wireless industry. Growing up in Chicago’s Hyde Park community, I developed a strong following that crossed all boundaries, ethnicities and income levels. As a young entrepreneur I was able to exploit this gained popularity and I became humbly known as “the cell phone guy” of inner city Chicago. Back then large cellular companies such as Ameritech, Verizon and U.S. Cellular all had taken a very cautious and conservative approach to opening retail distribution channels in urban markets. Growing up in these communities I knew them well, and knew they offered huge opportunities because of their density, and strong household incomes, yet many of them lacked commercial retail. As a result, I pitched the senior management teams at these organizations, and eventually got the needed support to open one of the first inner city cellular retail locations in the late ‘90s. The activation numbers were staggering, and helped fuel my expansion from a single location in Chicago, to 26 locations across 3 states. I knew I was on to something after a ten (10) year run and eventually selling the vast majority of my retail portfolio to these same major corporations for a seven-figure sum.
My biggest disappointment as an entrepreneur happened between the years 2009-11. After the successful divesture of my cellular business in 2008, I made a calculated move to redeploy some of this capital from my exit into the food industry. I (along with my partner) acquired nineteen (19) Burger King (BK) restaurants and quickly became one of the largest African-American franchisees in the BK system. Eighteen (18) months following the acquisition, I learned via a news feed that the BK brand was sold to a private equity outfit, and over the next 36 months life as a BK franchisee drastically changed for the worse. A significant drop in foot traffic, a major reduction of marketing support services, and competitive pressure and discounting all resulted in negative same store sales and cash flow.
Despite this turbulent interval, and an eventual sale of the business at a discounted value, the hands-on teachings from this tumultuous period were vitally important to my forming and shaping the strategic vision of Hyde Park Hospitality.
DC – Explain why you have an affinity for the hospitality industry and how Hyde Park Hospitality differentiates itself from your competition?