BEEF ‘O’ BRADY’S
By Duncan
The story behind BEEF ‘O’ BRADY’S.
Tom Morookian and I were talking, and I suggested we go out for dinner. “Where do you want to go?” Tom decided he likes “Beefs.” It’s a friendly sports bar just a short distance over the alligator-infested canal and through the palm trees.
Having lived in North Fort Myers for five years, I knew “Beefs.” I have eaten at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s at least a dozen times. So, I reluctantly agreed. Maybe I shouldn’t say, “reluctantly,” After all, I’m staying with Tom. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do!”
Over the five years, I lived in North Fort Myers, I never had a “Cheers” experience at Beefs. No one ever knew my name. At my age, I must look like a tourist, or do I look like a Snowbird? If I were a snowbird, I would only be in Southwest Florida briefly and then go back home.
The food at Beefs is bar food. I don’t want this to sound negative. It is what it is! I also want you to understand that Beef ‘O’ Brady’s has nearly 200 restaurants in 21 states. So, they have a successful operation. Forgive me if I sound a little lukewarm about “Beef.” Being the least bit critical of an operation with 200 locations is hard. They know a lot more about running a business than I do.
If I frequent a place regularly, they would know my name, right? Okay, so I assume I’m the problem. I need to go to Beefs more often. However, I’ve never made a connection between sitting at a bar for a couple of hours (drinking beer) and watching sports on TV. It is not in my DNA.
Let me introduce you to Jim Mellody. He’s the guy who started Beef ‘O’ Brady. By all accounts, Jim was a very nice guy. Jim moved to the Tampa area in the early 80s. He decided Pennsylvania was too … well, you fill in the blanks as to why he moved to Florida.
Did he get sick and tired of cold weather? Did he come to Florida on vacation and say, “This is for me?” Who knows what his motivation was for moving to Florida?
Jim was 46 years old and needed income to support his family. He tried starting several types of restaurants, but an Italian theme and a couple of pizza joints didn’t gel. Jim was down on his Irish luck, and the Blarney Stone looked a little worse for wear.
One thing I learned about the Florida economy is that it’s a service economy. You must rent cars, hotel rooms, motel rooms, apartments, or run a restaurant or a pub/bar.
If you live here full-time, you will need your air conditioning guy on speed dial, your favorite grocery or liquor store, and someone to mow your grass. You need people to service you, whether you plan to live here full-time or come for a short visit.
So, with 135 million people visiting Florida each year, they got to eat, right? When the snowbirds go home, you are left with the 21 million people still needing service year-round.
“Why, I could start a little restaurant and earn a living serving food,” said Jim Mellody.
The Original Beef ‘O’ Brady’s (1985)
After failing at Italian and Pizza, Jim decided to open a little steakhouse. In 1985, Jim opened Beef ‘O’ Brady in Brandon, Florida. Brandon is east of Tampa. It’s still part of the Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical area. The concept was simple: serve steaks and beer, but no hard liquor.
I can only assume the annual liquor license cost was out of Jim's budget when he started. The place attracted a few locals. Jim made a mistake one night and had to leave the restaurant/pub early; he told the people sitting at the bar having a beer to leave their money on the table they owed and close the door when they were finished.
The next day, he returned to his restaurant and found the freezer empty. Someone had stolen all of the steaks in the freezer. His family-friendly Irish pub wasn’t so friendly at that point.
Jim decided he needed TVs and a satellite dish to pick up sports activity, and he expanded his menu to include wings and other items besides steaks. With Jim moving to a sports-friendly bar with food to match, the concept finally took off.
NICK VOJNOVIE - CHUCK WINDSHIP - The home office, Tampa.
The next big change came when Jim Mellody sold most of his interests to Chuck Windship, Family Sports Concepts Inc., in 1998. Chuck is the new sheriff in town, and the franchise game is the name of the game. Jim Mellody retained an interest in 13 locations.
The rules for owning a franchise are specific. Anyone who wants to own a Beef ‘O’ Brady franchise in their town has to have a strong work ethic, love people, and love the community. At least, that is what the website says.
In addition, you need a net worth of one million dollars, three hundred thousand ($300,000) in liquid assets, and a franchise fee of forty thousand ($40,000). If you have the money, hanging the Beef ‘O’ Brady sign over your door is possible.
You would be considered for a franchise. The other fee a new owner must pay is a Royalty Fee of four percent of gross sales. (4%)
In addition to the Royalty fee, you must pay 2.3% of your gross income for marketing. (In lay language, advertising.) Folks, 6.3% of your profit goes to the Home Office.
FRANCHISE FEE $40,000
ROYALTY 4% OF ADJUSTED GROSS
MARKETING FUND 2.3% OF ADJUSTED GROSS
$300,000 IN LIQUID ASSETS
1,000,000 (ONE MILLION) MINIMUM NET WORTH
LOVE COMMUNITY
LOVE PEOPLE
STRONG WORK ETHIC
Under Chuck Winship’s leadership, forty franchise locations existed in two years.
Let’s put a number to that franchise action. Forty restaurants make a million a year, paying the home office 4.3%, which equals $1,730,000. Will some franchises make more than a million a year? Maybe. Sure.
Two years later (Year 2000), Jim Mellody passed at age 63 from cancer.
Family Sports Consepts Inc. had 88 franchise locations. Again, 88 times one million a year equals an income of eighty-eight million. (A million a store) A franchise fee of 4.3% means $374,000,000 ($374 Million) of revenue for the Home Office. Pretty neat stuff, Huh?
Chris Elliott
In early 2010, Chuck Winship stepped down, and Chris Elliott took over the Beef ‘O’ Brady franchise operations, a former executive of Cinnabon and Church’s Chicken. The company had approximately 245 locations, down from a high of roughly 270. As of September 2019, the number of locations had dropped to 150. The Company has added more franchise stores recently and reported having two hundred (200) Beef ‘O’ Brady’s over 23 states.
Chris Elliott indicates that “Beef’s,” owned by Family Sports Concepts Inc., is as financially sound as it has been in years.
No one knows the real numbers for Beef ’O’ Brady’s because it’s a private company. It’s not traded on the New York Stock Exchange. All my numbers are a guess on my part. (SWAG)
Tom Morookian chooses a table at the North Fort Myers/Cape Coral, 2481 Del Prado Blvd., Beef ‘O’ Brady restaurant.
Old men do notice the wait staff, who are normally young women. When I asked Brenda how long she had been working at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, she said,
“I’ve been here three months.”
I asked her what she wanted to be in life.
“I’m just about ready to graduate from college, and I plan on being a radiologist.”
Tom and I ordered our drinks. Tom ordered the Philly Cheesesteak, and I ordered the Reuben.
Tom had a few beers, and I had a tumbler of “Top Shelf Scotch.” That glass of Scotch (Top Shelf, mind you) was $10.25. For fun, a few sandwiches and a drink for two was $56.49.
We left the Pub at 6:17 PM. I looked at the bill. It had information on it. I normally don’t see the time we arrived (5:13) or the time we left. This means they turn the tables in this place once an hour.
Our server's name was (Brenda) The table number we sat at was #15, and our check number was #67. Now, let me do a little math.
I’m wondering if Tom and I are the 67th table for the day. If so, I assume it’s possible. That means 67 customers at $20.00 = $1,340.00 of business.
If two people are at a table (Like Tom and I), it could mean I need to double my income. Now, let's go to the extreme. With four people at a table now, we are discussing a gross income for half a day at “Beefs” of $5,360.00. And the day is nowhere near over. Again, I just love looking at the numbers.
As we returned to Tom’s car in the parking lot, I couldn't help but think to myself.
