Synopsis
How We Do Business is a primer; a primer that exposes the ABCs of a perennially bankable independent restaurant company, Clyde's Restaurant Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C. 2013 marks Clyde's Golden Anniversary, fifty years beating the odds in the tough, fickle business of running profitable restaurants. The most significant feat in the company's fifty years is that the operators have never closed or handed over a restaurant. All fourteen locations are still open and the company is profitable. A staggering feat considering that one in four restaurants close or change ownership within the first year of business; that fatality rate worsens with time when, over three years, the number increases to three in five. And yet, not a single Clyde's fatality in fifty years. Clyde's businesses include the historic DC landmark Old Ebbitt Grill, which has been ranked among Restaurants and Institutions top five highest grossing restaurants in the country. How do they do it? people often ask. To answer that question is what the primer is about. And the answer comes in dialogue straight from the mouth of those in the know: Sally Davidson, Chairman of the Board and surviving spouse of the founder and majority owner, Stuart Carleton Davidson; John Gibb Laytham, Stuart's and now Sally's vested partner, co-owner and CEO; Ginger Laytham, John's wife and Sr. Executive Officer to the President, CEO and Chairman; and Tom Meyer, President. Clyde's intrepid performance and success over fifty years makes for an awesome case study of how out-of-the-box thinking and a modicum of sophistication can transform a meat-and-potatoes business … or any business, for that matter.
About the Author
J. Garrett Glover is a management consultant specializing in the restaurant business. Formerly Clyde's first corporate operations manager, Garrett has over 45 years of experience in the hospitality industry. In addition to his work for Clyde's, Garrett's clients include independent restaurant companies, government agencies, and economic development agencies. He is the author of restaurant trade articles, white papers, management, human resource, and service manuals. Garrett has produced documentaries and TV specials for the Food Network. A native Washingtonian, Garrett holds degrees from Georgetown University, The Catholic University of America, and a Ph.D. from New York University. He has taught at Columbia University in New York and The Corcoran College of Art in Washington D.C. He lives with his wife and two children outside Washington, D.C. on an historic tobacco farm with its patent tract dating back to 1661.
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