After years at a national pizza chain, Dave Pippin founded 3 Guys Pizza Pies. Now operating several locations in the mid-south, Dave looks back at how it all started and provides insight into what it takes to be a family business. Hear candid conversation on operating a restaurant in 2020, and how being ingrained in the community is 3 Guys’ most valuable asset during pandemic restrictions.
Transcript:
Keith Essary:
You’re listening to Main and Mulberry, the Grindstone. Main and Mulberry gives voice to local leaders in small towns, telling big stories. This series, the Grindstone, focuses on a backbone of the U S economy, the small businesses who are creating new jobs and driving innovation with hard work and determination. We’ll hear from business operators about everything from success stories to what it really needs to keep your nose to the grindstone. If you operate a business, are considering starting one, or just want to hear some amazing stories, you’re going to love Main and Mulberry the Grindstone.
KE:
Welcome everybody to this episode of Main and Mulberry, the Grindstone. I’m Keith Essary, and I’ll be your host today. And I have been a small business owner for 20 plus years, so I know what it’s like to be in the grind. And today we also have with us Dave Pippin, and Dave is owner operator of 3 Guys Pizza Pies. How you doing Dave?
Dave Pippin:
Hey good, Keith, how are you today?
KE:
I’m great, man. I’m great. I appreciate you being on the show, and a good place to start is tell, tell our listeners what a, what is 3 Guys? What do you guys do pizza, right? But what, tell us what you do.
DP:
Yeah, we’re a full service pizza restaurant. It’s a dine-in, you know, we like taking your order and bringing your food out to your table. We do do to go orders as well. And you know, we have a kind of a wider menu with subs and wings and things like that, TVs on the walls. So you can always catch the big games and you know, that kind of stuff.
KE:
Gotcha. And you’ve got several locations right, with maybe North Mississippi being the first or the primary, is that right?
DP:
Well, we actually started on Hwy 64 in Lakeland. That was our first venture. And then we, we brought Southaven online, and eventually we opened one in Cordova and Collierville. So we’ve since closed one in Cordova, but Collierville is still alive and well, and the other two are as well.
KE:
Okay, great. So three locations and for our listeners that may not be familiar with this area, that’s, it’s kind of an area around Memphis, Tennessee. So Lakeland, Tennessee border up against Mississippi. So Southaven is, is just South of Memphis and then Collierville is kind of a, it’s a suburb, but incorporated city outside of Memphis. So three locations there. And so it sounds like pretty cool spots, pizza joints come in, TV sports. I’m assuming you get some beers, things like that.
DP:
Absolutely. And you know, we, we target the you know, neighborhoods. We want to be the neighborhood pizzeria where you go after the ball game or the soccer game, or, you know, whatever the event is and you’re comfortable bringing in the whole family. So you can have that beer and let the kids play a video game or watch a little TV or something that, and, you know, just relax and have a good meal.
KE:
Yeah, it sounds, that sounds cool. And I think there’s a special, you guys do like a, make your own bread or something every day or something like that for, for some of your products. Isn’t that one of your specialty things?
DP:
Oh yeah. We, we, you know, a lot of our food is cooked and processed right in house. In particular, our dough. We make our dough every day. You know, flour, water, yeast, sugar, just the basics like that. We grate our own cheese from 40 pound blocks. You know, meats, we cook in house. We don’t buy bag products to put on the pizzas. Cooking them in house it allows us to buy the product at a commodity level which is cheaper. And it also results in just a fresher tasting product.
KE:
Yeah. That’s great. I’ve, I’ve had a pizza myself and it’s phenomenal. And I, you know, like the my daughter and I, we both, we like, you guys have some boneless wings too, and they toss in some barbecue is pretty good too. So yeah, I can, I can attest personally for the quality of the food there, but tell us a little bit about how you got into this. When did you start 3 Guys? What were you doing before? What’s, what’s your story?
DP:
Well I worked for Chuck E. Cheese for 25 years and you know, I’d held a lot of different positions with those guys and, and I was part of a large growth period with, with Chucky and, and worked with a lot of great people. And it was pretty, pretty awesome experience for the most part. I mean, we we were compensated well and, and it was all about performance and it just kinda, you know, it was, it was a good educational experience, kind of leading me into the, doing my own, my own restaurants and, and you know, as a corporation got bigger, we had a little bit less autonomy and, and you know, I kinda felt like I had been an entrepreneur at heart for, for my whole life, just you know, had yet to really take in the big step to go out and do my own thing.
KE:
Right.
DP:
You know, I just got closer and closer, looked for opportunities started, you know, really kind of turn it over rocks and digging in a little bit. And eventually I felt like everything lined up well and, and it was time to go.
KE:
Yeah. Was that, that, that had to be scary. I know there’s always those times that when you step out like that, there’s something that keeps you up at three o’clock in the morning. What was the, what was the biggest thing for you going through that was the kind of the biggest challenge you had along the way? What, what kept you up at night?
DP:
You know, I think that’s the biggest thing is the, you know, the, the fear of not being able to meet your commitments to your family. You know, your financial commitments, things like that. And then, you know, the, the next thing is not being able to meet your financial commitments to your employees. You know, those are, that’s a tremendous amount of pressure. And when I stepped out, I had, you know, younger daughter and I have some financial responsibilities, but, you know, you just get to a point where you have to decide you know, it’s either time I’m going to do this. And you know, I’m, I’m as prepared as I can be, or I’m going to let this dream go and I’m going to really focus in on, you know, what I’m doing now or some other dream. And, and, you know, I’ve, I felt like it was, I was at a point where I I’d read everything I had read, I had done my homework. There was a, you know, pretty decent opportunity in front of me to acquire an existing restaurant and rebrand it over to what I wanted to do. So, you know, we jumped in and it was a learning experience. 10 years ago, last month, as a matter of fact.
KE:
Yeah, so 10 year anniversary. So that’s, that’s definitely a measure of success. A lot of the small businesses don’t make it anywhere near that long. And so I mean, that’s a, that’s a great story. And it’s a great answer. I’ve talked to a lot of small businesses and they talk about, you know, keeping them up at night, being able to make the type of money that they were before without a steady paycheck coming in and things like that. And but to flip it around and talk about the the commitment that you have to your employees, I think that is a phenomenal answer. And, and it’s definitely something that weighs on a lot of small business owners’ minds. And especially today, as we’ve gone through this pandemic, right, everybody’s had to make some adjustments and pivots. And what’s that been like for you guys?
DP:
It’s a, thank you. You just summed it up: adjustments and pivots. You know, kind of an everyday thing almost it, at first it was the thought process was, are we going to be able to stay open, you know, just from a government regulation and, and, you know, are the public going to be buying pizza? Is anybody going to be out? You know, and, and then the next thing is, what are we gonna do with the employees? These people have families and commitments and things like this. And, and you know, we were fortunate. We saw pretty quick that people would call us and they’d come pick up the pizza. They didn’t have to eat inside. So that helped out quite a bit. And, and as we were able to, it seems like overnight, we went from, are we going to be able to keep the employees busy to we don’t have enough employees. And that’s kinda been what we struggled with through most of the pandemic is keeping enough employees locating product. You know, some weeks we have issue finding the quantity of beef we might need. Cheese prices at first, they went down, then they tripled, or so now they’re kind of pulling back you know, even things like pepperoni have become a bit scarce because the manpower needed to make the pepperoni. So there’s been a lot of supply chain things. And, and like I say, keeping people on board because they have families and, and, you know, people want to be very cautious about potentially bringing something home to their family, bring something from home and to the restaurants. We’re very cautious about that, you know? So yeah, there’s, there’s a lot of balls to juggle with, with everything going on right now.
KE:
Yeah, no doubt. And I’m, I’m glad you guys have kind of have weathered the storm okay there, and, you know, I’ve spoken with several restaurants and one in particular was telling me that at the reduced capacity, he’s kind of a burger joint in in Jackson, Mississippi, a couple of them there. And he, he was telling me that at 50% capacity, he’s better off not opening and still doing curbside because the staff that he has to bring in and what he has to do in a small square feet to, to maintain to, to keep distance and to keep it at 50%, he can’t make money. And that, that now I’m sure that gets into keeping employees busy and all that kind of stuff. But as we opened back up, has that been beneficial to you as that worked in your business, being in this phase type deal where you can only have a certain amount of people in the business?
DP:
You know, I don’t know. I think it’s still, I think the jury’s still out on that. We have people coming into the restaurants and dining, and that’s fantastic. That’s what, that’s what we need. And we, we are seeing as many people as we can during our peak times, but it it’s just not something that can really sustain us for a long period, I don’t think. You know, our customers are tremendously you know, giving and caring. They, they want to see the employees taken care of and they want to see us taking care of, I think, and, and, you know, the phone’s ringing, they’re buying pizzas. And, and that’s great, but eventually, you know, this environment of not going out to eat with your family, especially if you got, if you have three or four kids that almost immediately puts you over the, the size limit that the government wants, you know, in one place you know, six people. So, you know, it’s, there’s going to be an impact on the industry, which will impact other industries like commercial real estate and, you know, all those, all the, and all that trickle down stuff. You know, it’s just a matter of, we, at least right now, we never know when we’re quite out of the woods. And, you know, just this morning I was, I was on the phone with the food supplier trying to source product that, you know, shouldn’t just, wouldn’t be something tough to source. So it, it every day is kind of bringing a new challenge right now and who knows where it’s really gonna end.
KE:
Yeah, absolutely. And it’s, it’s going to start back. I mean, I heard a couple of things there, but that it’s kind of a testament to your business. I think that the communities that you’re in you’re ingrained enough that the communities themselves want to support the local business, wants your employees to do well. Want you guys to do well and are continuing to support you on the flip side, schools are starting back. And I know for pizza joints that, you know, coming in after that football game and getting, you know, the, the little league or whoever coming in and having enjoyed pizza, or having their parties and giving out their trophies and all that, that’s not possible now. Right? And a lot of sports aren’t even happening, but if they were, that’s still not possible with the regulations, that’s going to have to play some, have some effects over time. This thing is, is really, like you said, it’s going to be well, we’ll have to see, right?
DP:
I mean, that’s, that’s really what it comes down to. And you know, restaurants, especially restaurants that cater to kids like a Chuck E. Cheese, that’s, you know, you gotta really rethink that business model. And I think parents really rethink whether or not, you know, or how often they’re going to go in places, but movie theaters. You know, I think we do have an advantage of people feeling like this is their local pizza place. And to folks that are coming in there are their neighbors. And they’re, they’re, you know, a little more comfortable than having a huge facility where, you know, it appears people are coming from everywhere to, to eat and hang out and that kind of stuff. But you know, it, it the science is still out. It’s still changing a little bit. And, you know, as, as the, as the water clears and, and we get better, better data and facts, I think you know, we’ll get back somewhat to normal, but I just think there’s going to be, there’s going to be a long-term effect especially with restaurants and places, families would normally go together.
KE:
Sure. Yeah. I can see that. And I’m, I’m glad you’re out there fighting the good fight, man. I mean, you gotta be, you know, the local aspect and the community wants support you. I mean, I think our read that Chuck E. Cheese, their parent company filed bankruptcy during the pandemic. So you gotta be feeling good about the decision now to become the local pizza place, right?
DP:
Yeah. You know, Chucky about a year after I left maybe maybe six or eight months, they, they actually were, were bought out and they went from the public company to they, they were bought out and they went private. And part of that was financed through, you know, a a debt facility. And they were already in a, kind of a tough spot going into the pandemic and, you know, they add their sales completely pulled out from under them. So, you know, they’ve, they’ve, they’re trying to restructure. I still got a lot of buddies that work for them and, you know, I mean, great concept and you know, kind of a, kind of a tragedy really to see a good company and, and concept that, you know, may not survive. It just may not survive. But yeah. And, you know, I mean, I think a lot of businesses out there, there are things that you can do, you know, to create a safe environment from things like with the virus, newer air sanitizers and, and, you know, things like that. But the science on all of these products is still kind of fuzzy. And, and, you know, I mean, everybody, I think in the business community, be willing to invest in things that made their customers safer and made people feel more comfortable coming in. You know, we just need to identify exactly what those are and make sure they actually work before we put our capital towards them.
KE:
That makes sense. And I know I’ve spoken with some that are, you know, mass type supply chain beef, cutting board, cutting facilities, places like that, that are, they can’t, you can’t continue to do that and be six feet apart. So they’re trying to do things like plexiglass, but they’re investing too. I know they’re investing in air circulation, changing the way their AC works and things like that for circulation. But like you said, everybody’s just kind of trying and you know, if you can find the right thing, I mean, I think that’s a good, that’s a good point. If we can find the right thing that works, that actually helps, then places will come together and support that. It’s just going to be a new way of doing business and new thing we have to have. Right. And so but we just gotta find the right thing. Nobody wants to jump out right now when everything is uncertain and say, I’m going to go invest all these dollars in this, you know, air filtration or air circulation, and then find out it doesn’t work, you know?
DP:
Right. Right. And, and, you know, there’s, there’s ultraviolet hand sanitizers, where you simply wave your hands under the light and it sanitized they’re back older and they’re a lot more today than they were this time. Last year, you, same thing, like you said, with the air conditioning systems and HPAC, there are light sanitizers that can go in there, but you know, they need to be so large. And not that people, not that many people around here are familiar with them. So, you know, there’s, there’s a, I mean, we’re in a learning curve and you know, I think as long as we keep our eyes open and willing to learn and, and, you know, change as it’s required, we’ll we’ll be good.
KE:
Yeah. Well, I wish you guys the best. And I know it’s you know, it’s, it’s tough and it, from all aspects and even talking to a lot of businesses and one like yours too, I think that, you know, you talked about the commitment to employees, but you’ve also over the last 10 years grown as a family business too. So you have some family members work in there and that’s a big piece of small business. We’re the same way. And, you know, so you can have something like this come through and it doesn’t just affect you as the owner. But if you’ve got a family business there, the whole family can be hurt there if we can’t figure this thing out. So I know you’ve, you’ve got some family working and so I’m really pulling for everybody out there, but the small businesses, people in the community, I hope they realize that. It sounds like you’re saying that they are, but these are businesses that are, are, put everything on the line, put the family on the line, taking the plunge, and they’re trying to make it through this thing. So you know, it’s a big deal to be supported by the community that goes beyond what people just think at face value.
DP:
Sure, you know, and, and, you know, I’ll tell you, there’s, there’s a lot of support amongst the small business community kind of within themselves. And, you know, when this was going on, we had people, the tips people would, would leave our servers and stuff. It was pretty amazing how, you know, people were reaching in and, and, you know, digging deep for them. It was amazing. And we had, we had you know, at least one gentlemen came by a store and said, Hey, look, you know, we’ve been fans of y’alls from the beginning. And, you know, we want to donate a little bit of money and, and you know, this kind of thing. I mean, it was heartwarming, touching and you know, I mean, I’m, I’m grateful for it. And, and, you know, I do, I do have, I pretty much had my whole family wrapped up in this thing. You know, my wife she’s really the, the, the brains behind it, I guess you’d say. She keeps it running. You know, and I’ve got ex brother-in-law running one of my locations and my son runs a couple of locations. And you know, at some point in time, everybody around me has worked at the restaurants and some form or fashion. And, you know, I’m grateful for that. That’s the, that’s the thing that I think that’s one of reasons we’ve been able to survive it. You know, we’re all in.
KE:
Yeah. And that makes a difference, the loyalty, it makes a difference. And when you show loyalty to people in the community and to family, and then times like this, they show loyalty back and they’re not saying, you know, okay, I’m going to bail because I’m getting an extra $600 a month or something, you know, they stay loyal, they stay work. And so that’s that, that’s the flip side of it, right? Is the loyalty through family. So it’s good to hear that that’s all coming together at 3 Guys for you guys.
DP:
That’s a, you know, at least at the moment, everything, everything is going, you know, as well as we can expect. And, and you know, I’m grateful for it. And I know, I know the employees, you know, the family and even, you know, some of the folks that aren’t family they’ve been with us so long, they’re like family. You know, I know if Melissa and I, you know, work hard and, you know, make sure their needs are taken care of they’re out there working hard, making sure the customer’s needs are taken care of which takes care of us. And you know, it’s a, it’s a simple circle. That’s hard to kind of keep, keep going all the time.
KE:
Yeah. Well said, man. Well said. Well, I appreciate you spending some time with us today. And you know, hope you guys, you know, keep going on, keep making it work and and keep serving the community. And it’s, it’s awesome to hear when people in the, in the public are supporting with big tips and even donations, things like that. That’s, that’s good stuff, man. That means you’re doing it right. So congratulations.
DP:
I appreciate, I appreciate it. Hope things go, go well for you and your family as well. And, and I appreciate you having me on.
KE:
Absolutely man. Thanks for your time guys. That’s what we’ve got today. You can see more interviews like this, like Dave’s interviews with other small business owners at mainandmulberry.com and look for the Grindstone series and we’ll see you next time.