost with the wrong people there with you.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker B: So, Bob, how was the experience working with your son?

Speaker E: Um, you know, honestly, uh, it was not difficult for me because I. When I went to Allentown, I worked with my wife. She was a day bartender. I was the general manager because she was, uh, a bookkeeper. But she didn't want to. I mean, a teacher, but she didn't want to get a job up there as a teacher. And so she did some bookkeeping and day bartending. You know, she was late every day for work, so I had to deal with that issue. Uh, and then, uh, and, you know, the kids were just always, always in the business and was always very straightforward with them and treated them pretty much like any other employee. There was not a lot of favoritism that went on other than making sure that they didn't have to work when we had a family vacation. Yeah, exactly. And that was about it. You know, other than that they had to produce or they would pay the consequence.

Speaker B: I'd imagine it's almost like coaching your kids. Sometimes you're uh, even a little bit harder on them than you are on the other employees.

Speaker E: Well, I mean it's definitely, it's the same touch.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker E: You know, you have to be aware that you're not helping them, uh, by giving them favors, doing things for them. The worst thing to do for a kid is that what he can do for himself. So basically if you stick with that, you allow them to make their own mistakes and hopefully succeed. And nothing is more important, uh, uh, with the restaurant industry is your capacity to work. If you don't have a capacity to work, you're not going to be successful because your employees will respond to when you work as hard or harder than them. If you don't, they pick up on that right away.

Speaker B: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Jeremy, for you being uh, you know, not a family member, working with a father, son duo, what was that experience like for you?

Speaker C: It's quite the loaded question there, Jeremy.

Speaker E: You're allowed to abstain.

Speaker C: So. Well, first I'll say this. At one point I was working for Bob. Bob along with his son, his other son, his daughter, his wife and his sister in law. So um, and no, it's, it's been great. And kind of to attest to what Bob said, he did a great job of. There was a line, it was family and then it was business. There were some times where I knew I had to either step in or walk away. But no, it's been great. I couldn't, couldn't be more lucky honestly, to what I got myself involved in.

Speaker B: That's great.

Speaker C: And uh, yeah, no, I have nothing but great things to say. Yeah.

Speaker B: How was the, um, how was the whole process of transferring the business over to them? How was that experience for all of you?

Speaker E: That was uh, something that uh, I told my kids from the beginning that um, there's no plan in my head that you guys are going to step into the business. Like I said. So this, it was very much an evolving process. Um, when they graduated, I told them high school, I mean, I'm sorry, college. When they both graduated college, uh, and my daughter, I said, you know, there's an opportunity here if you want to pursue it. But then it was up to them. I mean they, you know, they could have Done great or they could have done, done so great they could have moved on. I never, never told them that they couldn't give notice and leave. They always had that opportunity. They're always going to be at my Thanksgiving table and Sunday dinner at Christmas and that's great, all of those things. So uh, so you have to sort of have a pretty clear line for, you know, work and family for sure. And I tried to do that. Uh, but, but yeah, with Jeremy involved, Mark was uh, learning and uh, you know, going through the management racks. Jeremy was my operation manager for, you know, close to 20 years. Um, you were my boss.

Speaker D: Yes, I was still kind of is.

Speaker E: We sort of just. I sort of set up a process that over a two year period I told them I was going to be retiring at some point and I didn't tell them when. But over a two year period they stepped into president and vice president roles and that gave them all of the financials and, and uh, the more they were involved, they were making the decisions, I was making less decisions. Um, you know, occasionally I would step in and make a call, but most of the time I tried to let them do it. Um, and so it sort of evolved. And then one day I said, well, you know what, the end of this year I'm retiring.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker E: And uh, so we worked out, and we'd already worked out a financial plan how that would happen and we. Laying the work. Work the plan.

Speaker B: That's great. Did you ever see them make a decision and you disagree with it and just let it happen?

Speaker E: Oh yeah, yeah.

Speaker D: Now we had a lot of great fights.

Speaker E: Uh, I mean, uh, the last two years it was pretty much, you know, uh, I'll give advice, you guys make the call and I'll give more advice if I think call going the wrong way. But I'll let them live with their decision.

Speaker C: Well, he'd call Mark and then if he didn't like the way Mark handled it, he'd call me, see if he could get me to do it.

Speaker E: Everything's politics.

Speaker B: That's perfect. So now your roles, huh? What are your roles now within the organization and how.

Speaker D: Uh, yeah, now, I mean, Jeremy's a little more operations, I'm a little more financial and maintenance.

Speaker C: Uh, he's basically the full time maintenance man is really what he is.

Speaker E: Yeah, overpay maintenance.

Speaker D: It makes sense. Right. Um, but uh, you know, it's interesting from my perspective, which is weird as a, you know, growing up in the restaurants, running the restaurants. A lot of what I do personally now is behind a laptop Behind a desk, on the phone. Um, not in the restaurant. So, yeah, it's more of a business owner. It could be any business, but it

Speaker B: just happens to be a restaurant.

Speaker D: Yeah, it just happens to be a restaurant. I mean, you got all the same problems, which is a ton of employees, uh, which, you know that Jeremy handles a lot of that to all the managers. It's, um, you know, a lot to it.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's kind of interesting. I mean there was conversations about what, who's going to do what. Right. But it kind of both. Doing everything for a while kind of naturally just evolved. But there, yeah, it, there was a time where we were all just, it was just kind of doing whatever popped up. That's what you did.

Speaker B: All hands on deck.

Speaker C: But we, we kind of learned that that wasn't the best way to go about it. Yeah, corrected that. So.

Speaker B: So the, the experience of like starting out at the business and then running it as you, you've kind of become someone that worked in a restaurant to a business owner that just so happens to own a restaurant. Um, how's that process been for you?

Speaker D: It's good. I mean, it's, ah, for me again, it's like when you don't have a boss technically, I guess it's up to each individual. But I put a lot of pressure on myself because I knew how my dad ran things and that was very intensely and always present and first one up in the morning and like, you know, I, so I always pictured myself against that, trying to make sure I keep up with that. And then you got managers, so you got to make sure. Like he just said, everybody has to see you work and think you're working, so you can't let them down. Um, and yet I listen to a lot of advice out there. I listen to podcasts, I do a lot of that stuff just to figure out how to manage your own time, how to deal with all that and uh, just go through that process. And it's different for everybody for sure, in their own management and style of running a business.

Speaker B: Well, along those lines, one of the most difficult parts of any business, but especially the restaurant industry, is finding and keeping and training good employees. 300 employees is no joke. How have you been able to find and attract talent and keep them here?

Speaker C: Uh, there's no answer to that. You just, there's multiple ways, multiple things you try. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Word, um, of mouth, you ask people. It's tough right now. I mean, it's harder now than it ever has been. Um, we have found that, um, you know, after Covid, it was the hardest, and you kind of just hired anybody that walked in the door.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Um, things have gotten a little bit better, but, you know, there's different avenues for advertising. Social media changed everything, obviously. I mean, we. We probably advertise for hiring more on social media than any other factor.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker C: Um, and that's kind of the best way to go about it.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker D: Yeah. I mean, I think it becomes pretty evident whether you're doing a good job or not with it, whether you're paying attention, because, I mean, we talk. We talk about it all the time. Um, I think. I know we do a pretty good job with it with our managers, because we don't have a ton of turnover with managers. And if we lose one or two managers, and it seems to be for the same reason, it's very obvious. Okay. We need to adjust something here. And same with employees. If you create the right environment, they'll stay. And, you know, you don't have the right environment when they all start leaving. And you just have to start making adjustments, whether that's pay, whether that's hours, whether that's, you know, what. We never used to hire somebody for two days a week, and now we do.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: That's. Covid changed that. Um, and, you know, so, uh, you just have to deal with that, and it comes obvious, I think.

Speaker B: Yep. Well, you guys, you both mentioned Covid a couple of times. So obviously, the pandemic decimated the restaurant industry for quite some time. Arguably, no industry was hit harder than the restaurant hospitality industry. How was that process, and how did that. How was that experience? And what was it. What were you guys feeling and thinking during those times?

Speaker D: That is actually how I got, um, set up with you guys. Working with River's Edge, actually, is Jarrett, uh, who I've been friends with for a long time through my older brother Brian. Um, I didn't even know Jarrett was a financial advisor. I didn't know anything about what he did for work.

Speaker B: Well, to teach him about marketing a little bit, I guess.

Speaker D: Yeah. And, uh, you know, all the COVID stuff happened. And then I started hearing about government programs.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: And, uh, grants and loans, ppp, Eidl, you know, all kinds of stuff. And I was constantly just like, hey, talking to Jarrett and, um, bouncing stuff off of him. And then, uh, you know, at some point, I was like, wait, you know, I haven't talked to my financial advisor for my 401k since COVID started. So I said, maybe I should start working with Jared. But that's what it was. Luckily, we had a good setup enough during COVID that I was able to spend time not stuck, like, totally stuck in the restaurant. I mean, we were all hands on deck.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Uh, my dad came back, he was already retired. You know, everybody was all hands on deck. But I, um, was able, since we had enough good people to spend time researching these grants, these loans, all that stuff through the government. Um, which really saved us.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: I mean, luckily, a big part of our finance is paying my father.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: And he was flexible, and he.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker D: Has, uh, an interest in making sure we stay. Stay afloat as well.

Speaker E: Uh, I tell you, I stand to it. I walked around with my head spinning, saying, how can a virus take down these restaurants?

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker E: Because that's what we were faced with.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker E: And I walked into with Mark and Jeremy, and I said, look, I said, looking at what we have between my stuff, your stuff, we got about six months. That's all we got. And we had no idea what the next day was going to look like. Uh, and once those six months, once Mark started getting. And Jeremy started getting those things from the government, started funding coming our way, then it was okay. I think we're going to be all right. And quite frankly, that's when every bit of advice I would give to them, I always followed it with said. But, however, I've never experienced this. Right. You guys are going to handle the consequence of your decision. I can't really say too much.

Speaker B: There's no. There was no experience.

Speaker E: No. It was no roadmap.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker E: Crazy. Yeah. I mean, they dealt with employee issues and board of health issues and all. I mean, they were. Every other week, there was a different way to set the tables up, chairs up, masks, no masks. It was crazy.

Speaker B: Uh, my favorite part was when you were able to set up an outdoor restaurant that was the same as indoor. That was. That seemed like they were a little bit confused as to what rules they should have been following. So.

Speaker D: Yeah, they said, well, you guys do a lot of. To go food, though, right?

Speaker C: Yeah, like, to go food's gonna pay your rent in here.

Speaker D: Yeah. Not even. I don't think it even hit 10% of our normal sales.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker D: Like, oh, but you got a lot to go, right?

Speaker C: There's a lot of ignorance.

Speaker D: 90, uh, over 90% down in our sales. No, that doesn't. It does. All that did was actually let us order food and pay the couple cooks and people we had working.

Speaker B: You're just treading water.

Speaker D: I didn't pay rent.

Speaker C: Yeah. No money.

Speaker A: Was going out.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: It was nothing.

Speaker C: No money was going out, and it just trickled down to those people. But, um, yeah, you just. You. You did whatever you could to get a dollar to come in, and you did everything you could to not put a dollar out.

Speaker D: St. Patrick's Day, we had the bar stools upside down.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker D: And this is St. Patrick's Day. And, like, I don't know what we're gonna do. Yeah, it was. And because it was extremely scary for a month, I guess, like that.

Speaker E: Just. What are you gonna do? Yeah.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: I mean, we never in my life would. And I'm sure all of us would say the same thing. Thought we'd ever lay off almost 300 people.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker C: Yeah. You know, it's just unbelievable. Yeah.

Speaker B: That is crazy. Um, well, you're definitely stronger for it, which is good, I guess. Right.

Speaker D: It wasn't fun to go through, but changes things for the better sometimes. Sometimes for the worst.

Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, there's actually a lot of things that. That came out of COVID that stayed that are. Were beneficial.

Speaker B: That's good.

Speaker C: So.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: If there's a silver lining there, I guess that would be it.

Speaker B: That's good. Um, Bob, I want to kind of go back in time with you because you purchased deer park tab.

Speaker E: Why does it always mean you got to go back in time?

Speaker B: Uh, back in 2001. So I think deer park is such a unique place. So, truthfully, I spent a few 21st birthdays in that place before you owned it. And that. That place is, like. It's a landmark in the middle of Newark. It's actually been there since 1851, which I didn't know until yesterday. Um, it is a quintessential college bar in the heart of the university of Delaware campus. And it was kind of a mess before you bought it. Is that a fair way to say it?

Speaker E: Yeah. Um, we had two McGlynns at the time, and people's plaza, we just opened a year or two before, and it was doing very well. The other mcglynn's was doing well. And I had heard through a mutual friend that the person that owned the deer park might be interested in selling it. And so one day, I was driving up kirkwood highway, and I said, you know, it'd be kind of foolish to not at least make a phone call Just to see what's involved in trying to buy the deer park.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker E: So I called the mutual friend and set up a meeting, and that's how I bought the deer park.

Speaker B: Wow. That's crazy.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker B: And what was the process of rehabbing it?

Speaker E: Uh, a lot. I closed for six months. Uh, we had to get approvals from the city of Newark, which were not always friendly to restaurants and liquor licenses. However, when I told them I would be restoring it back to its original look back in the 1900s, which was the outside veranda and cupola on the third floor, they then were pretty much, well, if you're gonna do this, we'll allow you to have a parking variant, have another bar upstairs, entertainment bathroom. I mean, they were very willing to go along with me as long as I was gonna do that, and they did.

Speaker B: Well, that's great because I know that that city is sort of, um, infamous for being very difficult to deal with, especially things college related.

Speaker E: Yeah, they're great to deal with. And, uh, and I think they've, uh, they've, uh, over the years have learned that the restaurant industry, uh, and with the bars are still a good thing for Main Street.

Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Um, gents, you guys had the experience of opening a new restaurant recently. The one that we sit in now. Uh, I know that process was, was not without hiccups. So how was that experience for you?

Speaker D: Uh, that was great. I mean, my only experience really opening a restaurant before that was, uh, I got to come in a couple weeks as a general manager before he finished up Cantwell's Tavern. My dad, um, and got to see that Jeremy was a part of that. That was fun.

Speaker C: I was part of. I was around for Dover McGlynn's opening and Cantwell's opening. Um, but that. It has nothing. It doesn't compare at all to doing it yourself at all.

Speaker D: Yes, this was good. This was fun. I mean, it was, um, very intense experience. Um, you know, and, uh, we. We had a huge help in being able to talk to my dad. Uh, who's open. Do you have a count how many restaurants you've opened? Nine now.

Speaker E: It's, uh, 13.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker D: Over. Yeah, that's so, uh, that, that just being able to go through construction plans and dealing with that whole process, you know, the finance of it, how you're going to finance it with the loans, with the bank, sba.

Speaker E: Right.

Speaker D: Um, yeah, it's very. A lot of aspects to it, um, analyzing. And I tend to overanalyze things. Jeremy helps me get past that sometimes. So does my dad. But overanalyzing.

Speaker C: It took us, ah, an hour to figure out where the food was gonna go today, just so you know. Yeah.

Speaker D: Overanalyzing every single piece of everything on this blueprint you know, from a piece of paper, which luckily we have other restaurants, we have a lot of experience. So it's like, you know what at Pike Creek, where you walk around back bar that's too tight. How big is that measurement?

Speaker C: Right?

Speaker D: And then we know, like, all right, it's not. It needs to be bigger than that on this blueprint and this drawing so that, you know that having these other restaurants going through it is a big thing. I mean, we're calling managers all the time, like, yo, go measure this. How tall is that off the ground? Like.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And that's like an efficiency study almost. You know, dentists do that a lot where they have architects, uh, come in and give them an efficiency study about like being able to move their chair around a certain way.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker D: Jeremy and myself I think are very good and intense on that part of it. Like being able to look at the space plan and. Yeah, I mean the. It was great. Construction got delayed for a long time. That was tough. Um, a lot of problems. It was actually with this patio here because moving in this space was expensive and you know, construction is expensive. So I said, you know, it's a little. This is our smallest McGlynn's. So I said the only way we're gonna make this work is if I have a real roof with a real patio and a real bar out here.

Speaker C: Yep.

Speaker D: Which we got.

Speaker B: And it looks awesome.

Speaker D: Yeah, it worked out. But, um, yeah, that whole process was fun.

Speaker B: Dealing with the government's always a fun time.

Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, yeah, I mean the other, the biggest hiccup we had was actually this restaurant got redesigned completely from ground up almost, uh, when we were. Thought we were done. So, uh, but.

Speaker B: So you had to start over once you were done. You had to start over for.

Speaker D: Yeah, for the most part. Yeah, yeah, we had to move the whole bar. Uh, we had to.

Speaker C: Yeah. They like that garage. The garage door was going to be here. The bar was going to be different. The bathrooms are in a different location. I mean the whole. The whole restaurant got re. Redesigned.

Speaker D: Well, I will say the best thing that came out of that is the bar was only going to be like a 12 seat bar right here against this wall.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: Uh, it's a 25 seat bar in the center of the patio. It worked out better.

Speaker B: It's incredible. It's perfect for Sunday NFL games for sure.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker B: Saturday, college football.

Speaker D: And now we're on to the phase where done overanalyzing everything. Me and Jeremy are making it all work efficiently and trying to run it the right way and.

Speaker E: Yep.

Speaker D: Get to enjoy it some now. And now we just. We're running restaurant.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love it. Well, all right. Couple more questions. So, Bob, besides winning every event at the local golf club, what do you like to do in your retirement?

Speaker E: You know, you said you were going to be honest and truthful and straightforward. Why'd you do that? I was definitely closing a restaurant. I mean, I closed the Oyster, uh, house in Newark after a four year run. And, um, yeah, that's very difficult. I mean, uh, I had a restaurant that was making. I had two of them that were making money at, uh, the Oyster House at the beach and had m. The original McGlynn's. But this one was draining everything. And my accountant finally looked me and said, you know, if you close that restaurant, you'd be making a lot of money. Wow. So I said, yeah. I said, but then I'm gonna people, and that's going to be. He said, look, he goes, you'll work all that out. He goes, people are all. Not that they're understanding. You owe him. You own m. He said, but nobody's going to put a gun to your head.

Speaker C: Right?

Speaker E: He said, you got to do what's right for you. Yeah. And make that call. You know, the restaurant business is a very public business. Everybody knows who the owner of the restaurant is. It is true. Right. So, I mean, so I closed it first. Uh, day I walk into McGlinn's for happy hour. One of the regular customers I wasn't a big fan of yelled, hey, I heard going broke.

Speaker B: Thanks.

Speaker E: So that's what happens when you close a restaurant. That's great.

Speaker B: Oh, man.

Speaker D: Who it is?

Speaker B: Um, so I have to ask about the iconic popcorn at McGlin's. Everyone that's ever been to a McGlins will talk about the pop.

Speaker D: See, literally, uh, a good customer here knows that the one at Pike Creek is broken right now. They're paying their up with.

Speaker C: Our popcorn machine is like the milkshake machine at Mc McDonald's.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: No, we actually get phone calls. Oh, yeah. And they'll say, is your popcorn machine fixed? We said, no. They say, okay, we're not coming.

Speaker B: Get out.

Speaker C: Like where? They're going to get popcorn.

Speaker B: But that, uh, popcorn is incredible. Like, no joke. Where did that idea come from?

Speaker D: I asked before I can remember.

Speaker E: All right, H A Winston's had a popcorn machine, which was the first restaurant I worked at. And every customer walks in the door. You know, originally it was all about the bar. Uh, let's get popcorn. Because people Give peanuts. They give this, you know, all those other things. So Winston's was. Now, let's get popcorn. Well, as it turns out, the people walking in the door and driving the popcorn are the one going to the tables. So they all sit there and munch on the popcorn and wait for their meal or the waitress or whatever.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker E: And I said, you know, I'm opening up an Irish pub. We're gonna have popcorn.

Speaker B: Oh, it's great.

Speaker E: And we just sort of. I've kept every restaurant I've had. I've had popcorn.

Speaker C: And our staff loves it. Yeah, staff loves it.

Speaker D: Yes. Especially when it's on a carpet that they have to sweep at the end of the night. Luckily, we got rid of most of the carpets and all the rest.

Speaker C: Or if they burn it and fill the restaurant with black smoke.

Speaker B: And that. That smell is unmistakable. It's one of the worst ever. It's like that and burnt hair.

Speaker D: Hey. They walk in, they're like, ah, it does smell like McLean's.

Speaker B: Well, this has been great. So let's kind of wrap up with, uh, with the rapid fire section here. So what is your favorite moment in the history of the restaurant group? Bob, we'll start with you.

Speaker C: Christ.

Speaker E: My favorite moment in the history of the.

Speaker B: Being in a restaurant.

Speaker E: Being an entrepreneur in 40 years, Bob. Uh, yeah, the fact that I made it through the first year, which meant I could make it through the second year.

Speaker B: I like that.

Speaker E: That was it.

Speaker B: That's a great answer.

Speaker E: That was it.

Speaker B: That's a great answer. All right, Mark, how about you?

Speaker D: For me, same question.

Speaker E: Yeah,

Speaker D: uh, this.

Speaker C: I think being interviewed by you is my favorite moment in the restaurant.

Speaker B: I promise you, there's. There's brighter days ahead.

Speaker D: Getting this restaurant open is, uh, is great. You know, it is me and Jeremy's baby. So, you know, uh, yeah, that's great getting this open.

Speaker B: Jeremy, you say the same, or you.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I'd say the same. I think there's. And it's. You know, again, I owe everything to Bob Ashby. But to have a restaurant that we can actually say we built and didn't just take over is, uh, something to be proud of.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's awesome. For sure. Um, you guys are pretty active in the community, so can you tell us a little bit about some of the charitable, uh, initiatives you guys have taken?

Speaker D: Yeah, most of them were started by Bob.

Speaker B: The one thing.

Speaker D: I'll let Jeremy answer this, but the one thing I'd say is he's always told me. I said this yesterday to somebody. He said, you Give, you give, you give some more. And then you give till it hurts. And that's how you deal with charity. But Jeremy's been running, uh, up some of those.

Speaker C: Yeah. So we do two main ones. We have the Deer park goes pink, which is, um, a 5K, but it's also a month long fundraiser as well that we do corporate, company wide, where we donate a dollar for every nacho and every pink grapefruit crush we sell for the month of October.

Speaker B: Oh, that's great.

Speaker C: Uh, to the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition. And then the 5k, which I think we're on year seven. Seven, I think. Uh, and you know, I just. Look, we have bricks in front of the Deer park for each year and how much money we donated and raised. And I forget the total, but, um, I believe we're well over six figures. That's all right then. Um, we also have a golf outing that I don't. It might be the longest running golf outing in the state of Delaware. I know it didn't used to be a fundraiser when it first started.

Speaker E: Right.

Speaker C: Uh, Bob's started it. Um, he started it at McLinn's back

Speaker E: in like, uh, 85.

Speaker D: So what's that Pike Creek course. Huh? Uh, what was the Pike?

Speaker B: Three little bakers.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker E: Three little bakers.

Speaker C: Yeah. So, and that, um, that is a fun time. I've never been at the Ashby golf outing. You're missing out.

Speaker B: You should sign up immediately.

Speaker C: Uh, and that raises money for the University of Delaware.

Speaker D: Hotel restaurant manager.

Speaker C: Hotel restaurant manager.

Speaker E: Now it's hospitality business sports school.

Speaker C: That's that. Yeah.

Speaker E: It's been three times since we've started the tour.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And that goes towards a scholarship, I believe.

Speaker B: That's awesome. That's great.

Speaker E: Goes to a, uh, student, uh, getting a master's degree in hospitality that, uh, we, uh, uh, fund their, their scholarship

Speaker B: at UD or at ud. That's great.

Speaker E: At ud.

Speaker B: That's great. Um, and finally, you guys have won a number of awards, but, ah, it seems like you're most proud of the fact that you, uh, won the favorite neighborhood restaurant award. Why do you love that so much?

Speaker E: When I started McGlinn's, you know, 80 seat restaurant, 30 seat bar, and I used to tell the staff, I said, all we have to do is make the people that live within five miles of McGlynn's happy and come in once or twice a week. I said, if we do that, this place is going to make money. Yep. And that's what we worked for. And that really hasn't changed. It's all about making the customer happy, getting them to come back. If there's a problem, you solve it. You know, there's a saying that it's not about the problem, it's about the recovery. Well, the recovery is making sure that person will come back again.

Speaker B: That's great. As someone that lives five miles from this location, I certainly appreciate that. That, uh, for sure. Well, gents, this was great. I really, really enjoyed this conversation. It was awesome. So if people want to learn a little bit more about you, where did they go?

Speaker D: Uh, I mean, our. We have websites. Um, I'm easy to get a hold of personally if anybody wants to talk about anything. Ashby, um-hospitality.com you can email, uh, us, and I'm easy to get a hold of.

Speaker B: Great. All right, so since this is the last episode, I want to thank two really special people who actually made this podcast possible, and quite possibly the only two people on the planet that have listened to every episode. First, our editor, Dan Marino. Dan from Orange Line Media, who set all this up today. Thank you so much, Dan. And Kim Mallon. Uh, Kim did all the graphic design work, built our website, and got every episode out on social media. So, Kim, thank you very much. Thank you, guys. I really appreciate it. Well, final toast to this, uh, beer was actually outstanding. I would give that a solid four and a half out of five. I will definitely be drinking that again. And, uh, I really appreciate you guys doing this. And cheers. Thank you.

Speaker C: Cheers. Thank you.

Speaker D: Thank you.

Speaker A: Uh, thank you for listening to Happy half hour with an Entrepreneur sponsored by RiversEdge Advisors. For more information on how RiversEdge Advisors can help you, visit their website at riversedgeadvisors.com if you'd like to connect with Brian Carney for business advice or just to share a beer, follow him on Instagram @riversedge advisors underscore, LLC.