S06.E06: Lyles BBQ

[Amarsir]

Quote

Greg and Jennifer Lyles want to keep their Kentucky BBQ restaurant small and local, but their son, Chandler, has dreams of going national; as the threat of bankruptcy looms, Marcus strives to put this family on the same road to success.

[Kenz]

Marcus must have seen more in Chandler's abilities than I did. He seems like a nice kid with big aspirations, but a 75K starting salary with a 10K signing bonus? I don't get it. He probably thinks he will move to Chicago and work in a big skyscraper owned by Marcus. ( The food co-packing companies won't look all that glamorous to Chandler, aspiring CEO.) 

We really do need more bbq sauces out there in the marketplace, don't we??? I can never find any in my grocery stores.:)

[CrazyInAlabama]

I looked at the mother's website, and either I suck at web page searches, or the list of what they sell, and the actual sales page don't have the same items available.     

I thought it was interesting that Marcus only invested in the mall location, and not the other one.   

[Amarsir]

Another nontraditional episode this season and again a really good one. It could have been very painful, given yet more owners who are stubborn to change. All the more reason I'm glad we didn't stick with that old pattern.

Maybe I missed it - did Chandler go to college? He reminds me of business majors I've known - excited for the big picture and genuine about wanting the job but without the experience to know all the small stuff that gets you there. And thus the question is what Marcus was trying to resolve - are they willing to put in the work or just want the paycheck and glory? 

[ae2]

This may have been one of the first family & emotional breakthroughs on the show that actually felt genuine and earned. The people even came out looking like self-respecting humans rather than caricatures.

1 hour ago, Kenz said:

Marcus must have seen more in Chandler's abilities than I did. He seems like a nice kid with big aspirations, but a 75K starting salary with a 10K signing bonus? I don't get it. He probably thinks he will move to Chicago and work in a big skyscraper owned by Marcus. ( The food co-packing companies won't look all that glamorous to Chandler, aspiring CEO.) 

We really do need more bbq sauces out there in the marketplace, don't we??? I can never find any in my grocery stores.:)

I've tried every single one of them. There's always room for one more! :-)

[Orillia]

This almost became The Chandler Show. I don't get it either .

But I have to give the kid a lot of credit , he was open to suggestions and did a great job on the mall store . After all  , he was assigned that task because Marcus mostly wanted to see how Chandler would handle it , especially since Chandler might be working for him. I'm sure Marcus does that with all his potential employees. LOL

I do agree that they seemed like a genuinely nice family

[atlantaloves]

That was a really good one, and whew, I didn't think it was going to have a happy ending, that was really sweet of Marcus hiring him. I would not have. Marcus you are a real soft touch my friend. 

[Christina]

I started and stopped watching this episode four times because I kept getting interrupted. I didn't see any difference between the original mall signage and the new signage, and thought I missed part of the episode. It was much ado about nothing.

I wondered why he even checked out this business since he owns Shuster's. There didn't seem anything about the son to make him seem like he needed to be interviewed at all, let alone live in-person, and he could have taken Shuster's to malls if he wished.

It's nice to see non-delusional people. This season has had a nice mixture of probable frauds and good people who just need some education about what they are doing wrong and a bit of a cash infusion.

[qtpye]

55 minutes ago, Christina said:

I started and stopped watching this episode four times because I kept getting interrupted. I didn't see any difference between the original mall signage and the new signage, and thought I missed part of the episode. It was much ado about nothing.

I wondered why he even checked out this business since he owns Shuster's. There didn't seem anything about the son to make him seem like he needed to be interviewed at all, let alone live in-person, and he could have taken Shuster's to malls if he wished.

It's nice to see non-delusional people. This season has had a nice mixture of probable frauds and good people who just need some education about what they are doing wrong and a bit of a cash infusion.

The family was nice but it all seemed like a setup. The business was really not interesting and I am sure everyone knew this was an interview for a job. It really did not seem like the son was anything special to warrant a job like that, particularly with all the talented young people out there dying for a break. So is the formula apply for a job with Marcus and then apply to be in the show with a failing business?

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think Marcus finally figured out that BBQ places are regional, because of their different methods, sauces, and flavorings, and not able to franchise nationally.     The first seasons he seemed to be interested in places like the Simple Greek, that he wanted to take national.    I think he's realized that Sweet Pete's isn't able to be all over the country, Shuler's is regional, and now Lyle's BBQ only has the one location (I realize there is another one, but Marcus only invested in one location).    

[sarthaz]

That was a nice heart-warming episode. It was refreshing to see real people who weren't cartoons and could communicate effectively.

That said, don't you dare tell me you can duplicate smoked pork with injection roasting. Kudos to Momma Lyles for politely calling "bullshit" on that bullshit. Cuz it's bullshit.

[cooksdelight]

51 minutes ago, sarthaz said:

That said, don't you dare tell me you can duplicate smoked pork with injection roasting. Kudos to Momma Lyles for politely calling "bullshit" on that bullshit. Cuz it's bullshit.

Amen! They are not even close in taste or texture.

[silverspoons]

I have wondered why Marcus invested in certain businesses. It seems like some have nothing special, no patents. nothing different. Recently while not feeling good and spending the day in bed I watched way too many youtube videos on Marcus. He seems honest maybe too honest in his interviews. He says he likes to invest in people, that he just gets a feeling and wants to invest in a business. I have questions Marcus' motives. Camping World is all about going into as many markets as they can and buy up the little guy and make camping world dominant. Obviously Marcus is not going to be the BBQ king , cookie king, or furniture giant. Marcus did admit at some point he is going to have to sell off some of these business and he just has not figure out how. This will be very interesting if and when he does to watch how he handles it.  He has lost money and not just small amounts on some of these businesses but it does not seem to stop him. He seems to really be drawn to one tiny aspect in a person's story over the business. I was surprised to here Marcus admit to his many struggles, being overweight and bulimic , being abused, suicidal thoughts, strained family relationships,, so I think sometimes one small part of someone story connects to him and he chooses that person or business. It has nothing to do with the product.