A Good Problem to Have

With the overwhelming excitement for Dickey's Barbecue Pit's new location opening in Mandan, North Dakota last Thursday, local Owner/Operators were faced with meeting the inventory demands of such high traffic. When the required stock could not be found at the normal distribution centers, they turned to Dickey's corporate team for a creative solution to ensure the expected demand could be met.

Local Owner/Operators Randy and Lisa Rhone, Amanda and Ben Zachmeier opened their first Dickey's location in Minot, North Dakota in 2014. Given the success of this store and anticipation from the community, their new Mandan location was expected to generate extremely high traffic beyond what local distribution centers could provide. Dickey's corporate purchasing team immediately searched the country for stock, arranged truck rentals and travel, and negotiated pricing. President of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., Renee Roozen, even had her husband in Colorado and father in Minnesoready to drive trucks if stock could be found in those markets. Ultimately, the stock was found in Nebraska and a member of Dickey's corporate support staff volunteered to give up his off days to fly from Pacific Northwest to Nebraska to pick up a truck, and then drive 12 hours to North Dakota to complete the miracle.

"We are very grateful to the support staff at Dickey's corporate office for helping us make this grand opening such a success," said Owner/Operator Randy Rhone. "This is definitely an instance in which we were happy to be a Dickey's franchisee. We couldn't have done it without them!"

"This is a perfect example of one of the key reasons why entrepreneurs are attracted to franchises, and Dickey's in particular: they receive this type of support," said Renee Roozen, President of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. "It was truly a team effort and we are proud to share this success with the Rhones and Zachmeiers. We view our franchisees as members of our family and are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure they are well taken care of and our loyal guests' expectations are met.