Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Luke.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up with parents who encouraged us to work from an early age. This idea that if you wanted something you needed to earn it became a stepping stone for getting my “feet wet” in business at an early age. I was drawn to the food and beverage business, after college, while I taught tennis at country clubs in Dallas. First, I had grown tired of being in the Texas heat, on a 115-degree tennis court, and herding twenty plus kids who constantly misbehaved. Secondly, I had always enjoyed working in the restaurant atmosphere and it did provide shade and AC … that’s a plus right. What I didn’t realize is how much of the social part of interacting with guest would provide fulfillment and direction. I was recruited to a boutique hotel in Downtown Dallas called the Joule. Here I worked as a shift manager with responsibilities in the lounge and pool f&b services. This was a fun and fast paced job, in which, I learned a great deal plus met all sorts of new people. One of those individuals recruited me to a private venture group that owned several different restaurant concepts. I operated their downtown concept as the GM for a year plus before finally following a passion from a childhood dream … The Army. I pretty much dropped everything and left. Thinking I was going to be G.I. Joe, I became an officer, branched Infantry, and tried to become a Ranger. Well fate had it, I got injured and eventually returned home to Dallas. During this time, I went back to the restaurant I used to manage and saw it had closed. I contacted our corporate Chef, who’d I had made friends with, his name was RV. He told me the landlord locked them out and the property was sitting. I told him, I think we could create something special if we work together! Well surprisingly he agreed, we reached out to the landlord and to our surprise he was receptive. Within three weeks, we signed a lease and started necessary work to transform the venue. I invested my entire savings of $35,000 into materials and salaries to open. I remember like it was yesterday October 25th, 2013, Chef asked me how we would get people there and I said give me a few hours and I can get this place packed on opening night. I could see that he was unsure of my abilities but after three hours of reaching out I felt that our opening day would be a success. Opening day came and there wasn’t an empty seat. While we were less than ready, we managed to keep our dignity and sanity by putting on a good evening. In 2013, we didn’t have our beautiful balcony or signage … yet still we grew. Year of year we’ve seen 30% growth, absolutely amazing. We did it with 1/10th the cash flow and staffing that other restaurants had. Our core team RV, Mike, Blake and myself made the impossible happen.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I mentioned earlier in 2013 we faced several obstacles. The area, we are in, was in complete reset mode. The pedestrian walkway we are located on was a plywood alley. Why? you ask. Because our next door neighbors were tearing down a 13 story building. What was worse is the city made them bring it down brick by brick (it took the 2 years to finish). I constantly went out to the construction site yelling about them spraying water on the dust cloud billowing from the site, asking workers to not clean their boots and tools on our walkway, and chasing off bums in the plywood alley. The beginning was a blur at times because of how much time and effort our team put into it 70-80 plus hours a week for months. The balcony was thought to be an 8-10-month project when we signed took two years from the day we signed our lease. In our minds, it was the golden egg to make our restaurant a long-term success. Just think a beautiful second story patio with tall, majestic buildings, downtown lights, and amazing dinner … easy sell. We just had to make it in the midterm. I also mentioned signage. The building we are located in is a historic building. This required a historic preservation committee to approve any exterior work. Needless to say, it was an uphill battle to get approval of just a sign. A year later we finally hoisted up a Woolworth logo’s sign … in my mind I was saying … one more step for man.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a full-service restaurant and cocktail bar in Downtown Dallas called The Woolworth. We specialize in unique chef inspired dishes and a first-class classic, craft cocktail program. We really stayed ahead of the trends back in 2013 with craft cocktails that embodied classic cocktail methodology for execution. We quickly became the hidden gem in Dallas for cocktails. What made us a main stay was the quality of both sides of the house. We still currently to this day do 50/50 in sales. We ride the line between a bar and restaurant. Which is the most profitable and consistent for longevity. Three things we strive to deliver is 1. atmosphere 2. consistency 3. happy team members!
What were you like growing up?
I was an extrovert and that was magnified by having a twin who was exactly opposite. My parents would get a call from school and immediately knew it was Brandon getting into trouble. My interest revolved around my Dad’s career … television and radio host. I spent a lot of time in the studio. I learned how to edit, film, direct etc. I actually thought I’d be in the TV industry. My biggest quality was being Mr. Hollywood … I loved to tell stories (not all of them were true) but I enjoyed interacting with people. I was never shy when talking to random strangers. That still is true today.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1520 Elm Street
201 - Website: www.thewoolworthdallas.com
- Email: info@thewoolworthdallas.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thewoolworth
- Facebook: facebook.com/thewoolworth
- Twitter: The Woolworth
- Yelp: The Woolworth
- Other: The Woolworth
Image Credit:
The Woolworth
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