Small Talk: Sell Hi

[David T. Cole]

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[Sarah D. Bunting]

"Sell hi." #slowclap

[attica]

News today is that Marcus has swooped in to rescue cupcake purveyor Crumbs, giving them some bankruptcy-related financing. He wants them to add more and different inventory, perhaps even serving as outlets for Sweet Pete's and Key West Lime.

[Lola16]

News today is that Marcus has swooped in to rescue cupcake purveyor Crumbs, giving them some bankruptcy-related financing. He wants them to add more and different inventory, perhaps even serving as outlets for Sweet Pete's and Key West Lime.

Interesting.  I heard that on the local news today and was wondering what the angle was.

[Amarsir]

Good link. I knew Crumbs closed but didn't realize Marcus had stepped in. And then it says he's invested in Wicked Good Cupcakes now too? That's a negotiation I'd have loved to hear. As I recall, Kevin O'Leary is getting 45 cents royalty per jar. And it's hard to imagine Kevin giving it up, nor Marcus going along with it.

[Ketzel]

Here's the Wicked Good Cupcakes press release on the deal. Kind of amusing how Marcus praises the product, O'Leary praises the company's success, and neither of them mention the other.

[attica]

Inc magazine has Marcus as their coverboy this month. A nice long article I can't link to ::shakes fist at paywall::  According to the piece, the show doesn't pay Marcus enough to cover his expenses week to week, and that the money he's lost on the A.Stein Meat and the Skullduggery deals is just that: Lost. Which surprises me; I'd think the show would have some kind of budget for the remodeling and such, but nope! On the other hand, the car dealership and car buying concern are going gangbusters, so he's well ahead of the game.

 

He's gotten over 40K businesses applying for help. He looks for profit potential, the CNBC showrunner looks for 'good television' potential. Ratings are mammoth, He doesn't play the stock market. He was lonely as a kid. He suffered from an eating disorder as a teen, He still frets about his weight. He's divorced.  

 

He's not going to do an ep on the Crumbs deal, because he thinks that smacks of self-promotion; he'd rather showcase businesses that aren't already his.

 

I'll go back and look at the hard copy of the mag to pull some quotes. ::paywall!!!::

[caligirl50]

I have to say that I always found Crumbs cupcakes lacking flavor.  The cake part of the cupcake was flavorless. It was the icing and array of flavors that kept it in business.  Too much competition out there.  Happy that Marcus is helping.

[citychic]

I'm fascinated by Marcus. I was digging around and discovered that he was or still is (no current info) dating Bethenny Frankel late last August. Talk about a power couple.

He's in Ferndale, MI today promoting his new venture. It's a new business learning series for youth at Universal Orlando.

http://www.kcentv.com/story/31059997/universal-orlando-youth-programs-launches-innovative-business-learning-series-presented-by-cnbcs-the-profit-marcus-lemonis

[caligirl50]

It's crazy yes? I just hope he is happy. He deserves happiness.  He's a good guy. His mama raised him right.

[Cranky One]

Interesting...

 

https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/dark-side-of-marcus-lemonis-reality-tv-show-the-profit.html

[Ray Adverb]

34 minutes ago, Cranky One said:

Interesting...

 

https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/dark-side-of-marcus-lemonis-reality-tv-show-the-profit.html

It doesn't really surprise me.  Reality shows are pretty notorious for misrepresenting things to service the narrative they want to show.  I've been talking with a woman who was on a reality show earlier this year who is really wound up because they essentially created an entirely false persona through a combination of implication and flagrant misrepresentation. 

I try to take things with a grain of salt though and derive what entertainment I can anyway.

[Amarsir]

In some of those cases, notably Swanson's Fish Market and The Simple Greek, nobody looks good. I'm not really compelled to take either side. But that Inkkas case at the end is pretty damning.

I've long thought the "handshake deal" isn't a kindness but a sleaze tactic. "I want you to put me in charge of everything without me actually having to commit to anything back. That's just how I do things."

[cooksdelight]

Television today isn’t The Wonderful World of Disney or The Brady Bunch.

I have half a dozen friends who’ve been on reality TV. They all had to sign their life away and agree never to tell anything. I was approached by reality TV producers for 3 different shows. Didn’t answer any of them.

If you have a business and you go on reality TV you are either going to get a lot of new customers or you are going to sink.

Couldn’t pay me anything to do it.

[Ray Adverb]

10 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Television today isn’t The Wonderful World of Disney or The Brady Bunch.

I have half a dozen friends who’ve been on reality TV. They all had to sign their life away and agree never to tell anything. I was approached by reality TV producers for 3 different shows. Didn’t answer any of them.

If you have a business and you go on reality TV you are either going to get a lot of new customers or you are going to sink.

Couldn’t pay me anything to do it.

Reality TV is a tempting mistress.  I think a lot of ordinary folks are tempted by the thought of being on TV.  I mean, television!  That's where famous people are!  It's a different experience that seems pretty exciting compared to the mundane grind of everyday life.  Business owners such as the people on The Profit or any of those thousand restaurant themed shows also hope for some help with their business. 

 

But the average person is inexperienced with the entertainment industry and easily exploitable.  Reality show producers are slick and cagey people who know how to make good television.  Participants are sort of like criminal suspects being interrogated without a lawyer.  They think they're clever enough to keep themselves looking clean, but the interrogators are a lot more clever.

[link417]

19 hours ago, Cranky One said:

Interesting...

 

https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/dark-side-of-marcus-lemonis-reality-tv-show-the-profit.html

Thanks for posting that, it was a good read. I remember all the brouhaha over the Swanson episode and the daughter’s attempts to mitigate things afterward. It’s sad that the owner died the day after it shuttered.

[Inspector Bucket]

I don't blame reality tv -- phoney storytelling, deceptive editing, staged scenarios -- that isn't the thing here. The thing is the power dynamics.

Take the "handshake deal." Preposterous. It is a great narrative device. But. So very vague. So legally and morally ambiguous.

On the one side, you have failing owners -- total financial collapse of some sort is on the horizon. On the other side, you have a confident, smart, wealthy guy who specializes in buying damaged assets. He hands you a check (that is a prop) makes the statement that he is "100% in charge" and away we go!

Of course with this "handshake deal" somebody is going to end up legally and/or emotionally hosed.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Inspector Bucket

[Inspector Bucket]

One more thing. I am calling bullshit on Marcus being "100% in charge." He isn't. He doesn't want to be. He doesn't own the whole business, he doesn't manage the business, he is offsite, and he gets 500 texts a day.

And I adore Marcus. And I think the Big Fat Gyro parents are idiots and ingrates. (I don't know what happened with Swanson's Fish Market. Seems like that business was heading for disaster with or without Marcus.) A. Stein was a very sad story, indeed, with those owners stuck on a Scoudrels/Losers axis.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Inspector Bucket

[bioprof]

I used to like this show, but lately it just feels like every episode is one big infomercial for Marcus Lemonis holdings.

Every show this season has had some link up to one ( or more ) of Marcus' properties.....the clothes tie in to this company that he owns....the food ties in to that company that he owns....the decor ties in to another company that he owns....etc. etc.   Even the vendors are recycled through the Lemonis washing machine....I think I'm done......and the heart sweaters / jackets / shirts   just put it over the top for me!

[Inspector Bucket]

Probably not infomercials. More like straight up commercials. I can't tell you why, but the more I watch this show, the more hooked I become. And clip shows where Marcus and Amber comment on stuff? I cannot get enough.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Inspector Bucket

[Brooklynista]

Does anyone know where I can watch  old episodes of The Profit.  Somehow I missed the original showing of L.A. Dogworks and this recent popcorn lady.  Hulu is currently only showing Season 5.

[Ray Adverb]

2 hours ago, Inspector Bucket said:

One more thing. I am calling bullshit on Marcus being "100% in charge." He isn't. He doesn't want to be. He doesn't own the whole business, he doesn't manage the business, he is offsite, and he gets 500 texts a day.

He is only 100% in charge for a brief time right after he starts the deal.

2 hours ago, Brooklynista said:

Does anyone know where I can watch  old episodes of The Profit.  Somehow I missed the original showing of L.A. Dogworks and this recent popcorn lady.  Hulu is currently only showing Season 5.

You can buy episodes on Amazon streaming video.  If you want something free you'll have to go to bit torrent sites.

[tobeannounced]

After this season, I don't know why any business owner in their right mind would go on this show.

[hurrrz]

16 hours ago, tobeannounced said:

After this season, I don't know why any business owner in their right mind would go on this show.

Well, if your business is struggling and gets on the show and you're not a complete idiot I think this could be a good deal. Lemonis only goes in if he sees potential to make a lot of money, if you are still part of the business, you'll also make a lot of money. I can see why you'd want to partner with him, if you want to scale up massively. That being said - I am sure he's not easy to work with.

[tobeannounced]

3 hours ago, hurrrz said:

Well, if your business is struggling and gets on the show and you're not a complete idiot I think this could be a good deal. Lemonis only goes in if he sees potential to make a lot of money, if you are still part of the business, you'll also make a lot of money. I can see why you'd want to partner with him, if you want to scale up massively. That being said - I am sure he's not easy to work with.

Unfortunately a lot of these business owners don't know they're complete idiots until they get on the show and everything goes south and their reputations are in tatters. IDK, I guess some of them deserve it, but they're already struggling and now their business is worse off than before.

[KHenry14]

You'd think that some of these people, like the Dogworks guy, Popcorn lady and the two Marshmallow women would be smart enough to realize that they might come off looking bad on national TV. Yet they went headfirst into this and paid a huge price for acting like fools and bullies.

[tobeannounced]

2 hours ago, KHenry14 said:

You'd think that some of these people, like the Dogworks guy, Popcorn lady and the two Marshmallow women would be smart enough to realize that they might come off looking bad on national TV. Yet they went headfirst into this and paid a huge price for acting like fools and bullies.

I really hope they do a behind the scenes on that one!

[Amarsir]

On 8/16/2018 at 3:03 PM, hurrrz said:

Well, if your business is struggling and gets on the show and you're not a complete idiot I think this could be a good deal. Lemonis only goes in if he sees potential to make a lot of money, if you are still part of the business, you'll also make a lot of money. I can see why you'd want to partner with him, if you want to scale up massively. That being said - I am sure he's not easy to work with.

I'm not sure Shuler's BBQ is really getting that rich. They were already doing well and hoping to make a national chain, but Marcus didn't want that. Here's my breakdown on what happened (that we know of)

• Marcus put in $500,000 for 40%.
• He required them to shift the land they already owned into the business name, so he now owns 40% of that.
• Then Marcus spent an additional $1.4 million, requiring who knows what from them in return.
• A family member - the one who called The Profit in the first place - was willing to give up a high-paying job to move back near his sister's family.  The show made him look like a clown and Marcus personally badmouthed him to his family behind his back.
• The expansion of the seating area was probably good, but most of the money was spent on a banquet hall we have no evidence they can support, and a general store whose inventory is so purposeless and cluttered he criticized it in a followup show.
• Scanning a couple review sites, the reviews are not terrible but have fallen off in the last year or so. Several indicate that prices are higher and food went downhill.

Now maybe it's all working efficiently. But I suspect they gave up a lot and their profit has not gone up that much in return. It certainly doesn't seem like the multi-state tourist destination that Marcus claimed it would be.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The family member, Ewell (or however it's spelled) was looking for a $100k plus, do nothing job for moving back.     There is no way Shuler's could finance what he wanted, and Marcus put it so aptly "Shuler (the kid) could do what you're doing on Facebook".     I think the best thing Marcus id was get rid of Ewell.    Personally, I think when someone gets an edit the way Ewell did, the production company has figured out exactly what he's up to, and how useless he is, and showed it to everyone very clearly.     

 

Shuler's also suffered from the severing of Marcus's relationship with Crumbs, that featured their cupcakes for more publicity.     Also, apparently the BBQ pit building burned down, and they were working with borrowed grills from other pit masters, who rallied around when they heard about the news.      They've also had to tweak what they offer in the country store section to make it more sellable, with name brands, and I'm sure that hit the bottom line on profit too.   

 

And Miss Lynn lost her mother in the last year or so, and I'm sure that impacted the entire operation a lot.    The bakery selections look fantastic online.     I wish they actually marketed the biscuits the way they were planning, because they look delicious. 

Edited August 18, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[Amarsir]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The family member, Ewell (or however it's spelled) was looking for a $100k plus, do nothing job for moving back.     There is no way Shuler's could finance what he wanted, and Marcus put it so aptly "Shuler (the kid) could do what you're doing on Facebook". 

Yeah he was looking for an office job in a  franchise when Marcus didn't intend to expand that way. Don't hire him. That's fine. Not what bothers me. This is:

Between Marcus's visits Ewell went back to New Orleans where he already had a 6-figure job doing social marketing. He sent Marcus an email saying "I'm sorry it's not going to work for me there." Marcus then reads the letter out loud to the sister & brother-in-law, adding comments like "Can you believe this guy? Saying it in an email? Be a man."

I don't know about you. But if Marcus did that in my presence to anyone in my family, he would at minimum be thrown out of the building. Whether you hire someone or not, you treat them with respect.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I respectfully disagree, because I've met people like Ewell, and think he missed the entire point of working in a family business.   In the small businesses I see everyone gets into the trenches, and works alongside every one else, and he showed he didn't want to do that.      They owners are usually the first one there in the morning, the last to leave, and work all of the time.   

I thought the way Ewell and his wife left was a chicken way to do that, because Ewell and the wife just took off, didn't say anything, and wouldn't even answer their phones, then he sent the email.     I think Ewell thought he would be a big shot with a huge salary, and do nothing.     The reason I think the production company disliked him was they showed him agreeing to manage, and work with everyone else, but then dumping plates on the table, never doing any actual work, and then talking about his facebook skill.     My guess his income wasn't half what he claimed it was, and he saw the chance to make it big.   

 

I think the owner of the BBQ (don't remember his name) knew what Ewell was up to, but was willing to put up with him so the sister would move back, and make his wife, and mother-in-law happy.    I really wonder what happened to the sister, and Ewell after the show ended.       

[Ray Adverb]

On 8/18/2018 at 2:34 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

And Miss Lynn lost her mother in the last year or so, and I'm sure that impacted the entire operation a lot.    The bakery selections look fantastic online.     I wish they actually marketed the biscuits the way they were planning, because they look delicious. 

I went to Shuler's once.  The biscuits were actually tiny and not that good.  I can make better biscuits from a can of Pillsbury dough.  The show did not present this, but Shuler's kind of sucks.  They have one buffet table with so-so food and one desert table.  The building is nice and the land is beautiful, but as a restaurant it's like going to a family barbecue.

[CrazyInAlabama]

It's really strange, but on the announcement for the businesses from this season there were two more companies listed, but I guess the producer behind the scenes for LA Dogworks, and Planet Popcorn replaced them.

 

That's too bad Ray.    They could do so much better than that.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

Many of the businesses he's investing in are so upscale, that there's no way I could ever buy anything from them, so I guess he's not interested in scaling businesses into franchises any more.     I also think companies like Ellison Eyewear are just for people who want to spend money to impress others, and I don't do that.   

[CrazyInAlabama]

This used to be one of my favorite shows, especially after episodes like Sweet Pete's, and Key Lime.         I used to record this, and watch it every week, but not now.   Now I don't even remember it's on usually.

[Moose135]

I still watch, but I've been losing interest lately. The past two episodes I barely paid attention to, and didn't really care enough to figure out what they were all about.

[silverspoons]

On 12/3/2019 at 5:11 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

This used to be one of my favorite shows, especially after episodes like Sweet Pete's, and Key Lime.         I used to record this, and watch it every week, but not now.   Now I don't even remember it's on usually.

On 12/3/2019 at 9:35 PM, Moose135 said:

I still watch, but I've been losing interest lately. The past two episodes I barely paid attention to, and didn't really care enough to figure out what they were all about.

I think the issue is that Marcus has too many businesses he invested in. He has said in interviews he is going to have to sell some off. Some he has already merged. He can;t be 100% in charge to 50+ business and run camping world. He also I don;t think wants to be seen as the bad guy that comes into family run business and buys it out and combines it with other companies dissolving the brand. 

I think that is why this season we are seeing feel good , helping them out episodes not I am taking over and investing. It is not the same show. Plus most of the episodes in the last year were looks back over previous shows. The issue I had with those was he and Amber the producer told their side and the business did not get to respond or have a filmed update. It kind of felt a bit bullyish to me. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Wasn't the partner show to find someone who will manage some of the businesses?    And Marcus hired at least one of the eliminated competitors to work for him also. 

Edited December 8, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[silverspoons]

On 12/6/2019 at 5:15 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Wasn't the partner show to find someone who will manage some of the businesses?    And Marcus hired at least one of the eliminated competitors to work for him also. 

The Partner Juli, still seems to be working for Marcus. I will give him credit for not giving out a fake job or just a one year internship like some other shows. She is a VP of product development in LA. She also had 2 babies since 2017 and seems to be loving being a mom but I can;t see her by her job description or current lifestyle . travelling around to all these different businesses. I also wonder if Marcus would give her that much control? 

He did not need a partner, He needed an assistant? I high paid one and a trusted one that would travel and access the business the same way Marcus would and bring him feedback so Marcus would make a decision. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think that's why Marcus hired a couple of others on the Partner series.     I bet a lot of companies, he invests, improves, and sells off.