00:00Today on Forbes, how Smashburger Founder's Sports Bar Chain is reshaping the game day
00:05experience.
00:08With its technologically supercharged ordering system and some speedy servers, Tom's Watch
00:13Bar can get food to your table less than eight minutes after the ticket is rung up, and can
00:18bring you a beer in under two.
00:21The Sports Bar Chain's expansion only seems that fast.
00:25Since launching with four locations in 2019, Tom's Watch Bar has grown to 13 restaurants
00:30in 2024 and 16 this year.
00:34In mid-September, that number climbed to 18 as the chain unveiled its plans for its two
00:38newest venues in Cincinnati and Milwaukee.
00:42And there are more on the lineup.
00:44Tom's is aiming to open two more outlets in 2025 and another 10 to 13 each subsequent
00:49year.
00:51Despite a crowded market featuring established chains such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Beefo Brady's,
00:57and Walk On's Sports Bistro, not to mention scores and scores of local watering holes,
01:02Tom's Watch Bar has seen its core business revenue rise about 4% over last year, and its
01:07run rate, factoring in the new locations, has soared past $100 million, with its outlets
01:13averaging more than $6 million in sales.
01:17Every store is also profitable, with restaurant level margins exceeding 25% on average, and
01:22all 18 locations company owned.
01:26That sort of success is notable in a tough segment where the once mighty Hooters is looking
01:31to rescue itself from bankruptcy, after it filed for Chapter 11 in March and abruptly closed
01:36more than 30 of its roughly 300 locations.
01:40Tom's appeal includes an elevated menu offering lobster tacos and craft beers, and its dedication
01:47to a 360-degree viewing experience on game day, cramming each restaurant with more than
01:52100 televisions tuned to multiple sports around the country.
01:57But Tom's strategy isn't just about the sports on its screens.
02:00It's also about the athletes playing nearby.
02:04Of Tom's now 18 units, 15 are adjacent to a stadium or arena, capitalizing on the foot
02:10traffic being generated by a nationwide trend toward building up the neighborhoods surrounding
02:14sports venues.
02:16Developments that often feature both commercial and residential real estate, and are sometimes
02:20known as entertainment districts, ballpark villages, or sports-anchored mixed-use districts.
02:26Co-founder and co-CEO Brooke Shaden says, quote,
02:30All of our demand is driven by sports.
02:33We've looked at a lot of quasi-suburban-type locations, where there's a lot of people,
02:37really attractive demographics, fit our customer profile, but they're crickets by 730.
02:43That's probably not going to work very well for us, even though all of the data would
02:46point to it.
02:49Tom's Watch Bar was born in 2014 as Tom's Urban, an upscale diner concept from experienced
02:55restaurant operators within the Denver-based family office SIF Partners.
03:00Tom Ryan, its eponymous co-founder, had helped introduce Pizza Hut's stuffed crust and served
03:05as a McDonald's executive.
03:07Rick Shaden, Brooke's cousin, ran Quiznos for 15 years.
03:12Together, they founded Smashburger in 2007.
03:16After selling that chain to Jollibee Foods Corporation, which bought a 40% steak in 2015 at a $335 million
03:23valuation, and then spent $100 million to acquire another 45% in 2018, Ryan and the Shadens turned
03:31their focus to their four Tom's restaurants, three at casinos in Connecticut, Las Vegas,
03:36and Washington State, and one in the entertainment complex surrounding the Lakers and Kings Home,
03:41known as Crypto.com Arena, in downtown Los Angeles.
03:46Brooke Shaden, whose background is in private equity and investment banking, and who served
03:51as chief financial officer before officially taking on the co-CEO title last year, says,
03:56quote,
03:56What we started noticing is, as we added some TVs, and because we were in a sports environment,
04:02all of a sudden we were really busy on a Monday.
04:04With that early success, the co-founders, including Shannon McNeil, a former Texas Roadhouse and
04:11Darden Restaurants executive, who joined in 2018 to run operations, and is now co-CEO
04:16alongside Shaden, decided to rebrand the Tom's concept in 2019.
04:22Their survey of the sports bar landscape made them confident that there were easy ways to
04:27stand out.
04:28For full coverage, check out Brett Knight's piece on Forbes.com.
04:34This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes, thanks for tuning in.
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