Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Locke.
Matt, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We moved to Texas from Northern Virginia a little over four years ago. I’ve been in the telecommunications sector for about 20 years and had been doing contract work in Virginia with the Navy before we moved. We came to Texas to be closer to my family and also because we liked everything we heard about it. Once here however, I found it tough to translate my recent Government related experience to the private sector and ended up taking several jobs that didn’t really pay enough for us to live on.
After about a year of making ends meet by using our savings, we knew we needed to find a way to make the money we had left work for us instead of slowly draining what we had left, and to hopefully get to a point in the future where we weren’t relying on the whims of other employers to stay afloat. My wife and I had always considered opening or starting a business but hadn’t really given much thought to buying an existing one. After the small company she was working for decided to sell, we realized that buying one was a better option and we set out to find something that made sense with our limited experience.
Our first purchase was a convenience store in the Fort Worth area and shortly after, The Pub. The convenience store was a mistake from the get go, but The Pub felt right from the beginning.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No. Our original goal had been to use our savings and kid’s college funds to purchase one or two businesses to try and replace my income. That was a tough decision to make, because we were risking everything we had saved in the hopes of gaining some independence. The convenience store was our first purchase and it was a disaster from the beginning. We had been lied to by the broker who sold it to us about how much money it made. The landlord had very little responsibilities and every repair seemed to fall to us. As an example, the AC units on the roof had been patched together with residential parts from previous owners and couldn’t keep the store cool in the summer.
It was routinely over 85 inside and the chocolate bars would melt. It would have been funny had we been making money, but the store made no money at all…no matter how hard we tried. Instead of it providing us some income we continued to put more money into it over time and eventually sold it at a loss after two years. If we hadn’t bought the Pub around the same time and seen that we could actually make a go at this, we may have given up right then on our dreams.
The Pub (we recently renamed it The Pub McKinney, because that’s what every one called it) had been in operation for 5 years before we bought it. The previous owners had two other bars and couldn’t spend time here. It was running on auto pilot and not much had been done to keep up with the changing downtown McKinney market. Unlike the C-Store, it was an going concern to begin with. We have our day-to-day issues (payroll, unexpected expenses, new competition on the square, and the ever-present threat that customers will just go somewhere else) but we also have worked tirelessly to improve it. All this on top of me working a full-time job, my wife working three part-time jobs, and four kids at home.
The Pub McKinney – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Pub McKinney is a cross between an English Pub and an American Tavern. We’re located in what was once an RC Cola bottling plant on the square in downtown McKinney. It’s a great historic building with brick walls and plenty of dark woods. As a pub, your expectation of what it would be like are probably spot on. Lower light, great conversations, people from all walks of life, great food, and a large selection of beer and whiskey.
We are the feel of a neighborhood bar, but one that caters to the changing face of McKinney.
We have been a craft beer bar from the beginning and have always strived to bring great beer from throughout the U.S and of course right here at home in Texas. We have 19 taps, with 4 that constantly rotate along with over 90 different bottles and cans. Since we took over, we have also brought whiskey to the forefront of who we are. We carry one of, if not the largest selection of whiskey in Collin County at around 100 different ones and we regularly bring in experts to train our staff on them.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Most of what drives me is the journey itself and every day has its share of success and failure. I love business and I love continually working at something hoping it will get better. So I measure it daily. These aren’t grand vision items, they are specific business measurements. (Ex. Did we do more business today then we did last year at the same time? Are my employees succeeding at what they do? Did the last promotion we did generate more revenue? Are my customers happy?) It’s these daily successes that contribute to the larger picture success of the business.
I would love to say that success for me would be getting to a point where I could reduce my workload and relax and enjoy the effort I’ve put in, but I know myself better than that. My parents instilled in me the value of hard work and persistence and I really know no other way of living. I guess in a lot of ways, knowing my parents are proud of what I’ve become is enough of a marker of success for me.
Contact Info:
- Address: The Pub McKinney
204 W. Virginia Street,
McKinney, TX 75069 - Website: https://www.thepubmckinney.com/
- Phone: 972-369-1800
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
